The Western Literary Tradition Anthologies

This compact anthology provides a thorough introduction to the major works of the Western literary tradition from Antiquity to 1700 covering the Hebrew Bible to John Milton (see the full Table of Contents in the link below). It includes excerpts from seventy texts translated from eight ancient and modern languages in genres as diverse as epic, lyric, and dramatic verse; prose narrative including story, romance, and novel; and nonfiction prose including autobiography, biography, letter, speech, dialogue, and essay. Further distinguishing this collection is the inclusion of works by women writers often overlooked in other literary anthologies. Margaret L. King's clear, engaging introductions and notes support an informed reading of the texts while extending students’ knowledge of particular authors and problems of interest.

Table of Contents: Click here to see the full Table of Contents for The Western Literary Tradition, Volume 1 (PDF)

Ebook flexibility: Find the The Western Literary Tradition eBook solution that best fits your syllabus. In addition to being available as a complete volume in print and eBook formats The Western Literary Tradition: Volume 1 is also available in four affordable ($9.95 each) eBook-only selections: Antiquity: Foundations of Western Literature, The Middle Ages: The Formation of the Western Literary Tradition, Renaissance Revisions: Recovery and Renewal, and Early Modern: New Horizons. Click here to learn more about the eBook-only selections, and to request instructor eBook exam copies.

This compact anthology—the second volume in Margaret L. King’s masterful introduction to the Western literary tradition—offers, in whole or in part, eighty key literary works of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. The texts provided here represent an unusually broad array of languages and traditions, ranging across a variety of genres such as verse, drama, philosophy, short- and long-form fiction, and non-fiction (including autobiography, speech, journalism, and essay). This second volume shares with the first a focus on works by women; numerous texts by Latin American writers are included here as well. King’s clear, engaging introductions and notes support an informed reading of the texts while extending students’ knowledge of particular authors and problems of interest. The Western Literary Tradition’s modest length and cost allow for the use of full-length works—many of which are available in Hackett Publishing’s own well-regarded and inexpensive translations and editions—alongside the anthology without adding undue cost to a student’s total textbook fees.

See the complete Table of Contents for volume 2 here (PDF).

Antiquity: Foundations of Western Literature offers, in its entirety, the first section (chapters 1-4) of Margaret King's The  Western Literary Tradition: An Introduction in Texts, Volume 1. Available in eBook format only, it includes the general introduction and annotation to this section along with textual selections from the Hebrew Bible, major ancient Greek and Roman works, and the New Testament. Contents covers selections from works by Hesiod, Sappho, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Plato, Lucretius, Catullus, Ovid, Virgil, Cicero, Seneca, Tacitus, Marcus Aurelius, along with selections from The Hebrew Bible and The New Testament.

Table of Contents: Click here to view the Table of Contents for Antiquity: Foundations of Western Literature (PDF).

For more information about the The  Western Literary Tradition anthology, including the Table of Contents for the complete volume 1 and all four eBook-only selects from volume  1, visit: hackettpublishing.com/literature/anthology.

Ebook examination copies: To request a RedShelf or VitalSource eBook exam copy of this or other titles in The Western Literary Tradition anthology please complete this form.

Student Purchase (eBook ISBN 9781624669637): Available now from RedShelf, VitalSource, eBooks.com, and participating Follett and Barnes and Noble college bookstores that sell eBooks to students. 

The Middle Ages: Formation of the Western Literary Tradition offers, in its entirety, the second section (chapters 5-7) of Margaret King's The  Western Literary Tradition: An Introduction in Texts, Volume 1. Available in eBook format only, it includes the general introduction and annotation to this section along with textual selections arranged chronologically from St. Augustine's Confessions (397) to Christine de Pizan's Book of the City of Ladies (1405). Contents covers selections from works by St. Augustine, Boethius, Hrotswitha of Gandersheim, Hildegard of Binge, Peter Abelard, Margery Kempe, Thomas à Kempis, Einhard, Marie de France, Andreas Capellanus, Marco Polo, Dante Alighieri, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Christine de Pizan, as well as selections from Beowulf, Song of Roland, and Song of My Cid.

Table of Contents: Click here to view the Table of Contents for The Middle Ages: Formation of the Western Literary Tradition (PDF).

For more information about the The  Western Literary Tradition anthology, including the Table of Contents for the complete volume 1 and all four eBook-only selects from volume  1, visit: hackettpublishing.com/literature/anthology.

Ebook examination copies: To request a RedShelf or VitalSource eBook exam copy of this or other titles in The Western Literary Tradition anthology please complete this form.

Student Purchase (eBook ISBN 9781624669651): Available now from RedShelf, VitalSource, eBooks.com, and participating Follett and Barnes and Noble college bookstores that sell eBooks to students. 

Renaissance Revisions: Recovery and Renewal offers, in its entirety, the third section (chapters 8-11) of Margaret King's The  Western Literary Tradition: An Introduction in Texts, Volume 1. Available in eBook format only, it includes the general introduction and annotation to this section along with textual selections arranged chronologically from Petrarch’s Letters to Cicero and Homer and Sonnets (1327–1368) to John Donne’s Songs and Sonnets and Holy Sonnets (1633). Contents covers selections from works by St. Augustine, Boethius, Hrotswitha of Gandersheim, Hildegard of Binge, Peter Abelard, Margery Kempe, Thomas à Kempis, Einhard, Marie de France, Andreas Capellanus, Marco Polo, Dante Alighieri, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Christine de Pizan, as well as selections from Beowulf, Song of Roland, and Song of My Cid.

Table of Contents: Click here to view the Table of Contents for Renaissance Revisions: Recovery and Renewal (PDF).

For more information about the The  Western Literary Tradition anthology, including the Table of Contents for the complete volume 1 and all four eBook-only selects from volume  1, visit: hackettpublishing.com/literature/anthology.

Ebook examination copies: To request a RedShelf or VitalSource eBook exam copy of this or other titles in The Western Literary Tradition anthology please complete this form.

Student Purchase (eBook ISBN 9781624669668): Available now from RedShelf, VitalSource, eBooks.com, and participating Follett and Barnes and Noble college bookstores that sell eBooks to students. 

Early Modern: New Horizons offers, in its entirety, the fourth section (chapters 12-14) of Margaret King's The  Western Literary Tradition: An Introduction in Texts, Volume 1. Available in eBook format only, it includes the general introduction and annotation to this section along with textual selections arranged chronologically from Amerigo Vespucci's New World (1502/1503) to Milton's Samson Agonistes (1671). Contents covers selections from works by Baldassar Vespucci, Hernán Cortés, Garcilaso de la Vega, Saint Francis Xavier, Luís de Camões, Margaret Cavendish, Aphra Behn, Marguerite de Navarre, Saint Teresa of Ávila, María de Zayas y Sotomayor, Moderata Fonte, Sarra Copia Sulam, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Molière, John Milton and selections from The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes.

Table of Contents: Click here to view the Table of Contents for Early Modern: New Horizons (PDF).

For more information about the The  Western Literary Tradition anthology, including the Table of Contents for the complete volume 1 and all four eBook-only selects from volume  1, visit: hackettpublishing.com/literature/anthology.

Ebook examination copies: To request a RedShelf or VitalSource eBook exam copy of this or other titles in The Western Literary Tradition anthology please complete this form.

Student Purchase (eBook ISBN 9781624669644): Available now from RedShelf, VitalSource, eBooks.com, and participating Follett and Barnes and Noble college bookstores that sell eBooks to students.