The Western Literary Tradition, Volume 1: The Hebrew Bible to John Milton

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

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.

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. To learn more about the eBook-only selections, and to request instructor eBook exam copies, visit: hackettpublishing.com/literature/anthology.

Also available:

The Western Literary Tradition: An Introduction in Texts, Volume 2—Jonathan Swift to George Orwell.

Edited, with Introductions and Notes, by Margaret L. King.

About the Author:

Margaret L. King is Professor of History Emerita, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, CUNY. Her numerous books include the pioneering monographs Venetian Humanism in an Age of Patrician Dominance (Princeton, 1986) and Women of the Renaissance (Chicago, 1991); translations of humanist works, including Francesco Barbaro, The Wealth of Wives: A Fifteenth-Century Marriage Manual (Toronto, 2015); the textbook A Short History of the Renaissance in Europe (Toronto, 2016); and three text anthologies published by Hackett: Renaissance Humanism (2014), Reformation Thought (2016), and Enlightenment Thought (2019).