UNIVERSAL HISTORY
AND THE TELOS OF HUMAN PROGRESs
A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSAL HISTORY
In its modern form, the systematic study of World History began in the 1720s, when a group of Englishmen undertook an enormous publication based on what they took to be the British public's newfound interest in far-flung places around the world. This publication gave the peoples of the world their first historical identity, at least in the English language. As the Age of Exploration opened the European mind to the world in its vast extent, the publishers called this work the "Universal History." At 64 volumes, it is still the largest history set ever published, and took the greater part of the 18th Century to finish (1728-1766). One by one the volumes arrived to the subscriber's house like a newspaper or monthly magazine. Suffice to say, not many complete sets still exist, and probably no one currently alive has actually red the whole thing (but that may change- as the Google search engine company is digitizing it!). Hey, at least its not microfishe!
The first 20 volumes of the 64 volume "Universal History"
250 years ago, this enormous set satisfied a need to know. See more about it here. Its sheer bulk made it hard to pass around, of course, but the idea caught on. Soon, smaller and more readable 'universal histories' appeared. After the French and American Revolutions, in the early 1800s, nationalism and romantic ideas stuck a cord, leading to further interest about who the peoples of the world are and what they are like.
ALL THE UNIVERSAL HISTORIANS
Year Author Title of World History Book
-400s Bible Old Testament
-400s Herodotus The Histories
-300s Ephorus History
-100s Polybius The Histories
-90s Sima Qian Records of the Grand Historian
-60s Lucretius On the Nature of Things
-40s Diodorus Library of History
-20s Livy Annals of the Roman People
40s Seneca Naturales Quaestiones
300s Eusebius of Caesarea Ecclesiastical History
400s Augustine of Hippo City of God
400s Orosius Seven Books of History Against the Pagans
500s Gregory of Tours Ten Books of Histories
600s The Venerable Bede Ecclesiastical History
600s Isidore of Seville The Etymology
900s Al Tabari History of Prophets and Kings
1100s Goffredo da Viterbo Liber Universalis
1100s Otto von Freising History of the Two Civic Societies
1100s Joachim of Fiore Harmony of the Old and New Testaments
1200s Helinand of Froidmont Chronicon
1200s Vincent of Beauvais The Great Mirror
1200s Jans der Enikel World Chronicle
1300s Ranulf Higden Polychronicle
1300s R. al-Din Hamadani Compilation of Chronicles
1300s Jean Froissart Chronicles
1400s Ibn Khaldun Muquaddimah
1400s Various Yongle’s Encyclopedia
1500 Marcantonius Sabellicus Enneades sive Rhapsodia historiarum
1554 Marcin Bielski World Chronicle
1589 Mattias Flacius Magdeburg Centuries
1607 Caesar Baronius Annales
1610 Walter Raleigh History of the Whole World
1666 Peter Heylyn Cosmographie
1682 Jacques-Benigne Bossuet Discourse on the History of the Whole World
1747 George Sale et al. Universal History – Antient Part
1757 Voltaire Essay on Manners and Spirit of Nations
1758 Ludwig von Holberg Synopsis of Universal History
1765 Tobias Smollett et al. Universal History – Modern Part
1772 Claude Millot Elements of General History
1784 Johann von Herder Reflections on the Philosophy of History
1784 Immanuel Kant Idea for a Universal History
1789 Marquis de Condorcet Sketch of the Progress of the Human Mind
1789 Friedrich Schiller What is Universal History?
1793 Louis-Pierre Anquetil Summary of Universal History
1795 John Adams A View of Universal History
1804 William Fordyce Mavor Universal History
1811 Johannes von Muller An Universal History
1819 Frederick Butler Sketches of Universal History
1822 Conrad Malte-Brun Universal Geography
1824 Leopold von Ranke Various
1830 Dionysus Lardner Outlines of Universal History
1830 Royal Robbins The World Displayed
1832 George Putnam Tabular Views of Universal History
1835 Emma Willard System of Universal History
1835 Alexander Fraser Tytler Universal History to the Reign of George II
1837 Georg W. F. Hegel Philosophy of History
1840 Charles von Rotteck General History of the World
1844 Samuel Maunder Treasury of History
1847 Henry White Elements of Universal History
