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The Really Long List

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Ancient | Medieval & Renaissance | 18th & 19th century | 20th century | 21st century

Medieval Literature (401 to 1500 CE)
c.450–500
The Three Satakas
Bhartṛhari
India
poetry collection
c.500
The Tale of an Anklet
Iḷaṅkõ Aṭikaḷ
India
poem
c.700
England
poem
Critique   • Quotes   • Text   • Translations   • At the movies   • Buy the book
 
The Táin
Anonymous
Ireland
poem
c.750
Selected Poems
Li Bai
China
poetry collection
c.759
Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro et al
Japan
poetry collection
c.799
Epistle on the Singing Girls
Al-Jahiz
Iraq
story collection
c.800
The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain
Hanshan
China
poetry collection
 
Book of Misers
Al-Jahiz
Iraq
story collection
c.800–1200
Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor
Anonymous
Persia
story collection
c.800–1400
One Thousand and One Nights
Anonymous
Persia
story collection
including Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni, The Tale of the Three Apples, The Barber's Tale of Himself, and more
c.900
The Butterfly Lovers
Anonymous
China
story
 
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
Anonymous
Japan
novel
977–1010
The Book of Kings
Ferdowsi
Persia
poem
c.1000
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon
Sei Shonagon
Japan
diary
c.1000–1300
The Poetic Edda
Anonymous
Iceland
poem
c.1020
Japan
novel
Critique   • Quotes   • Translations   • Buy the book
c.1060
The Sarashina Diary
Lady Sarashina
Japan
memoir
c.1100
Song of Roland
Anonymous
France
poem
 
Assemblies of Hariri
al-Hariri of Basra
Iraq
story collection
 
Rubaiyat
Omar Khayyám
Persia
Poetry
 
Mabinogion
Anonymous
Wales
story collection
c.1100–1250
Volsungsaga
Anonymous
Iceland
Poetry
c.1125
The Improvement of Human Reason
Ibn Tufayl
Andalusia
novel
c.1140
The Poem of the Cid
Anonymous
Spain
poem
c.1145
King Rother
Anonymous
Germany
poem
1177
The Conference of the Birds
Farid od-Din Attar
Persia
poem
c.1177–1181
Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart
Chrétien de Troyes
France
poem
c.1180
Lais of Marie de France
Marie de France
England
Poetry
1181–1190
Perceval, the Story of the Grail
Chrétien de Troyes
France
poem
c.1200
The Nibelungenlied
Anonymous
Germany
poem
 
The Prose Edda
Snorri Sturlson
Iceland
novel
 
The Tale of Igor's Last Campaign
Anonymous
Kieven Rus'
novel
c.1200–1210
Parzival
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Germany
poem
1210
Tristan und Isolde
Gottfied von Strassburg
Germany
poem
c.1220
The Tale of the Heike
Anonymous
Japan
novel
1230
Heimskringla
Snorri Sturlson
Iceland
story collection
1230–1275
Romance of the Rose
Guillaume de Lorris, Jean de Meun
France
poem
c.1240
Egil's Saga
Anonymous
Iceland
novel
c.1250
The Saga of Burnt Njal
Anonymous
Iceland
poem
1257
The Orchard
Saadi Shirazi
Persia
poetry collection
1258
The Garden
Saadi Shirazi
Persia
poetry collection
1258–1273
Masnavi
Rumi
Persia
poem
c.1280
The Owl and the Nightingale
Anonymous
England
poem
1294
The New Life
Alighieri Dante
Italy
prose and poetry collection
1298–1299
The Travels of Marco Polo
Rustichello da Pisa
Italy
nonfiction
c.1300
The Chalk Circle
Li Qianfu
China
play
 
