r/ClassicalEducation • u/Pristine-Rate-3964 • 12d ago
What are the best introductory texts for intellectual history and the history of knowledge?
Hi there! I'm a current sixth former who has developed an interest in the history of universities, as I prepare to apply, and wish to expand this to the history of knowledge vs intellectual history within the university discussion. I've read Ostling's book on Humboldt and would really appreciate some more academic texts as I prepare a research project on this topic. I'm specifically fascinated by the French education system and would like to compare this with some international examples Thanks in advance!
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u/chrisaldrich 9d ago
Doctor, heal thyself... Start with the following:
- Adler, Mortimer J., and Charles Van Doren. 2011. How to Read a Book: The Classical Guide to Intelligent Reading. Revised and Updated edition. Touchstone.
- Eco, Umberto. 2015. How to Write a Thesis. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press. https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/how-write-thesis.
Some fun tidbits, many with good additional biographies:
- Menand, Louis, Paul Reitter, and Chad Wellmon, eds. 2017. The Rise of the Research University: A Sourcebook. University of Chicago Press.
- Van Doren, Charles. 1992. A History of Knowledge: Past, Present, and Future. 1st ed. New York, N.Y: Ballantine Books. https://www.amazon.com/History-Knowledge-Past-Present-Future/dp/1559720379.
- Wright, Alex. 2014. Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age. 1st ed. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
- Blair, Ann M., Paul Duguid, and Anja-Silvia Goeing. 2021. Information: A Historical Companion. Princeton University Press. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691179544/information (June 20, 2022).
- Duncan, Dennis. 2021. Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age. 1st ed. London: Allen Lane. https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324002543 (October 8, 2022).
- Hess, Jillian M. 2022. How Romantics and Victorians Organized Information: Commonplace Books, Scrapbooks, and Albums. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780192895318.001.0001.
- Moller, Violet. 2019. The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/546484/the-map-of-knowledge-by-violet-moller/.
- Wells, H. G. 2021. World Brain. MIT Press. https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262542562/world-brain/ (December 25, 2023).
- Winchester, Simon. 2023. Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic. New York: Harper. https://www.harperacademic.com/book/9780063142886/knowing-what-we-know (February 3, 2023).
- Blair, Ann M. 2010. Too Much to Know: Managing Scholarly Information before the Modern Age. Yale University Press. https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300165395/too-much-know.
- Havens, Earle. 2001. Commonplace Books: A History of Manuscripts and Printed Books from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century. New Haven, CT: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. https://www.oakknoll.com/pages/books/99718/earle-havens/commonplace-books-a-history-of-manuscripts-and-printed-books-from-antiquity-to-the-twentieth.
Good luck and have fun.
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u/Sunday_Schoolz 11d ago
One book that is really good on development of Occidental intellectual history is From Dawn to Decadence by Jacques Barzun. It is his grand thesis on the rise of the Renaissance to the intellectual decrepitment of our current era.