St John's College Great Books: literature in English
16 books set by St John's College, Annapolis and Santa Fe, each with its first edition, the points that identify it and what it is worth where sales are recorded.
St John's College Great Books: literature in English: 16 books in 3 groups. We have identified the first edition of 16 of them. A school or study copy of any of these is a reprint worth a few pounds; the first printing of the first edition is the copy collectors pay for. The list comes from the official source, read on 22 October 2026.
St John's College, on its two campuses in Annapolis and Santa Fe, teaches a single four-year programme in which every student reads the same great books in roughly chronological order, from Homer in the first weeks to Woolf and Faulkner in the last. The full list runs to more than two hundred works, most of them read in translation; the rows above are the literature written in English, which is where the first editions are collectable rather than legendary.
The English-language shelf of the Great Books is a tour of the rare-book trade's high ground. The Canterbury Tales was first printed by Caxton in about 1476 and no copy will ever be yours; Shakespeare's plays exist first in quartos and the 1623 Folio; Paradise Lost (Samuel Simmons, 1667) has survived in enough copies that one still comes to auction most years, at six figures; Gulliver's Travels (Benjamin Motte, 1726) and Pride and Prejudice (Egerton, 1813) are five-figure books. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries are approachable: Middlemarch was issued in eight parts by Blackwood in 1871 and 1872, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Chatto and Windus, 1884, a month before Webster's New York edition), Heart of Darkness (first in book form in Youth, Blackwood, 1902) and Go Down, Moses (Random House, 1942) are all collected, and the Faulkner is still within reach.
Each row links to the work's page, where the first edition is identified against two sources, its points are listed and a value band appears once we hold recorded sales of that printing.
Sophomore year
- 1476 The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer First edition: William Caxton 1476
- 1598 Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare First edition: Printed by P.S. for Andrew Wise 1598
- 1623 The Tempest by William Shakespeare First edition: Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount 1623
- 1623 As You Like It by William Shakespeare First edition: Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount 1623
- 1603 Hamlet by William Shakespeare First edition: N.L. and Iohn Trundell 1603
- 1622 Othello by William Shakespeare First edition: Printed by N. Okes. for Thomas Walkley, and are to be sold at his shop, at the Eagle and Child, in Brittans Bursse 1622
- 1623 Macbeth by William Shakespeare First edition: Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount (First Folio) 1623
- 1608 King Lear by William Shakespeare First edition: Printed for Nathaniel Butter 1608 points listed
Junior year
- 1667 Paradise Lost by John Milton First edition: Printed, and are to be sold by Peter Parker ... and by Robert Boulter ... and Matthias Walker 1667
- 1726 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift First edition: B. Motte 1726
- 1813 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen First edition: T. Egerton 1813
Senior year
- 1884 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain First edition: Chatto & Windus 1884 points listed
- 1871 Middlemarch by George Eliot First edition: Blackwood 1871
- 1855 Benito Cereno by Herman Melville First edition: Dix & Edwards 1856
- 1899 Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad First edition: William Blackwood and Sons 1902
- 1940 Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner First edition: Random House 1940
What changed
The programme runs from Homer to the twentieth century over four years; the rows above are its works written in English, with the sonnets and the shorter poems omitted. The Greek, Latin, French, German and Russian works are read in translation and are not listed here.
Frequently asked questions
What books are on the St John's College Great Books: literature in English?
16 books: The Canterbury Tales, Henry IV, Part 1, The Tempest, As You Like It, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, Paradise Lost, Gulliver's Travels, Pride and Prejudice, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and more. The full list on this page comes from the official source, dated.
Is my school copy worth anything?
No: school and study editions are reprints made in huge numbers and sell for a few pounds. The copy that carries value is the first printing of the first edition, which each row links to with its points.
What changed on the St John's College Great Books: literature in English?
The programme runs from Homer to the twentieth century over four years; the rows above are its works written in English, with the sonnets and the shorter poems omitted. The Greek, Latin, French, German and Russian works are read in translation and are not listed here.
Where these facts come from
- The St John's College reading list (official programme), St John's College (sjc.edu)
- The St John's College Great Books list, Farnam Street (fs.blog)
The list is the official one; the first editions, points and values come from our catalogue and are listed only where two sources agree. Checked 22 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.