Deeds of the Romans
Anonymous
Unknown
story collection
c.1300–1400
The Sage of Grettir the Strong
Anonymous
Iceland
peim
1307
The Divine Comedy
Alighieri Dante
Italy
poem
c.1322
The Glory of the Kings
Anonymous
Ethiopia
novel
1327–1368
Il Canzoniere / Le Rime Sparse
Francesco Petrarch
Italy
poetry collection
1330–1332
Essays in Idleness
Yoshida Kenkō
Japan
essay collection
1335
Tales of a Parrot
Nakhshabi
Persia
story collection
1348
The Decameron
Giovanni Boccaccio
Italy
story collection
c.1350
The Divān of Hafez
Hafez
Persia
poem
1352
The Triumphs
Giovanni Boccaccio
Italy
poem
c.1360–1400
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Luo Guanzhong
China
novel
c.1360–1589
Water Margin
Shi Nai'an, Luo Guanzhong
China
novel
1362
The Vision of Piers the Ploughman
William Langland
England
Poetry
c.1380
Pearl
Anonymous
England
poem
c.1382–1386
Troilus and Cressida
Geoffrey Chaucer
England
poem
1387
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Anonymous
England
poem
c.1387–1400
The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer
England
prose and poetry collection
c.1400
Atsumori
Zeami Motokiyo
Japan
play
 
Amadís de Gaula
Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo
Portugal
novel
1405
The Book of the City of Ladies
Christine de Pizan
Italy
novel
1461
The Great Testament
François Villon
France
poetry collection
1483–1495
Orlando Innamorato
Matteo Maria Boiardo
Italy
poem
1485
Everyman
Anonymous
England
play
 
Le Morte d'Arthur
Thomas Malory
England
novel
1490
Tyrant the White
Joanot Martorell, Martí Joan de Galba
Spain
poem
1492
Prison of Love
Diego de San Pedro
Spain
novel
1494
Ship of Fools
Sebastian Brant
Germany
poetry collection
1499
La Celestina
Fernando de Rojas
Spain
novel
c.1500
Lilit Phra Lo
Anonymous
Thailand
poem
 
The Feather Mantle
Anonymous
Japan
play
Renaissance Literature (1500 to 1700 CE)
1501
Judita
Marko Marulić
Croatia
poem
1516
Utopia
Thomas More
England
novella
1516–1532
Orlando Furioso
Ludovico Ariosto
Italy
poem
1528
The Book of the Courtier
Baldasarre Castiglione
Italy
nonfiction
1532
The Prince
Niccolo Macchiavelli
Italy
nonfiction
1532–1564
The Life of Gargantua and Pantagruel
Francois Rabelais
France
novel series
including Pantagruel, Gargantua, The Third Book of Pantagruel, The Fourth Book of Pantagruel, The Fifth Book of Pantagruel
1550–1568
Lives of the Artists
Giorgio Vasari
Italy
biography
1554
Lazarillo de Tormes
Anonymous
Spain
novella
1558
The Heptaméron
Marguerite de Navarre
France
story collection
1569—1589
The Araucaniad
Alonso Ercilla
Spain
poem
1572
Franciad
Pierre de Ronsard
France
poem
 
The Lusiads
Luis de Camoëns
Portugal
poem
1575
Jerusalem Delivered
Torquato Tasso
Italy
poem
1578–1591
Poems of Saint John of the Cross
Saint John of the Cross
Spain
poetry collection
1580
Essays
Michel de Montaigne
France
essay collection
1580–1593
The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia
Philip Sidney
England
novel
c.1582
The Siege of Numantia
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Spain
play
1585
Campaspe
John Lyly
England
play
 
La Galatea
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Spain
novel
1586
The Spanish Tragedy
Thomas Kyd
England
play
1587
Tamburlaine the Great
Christopher Marlowe
England
play
1589
The Faerie Queen
Edmund Spenser
England
poem
c.1590
The Golden Lotus
Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng
China
novel
c.1590–1599
Satires
John Donne
England
poetry collection
 
Elegies
John Donne
England
poetry collection
1591
Richard III
William Shakespeare
England
play
 
Astrophel and Stella
Philip Sidney
England
poem
c.1591
The Taming of the Shrew
William Shakespeare
England
play
1592
Journey to the West
Wu Cheng'en
China
novel
 
Doctor Faustus
Christopher Marlowe
England
play
 
Christopher Marlowe
England
play
Critique   • Quotes   • Buy the book
1594
The Unfortunate Traveller
Thomas Nashe
England
novel
 
The Battle of Alcazar
George Peele
England
play
 
A Midsummer Night's Dream
England
play
1595
Richard II
England
play
c.1596
England
play
Critique   • Quotes   • Buy the book
1597
Love's Labour's Lost
England
play
 