1853 Georg Weber Outlines of Universal History
1859 Samuel G. Goodrich History of All Nations
1869 Evert Duyckinck History of the World
1874 William Swinton Outlines of World History
1880 Karl Julius Ploetz Epitome of Universal History
1882 Edmund Ollier Cassell’s Illustrated Universal History
1885 George Park Fisher Outlines of Universal History
1885 John Clark Ridpath Cyclopaedia of Universal History
1887 Nugent Robinson A History of the Whole World with Sensations
1888 Friedrich Ratzel History of Mankind
1889 Philip Van Ness Myers General History for Colleges and High Schools
1893 John Clark Ridpath Great Races of Mankind
1898 Israel Smith Clare Library of Universal History
1901 Hans L. Helmolt The History of the World
1902 Justi et al. History of All Nations
1904 Henry Smith Williams Historian’s History of the World
1905 Josephus Nelson Larned World History, or, Seventy Centuries
1907 Henry Cabot Lodge History of Nations
1911 Houston S. Chamberlain Foundations of the Nineteenth Century
1912 Victor Duruy A General History of the World
1913 Edward Ellis Story of the Greatest Nations
1914 Eva March Tappan The World’s Story
1915 James Bryce et al. The History of All Nations
1919 H.G. Wells The Outline of History
1919 Oswald Spengler Decline of the West
1921 Hutton Webster World History
1921 Hendrik W. Van Loon The Story of Mankind
1925 Charles F. Horne The World and its People
1926 James Henry Breasted The Conquest of Civilization
1926 James Harvey Robinson The Ordeal of Civilization
1927 Albert McKinley World History Today
1928 Lynn Thorndike A Short History of Civilization
1928 Geoffrey Parsons The Stream of History
1929 John A. Hammerton The Universal History of the World
1932 Carlton Hayes World History
1934 Jawaharlal Nehru Glimpses of World History
1934 Arnold Toynbee A Study of History
1935 Harry Elmer Barnes History of Western Civilization
1936 E. H. Gombrich A Little History of the World
1936 Will & Ariel Durant The Story of Civilization
1937 Albert Kerr Heckel On the Road to Civilization
1938 Edwin Pahlow Man’s Great Adventure
1938 Marcus Wilson Jernegan The Progress of Nations
1940 William L. Langer Encyclopedia of World History
1941 Edward McNall Burns Western Civilizations
1946 Carl Becker Story of Civilization
1949 Lester Rogers Story of Nations
1955 Tielhard de Chardin The Phenomenon of Man
1955 David Saville Muzzey The Struggle for Civilization
1955 Crane Brinton A History of Civilization
1960 Chester G. Starr A History of the World
1963 Fay-Cooper Cole Illustrated Outline of Mankind
1963 Fernand Braudel History of Civilizations
1963 Leften Stavrianos A Global History of Man
1963 William McNeill The Rise of the West
1963 Hawkes et al. History of Mankind
1968 Thomas P. Neill Story of Mankind
1972 John A. Garraty Columbia History of the World
1973 Hayden White Metahistory
1974 Edward McNall Burns World Civilizations
1976 Arnold Toynbee Mankind and Mother Earth
1977 Richard Ostrowski Echoes of Time
1980 Marvin Perry Unfinished Journey
1986 Gerald Leinwand Pageant of World History
1991 Isaac Asimov Chronology of World Hsitory
1991 Larry Gonick Cartoon History of the World
1992 Larry S. Krieger World History: Perspectives on the Past
1993 J. M. Roberts History of the World
1996 Dorling Kindersley Chronicle of the World
1997 Elisabeth Ellis et al. World History: Connections to Today
1997 Nathan Schur Relevant History of the World
1997 William T. Hanes et al. World History: Continuities and Chjange
2000 Geoffrey Blainey A Short History of the World
2001 Peter Haugen World History for Dummies
2004 James C. Davis The Human Story
2004 Roger Beck et al. World History: Patterns of Interaction
2004 David Christian Maps of Time
2005 David Fromkin Way of the World
2005 Jackson Spielvogel World History
2007 Peter Stearns et al. World Civilizations
2007 Filipe Fernandez-Armesto The World
2008 Timothy C. Hall A Complete Idiot’s Guide to World History
2011 Jerry Bentley et al. Traditions and Encounters
2011 Robert Strayer et al. Ways of the World
2011 Richard Bulliet et al. The Earth and its Peoples
2012 John McKay et al. A History of World Societies
"Learning about the world is fun! Visit your public library, you'll be amazed at the great things you find there. See ya next time!"
