Lost work
Encyclopedia
A lost work is a document or literary
work produced some time in the past of which no surviving copies are known to exist. Works may be lost to history either through the destruction of the original manuscript, or through the non-survival of any copies of the work. Deliberate destruction of works may be termed literary crime or literary vandalism. In some cases fragments may survive, either found by archaeology
, or sometimes reused as bookbinding
materials, or because they are quoted in other works. The discovery in 1822 of large parts of Cicero
's De re publica
was one of the first major recoveries of an ancient text from a palimpsest
, while the most famous recent example is the discovery of the Archimedes palimpsest
(hidden in a much later prayer book). Most of the missing works are described by works or compilations which have survived, such as the Naturalis Historia
of Pliny the Elder
or the De Architectura
by Vitruvius
. Sometimes, authors wanted to destroy their own works, or instructed others to do so after their deaths; such action was not taken in several well-known cases, such as Virgil
's Aeneid
saved by Augustus
and Kafka's novels saved by Max Brod
. Many works were apparently lost when the Library of Alexandria
was burned down in the Roman period, or perhaps later. Before the era of printing, manuscripts were handwritten, and so few copies existed, explaining why so much has been lost. Works which are not referred to by others, of course, remain unknown and totally forgotten.
The term is most commonly applied to works from the classical world
, although it is increasingly used in relation to more modern works.
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
work produced some time in the past of which no surviving copies are known to exist. Works may be lost to history either through the destruction of the original manuscript, or through the non-survival of any copies of the work. Deliberate destruction of works may be termed literary crime or literary vandalism. In some cases fragments may survive, either found by archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, or sometimes reused as bookbinding
Bookbinding
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. It usually involves attaching covers to the resulting text-block.-Origins of the book:...
materials, or because they are quoted in other works. The discovery in 1822 of large parts of Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
's De re publica
De re publica
De re publica is a dialogue on Roman politics by Cicero, written in six books between 54 and 51 BC. It is written in the format of a Socratic dialogue in which Scipio Africanus Minor takes the role of a wise old man — an obligatory part for the genre...
was one of the first major recoveries of an ancient text from a palimpsest
Palimpsest
A palimpsest is a manuscript page from a scroll or book from which the text has been scraped off and which can be used again. The word "palimpsest" comes through Latin palimpsēstus from Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος originally compounded from πάλιν and ψάω literally meaning “scraped...
, while the most famous recent example is the discovery of the Archimedes palimpsest
Archimedes Palimpsest
The Archimedes Palimpsest is a palimpsest on parchment in the form of a codex. It originally was a copy of an otherwise unknown work of the ancient mathematician, physicist, and engineer Archimedes of Syracuse and other authors, which was overwritten with a religious text.Archimedes lived in the...
(hidden in a much later prayer book). Most of the missing works are described by works or compilations which have survived, such as the Naturalis Historia
Naturalis Historia
The Natural History is an encyclopedia published circa AD 77–79 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny...
of Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
or the De Architectura
De architectura
' is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect Vitruvius and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a guide for building projects...
by Vitruvius
Vitruvius
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....
. Sometimes, authors wanted to destroy their own works, or instructed others to do so after their deaths; such action was not taken in several well-known cases, such as Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
's Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
saved by Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
and Kafka's novels saved by Max Brod
Max Brod
Max Brod was a German-speaking Czech Jewish, later Israeli, author, composer, and journalist. Although he was a prolific writer in his own right, he is most famous as the friend and biographer of Franz Kafka...
. Many works were apparently lost when the Library of Alexandria
Library of Alexandria
The Royal Library of Alexandria, or Ancient Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was the largest and most significant great library of the ancient world. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty and functioned as a major center of scholarship from its construction in the...
was burned down in the Roman period, or perhaps later. Before the era of printing, manuscripts were handwritten, and so few copies existed, explaining why so much has been lost. Works which are not referred to by others, of course, remain unknown and totally forgotten.
The term is most commonly applied to works from the classical world
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
, although it is increasingly used in relation to more modern works.
Specific works
- AgatharchidesAgatharchidesAgatharchides of Cnidus was a Greek historian and geographer .-Life:He is believed to have been born at Cnidus, hence his appellation. As Stanley M...
':- Ta kata ten Asian (Affairs in Asia) in 10 books,
- Ta kata ten Europen (Affairs in Europe) in 49 books
- Peri ten Erythras thalasses (On the Erythraean Sea) in 5 books
- Sulpicius AlexanderSulpicius AlexanderSulpicius Alexander was a Roman historian of Germanic tribes. His work is lost, but his Historia in at least four books is quoted by Gregory of Tours. It was perhaps a continuation of the Res gestae by Ammianus Marcellinus and dealt with events at least until the death of Valentinian II...
's Historia. - AnaxagorasAnaxagorasAnaxagoras was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. Born in Clazomenae in Asia Minor, Anaxagoras was the first philosopher to bring philosophy from Ionia to Athens. He attempted to give a scientific account of eclipses, meteors, rainbows, and the sun, which he described as a fiery mass larger than...