England
play
Critique   • Quotes   • Buy the book
 
Henry IV, Part 2
England
play
1598
The Peony Pavilion
Tang Xianzu
China
play
1599
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
Christopher
England
poem
 
As You Like It
William Shakespeare
England
play
 
Much Ado About Nothing
England
play
c.1599
Henry V
England
play
1601
England
play
Critique   • Quotes   • At the movies   • Buy the book
1601–1602
Twelfth Night
England
play
1603
A Woman Killed With Kindness
Thomas Heywood
England
play
1604
Measure for Measure
England
play
 
England
play
1604–1605
The Honest Whore
Thomas Dekker, Thomas Middleton
England
play
1605
Investiture of the Gods
Xu Zhonglin
China
novel
1605–1615
Spain
novel
Critique   • Quotes   • Text   • Buy the book
1606
Volpone
Ben Jonson
England
play
c.1606
England
play
 
England
play
c.1607
Antony and Cleopatra
England
play
c.1608
Coriolanus
England
play
1609
England
poetry collection
including Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?; When, in Disgrace with Fortune and Men's Eyes; and more
1610
The Alchemist
Ben Jonson
England
play
1611
England
play
 
The Winter's Tale
England
play
 
The White Devil
John Webster
England
play
1613
Henry VIII
William Shakespeare, John Fletcher
England
play
 
The Duchess of Malfi
John Webster
England
play
 
Solitudes
Luis de Góngora
Spain
poem
1616
Les Tragiques
Agrippa D'Aubigné
France
poem
1617
The Travails of Persiles and Sigismunda
Spain
novel
1619
Lost in a Mirror
Lope de Vega
Spain
play
1622
The Changeling
Thomas Middleton, William Rowley
England
poem
1624
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
John Donne
England
Prose collection
including No Man Is an Island
1626
The Swindler
Francisco de Queveda
Spain
novel
1631
Punishment Without Revenge
Lope de Vega
Spain
play
1633
Holy Sonnets
John Donne
England
poetry collection
including Death Be Not Proud; Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God; and others
 
John Ford
England
play
 
The Temple
George Herbert
England
poem
1635
Life Is a Dream
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Spain
play
1636
Le Cid
Pierre Corneille
France
play
 
The Comic Illusion
Pierre Corneille
France
play
1643
The Mayor of Zalamea
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Spain
play
1648
Hesperides
Robert Herrick
England
poetry collection
including To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time; Upon Julia's Clothes; and others
1662
The School for Wives
France
play
1664
France
play
Critique   • Quotes   • Translations   • Buy the book
1665
Don Juan
France
play
1666
France
play
Critique   • Quotes   • Translations   • Buy the book
1667
Paradise Lost
John Milton
England
poem
 
Andromaque
Jean Racine
France
play
1668
The Miser
Molière
France
play
 
Simplicius Simplicissimus
Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen
Germany
novel
1668–1694
La Fontaine's Fables
Jean de La Fontaine
France
poetry collection
including The Fox and the Crow, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Ant and the Grasshopper, and others
1670
France
play
Critique   • Quotes   • Text   • Buy the book
 
Bérénice
Jean Racine
France
play
1671
Samson Agonistes
John Milton
England
poem
1672
The Learned Ladies
Molière
France
play
 
The Life of Archpriest Avvakum
Avvakum
Russia
memoir
1673
On His Blindness
John Milton
France
poem
 
The Imaginary Invalid
Molière
France
play
1675
William Wycherley
England
play
1677
The Rover
Aphra Behn
England
play
 
John Dryden
England
play
 
Phèdre
Jean Racine
France
play
1678
The Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan
England
novel
 
La Princesse de Clèves
Madame de La Fayette
France
novella
1682
The Life of an Amorous Man
Ihara Saikaku
Japan
novel
1688
Aphra Behn
England
novella
1691
Athalie
Jean Racine
France
play
1692
Dream
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
Mexico
poem
1697
Tales of Mother Goose
Charles Perrault
France
story collection
including Cinderella, Puss in Boots, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, and others
1699
The Adventures of Telemachus
François de Salignac de la Mothe Fénelon
France
novel
1700
The Way of the World
William Congreve
England
play

 

Ancient | Medieval & Renaissance | 18th & 19th century | 20th century | 21st century