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''Great Books of the Western World'' is a series of books originally published in the United States in 1952, by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., to present the Great Books in a 54-volume set; the second edition of the series comprises 60 volumes. The original editors had three criteria for including a book in the series: the book must be relevant to contemporary matters, and not only important in its historical context; it must be rewarding to re-read; and it must be a part of "the great conversation about the great ideas", relevant to at least 25 of the 102 great ideas identified by the editors. The books were not chosen on the basis of ethnic and cultural inclusiveness, historical influence, or the editors' agreement with the views expressed by the authors.〔 ==History== The project for the ''Great Books of the Western World'' began at the University of Chicago, where the president, Robert Hutchins, collaborated with Mortimer Adler to develop a course — generally aimed at businesspeople — for the purpose of filling the gaps in their liberal education; to render the reader as an intellectually rounded man or woman familiar with the Great Books of the Western canon, and knowledgeable of the great ideas developed in the course of three millennia. An original student of the project was William Benton (later a U.S. senator, and then chief executive officer of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' publishing company) who proposed selecting the greatest books of the Western canon, and that Hutchins and Adler produce unabridged editions for publication, by Encyclopædia Britannica. Yet, Hutchins was wary of such a business endeavour, fearing that the books would be sold as a product, thereby devaluing them as cultural artefacts; nevertheless, he agreed to the business deal, and was paid $60,000 for the project. After deciding what subjects and authors to include, and how to present the materials, the project was begun, with a budget of $2,000,000. On April 15, 1952, the ''Great Books of the Western World'' were presented at a publication party in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, in New York City. In his speech, Hutchins said, "This is more than a set of books, and more than a liberal education. ''Great Books of the Western World'' is an act of piety. Here are the sources of our being. Here is our heritage. This is the West. This is its meaning for mankind." The first two sets of books were given to Elizabeth II, Queen of the U.K., and to Harry S. Truman, the incumbent U.S. President. The initial sales of the book sets were poor, with only 1,863 sets sold in 1952, and less than one-tenth of that number of book sets were sold in 1953. A financial debacle loomed until Encyclopædia Britannica altered the sales strategy, and sold the book set through experienced door-to-door encyclopædia-salesmen, as Hutchins had feared; but, through that method, 50,000 sets were sold in 1961. In 1963 the editors published ''Gateway to the Great Books'', a ten-volume set of readings meant to introduce the authors and the subjects of the ''Great Books''. Each year, from 1961 to 1998, the editors published ''The Great Ideas Today'', an annual updating about the applicability of the ''Great Books'' to contemporary life.〔 This biography of Robert M. Hutchins contains an extensive discussion of the Great Books project.〕 The Internet and the E-book reader have made available some of the ''Great Books of the Western World'' in an on-line format.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/l/literature/gbww/index.html )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Great Books of the Western World」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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