There is still time to get in on this set for less than half the regular price:
https://www.logos.com/product/55052/great-books-of-the-western-world
Looks like it will be $500 after June 10.
So glad I got in on this when it was $99..
Me too. [Y]
Indeed [Y]
I'm glad it's shipping soon!
I'm glad I cancelled my order. Thought it through and don't need them.
DAL
Probably worth it just for the syntopicon and the promised linkage.
With Logos linking capability, it's very much worth it. DAL think about it Again. It a great labor....
" The Syntopicon was created to set the Great Books collection apart from previously published sets (such as Harvard Classics). Robert Hutchins, at the time, in addition to being the president of the University of Chicago, also served as Chairman of the Board of Editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Hutchins and Adler were recruited by the encyclopedia’s publisher for a “special idea”[2]which would increase the collection’s marketability.[3]
With this mission, Adler undertook a project that would consume over a decade of his life: identifying and indexing the western world’s Great Ideas. In the end, the Syntopicon would require over 400,000 man-hours of reading[4]and cost over two million dollars.[5] Britannica publisher Senator William Benton joked at the Great Books presentation dinner that “the Syntopicon is said to be the most expensive two volumes editorially in all publishing history. How Hutchins and Adler achieved that unique distinction, the publisher is still trying to figure out. (Clifton Fadiman) assured me some day the story will be told. I’d like it whenever I can get it.”[6]
The process of cataloging each appearance of one of the “Great Ideas” in all 431 works by 71 authors in the collection was so arduous that the Syntopicon nearly did not make it to print. Before it even came time to print, the budget had topped a million dollars and there was not even “a penny for paper” left.[7] Adler persevered, however, having spent the previous eight years of his life on the project. He single-handedly raised funds by selling more expensive “Founders Editions” of the sets, and disobeyed the order to fire his entire staff. There were times, during the process when he admitted: “the question was could we sell the plates for junk! Could we dispose of the plates as old metal?”[7]
Adler felt, through it all, that he was creating something completely new. The Syntopicon, he felt, would be revolutionary, its release on par with such events as the creation of the first dictionary. It would do for ideas what previous reference books had done for words and facts. He worked with a team of over 100 readers who met twice a week for years to discuss the readings and the ideas within them. Among his editorial team was a young Saul Bellow.
In the end, he produced two volumes, which listed the 102 Great Ideas of the western world, from Angel to World. The set was released with much fanfare, including an honorary gifting of the first two editions to U.S. President Harry S. Truman and Elizabeth II. An internal memo from Encyclopædia Britannica, regarding a release party, reads:
“The projected sequences of events is: (1) Mr. Hutchins kicks off the conference with a discussion of the Great Books movement, and the university’s and Britannica’s interest in the set; (2) Mr. Adler tells in detail of the contents of the set and the significance of the Syntopicon; (3) Cocktails.”[8]
" Probably worth it just for the syntopicon and the promised linkage.
This would be a nice set to have because of what is promised but I cancelled my order as I don't need it.
I have the set in hardback sitting on my shelf. I was in as soon as I saw it. This will be a great resource and I'll be gifting my hardback set to a friend.
I am very excited for this! What an amazing resource this will be. I am not sure where to start once I get it! Any ideas?
Where else can you get the curriculum for some of the finest university programs in the USA for under $500?
The 25 Best Great Books Programs Where else can you get the curriculum for some of the finest university programs in the USA for under $500?
When I did my Undergrad at Southeastern Seminary they had a new program along these lines. I always envies the education those students got, bUT never the work load. Massive,
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