' book of philosophy- only fragments of the first part have survived. - ArchimedesArchimedesArchimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and an...
'- On Sphere-Making
- On Polyhedra
- Aristarchus of SamosAristarchus of SamosAristarchus, or more correctly Aristarchos , was a Greek astronomer and mathematician, born on the island of Samos, in Greece. He presented the first known heliocentric model of the solar system, placing the Sun, not the Earth, at the center of the known universe...
' astronomy book outlining his heliocentric theory - AristotleAristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
's second book of Poetics, dealing with comedy - Imperator Caesar Divi filius AugustusAugustusAugustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
' De Vita Sua - BerossusBerossusBerossus was a Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer, a priest of Bel Marduk and astronomer writing in Greek, who was active at the beginning of the 3rd century BC...
' Babyloniaca (History of Babylonia) - Gaius Julius CaesarJulius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's- Anticatonis Libri II (only fragments survived)
- Carmina et prolusiones (only fragments survived)
- De analogia libri II ad M. Tullium Ciceronem
- De astris liber
- Dicta collectanea ("collected sayings", also known by the Greek title άποφθέγματα)
- Letters (only fragments survived)
- Epistulae ad Ciceronem
- Epistulae ad familiares
- Iter (only one fragment survived)
- Laudes Herculis
- Libri auspiciorum ("books of auspices", also known as Auguralia)
- Oedipus
- other works:
- contributions to the libri pontificales as pontifex maximus
- possibly some early love poems
- CallisthenesCallisthenesCallisthenes of Olynthus was a Greek historian. He was the son of Hero and Proxenus of Atarneus, which made him the great nephew of Aristotle by his sister Arimneste. They first met when Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great...
'- An account of Alexander's expedition
- A history of Greece from the Peace of AntalcidasPeace of AntalcidasThe Peace of Antalcidas , also known as the King's Peace, was a peace treaty guaranteed by the Persian King Artaxerxes II that ended the Corinthian War in ancient Greece. The treaty's alternate name comes from Antalcidas, the Spartan diplomat who traveled to Susa to negotiate the terms of the...
(387) to the Phocian war (357) - A history of the Phocian war
- Sulla's Memoirs, referenced by PlutarchPlutarchPlutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
- Cato the ElderCato the ElderMarcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...
's:- Origines, a 7 book history of Rome and the Italian states.
- Carmen de moribus, a book of prayers or incantations for the dead in verse.
- Praecepta ad Filium, a collection of maxims.
- A collection of his speeches.
- Quintus Tullius CiceroQuintus Tullius CiceroQuintus Tullius Cicero was the younger brother of the celebrated orator, philosopher and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero. He was born into a family of the equestrian order, as the son of a wealthy landowner in Arpinum, some 100 kilometres south-east of Rome.- Biography :Cicero's well-to-do father...
's four tragedies in the Greek style: Tiroas, Erigones, Electra, and one other. - ClaudiusClaudiusClaudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
'- De arte alea ("the art of playing dice", a book on dice games)
- an EtruscanEtruscan languageThe Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...
dictionary - an Etruscan history
- a history of Augustus' reign
- eight volumes on Carthaginian history
- a defense of Cicero against the charges of Asinius Gallus
- CtesibiusCtesibiusCtesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius was a Greek inventor and mathematician in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt. He wrote the first treatises on the science of compressed air and its uses in pumps...
- On pneumatics, a work describing force pumps
- Memorabilia, a compilation of his research works
- CtesiasCtesiasCtesias of Cnidus was a Greek physician and historian from Cnidus in Caria. Ctesias, who lived in the 5th century BC, was physician to Artaxerxes Mnemon, whom he accompanied in 401 BC on his expedition against his brother Cyrus the Younger....
':- Persica, a history of Assyria and Persia in 23 books.
- Indica, an account of India
- EratosthenesEratosthenesEratosthenes of Cyrene was a Greek mathematician, poet, athlete, geographer, astronomer, and music theorist.He was the first person to use the word "geography" and invented the discipline of geography as we understand it...
- # Περὶ τῆς ἀναμετρήσεως τῆς γῆς (On the Measurement of the Earth; lost, summarized by CleomedesCleomedesCleomedes was a Greek astronomer who is known chiefly for his book On the Circular Motions of the Celestial Bodies.-Placing his work chronologically:...
) - Geographica (lost, criticized by StraboStraboStrabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
) - Arsinoe (a memoir of queen ArsinoeArsinoe III of EgyptArsinoe III was Queen of Egypt . She was a daughter of Ptolemy III and Berenice II.Between late October and early November 220 BC she was married to her brother, Ptolemy IV. She took active part in the government of the country, at least in the measure that it was tolerated by the all-powerful...
; lost; quoted by AthenaeusAthenaeusAthenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD...
in the DeipnosophistaeDeipnosophistaeThe Deipnosophistae may be translated as The Banquet of the Learned or Philosophers at Dinner or The Gastronomers...
)
- # Περὶ τῆς ἀναμετρήσεως τῆς γῆς (On the Measurement of the Earth; lost, summarized by Cleomedes
- EuclidEuclidEuclid , fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I...
's- Conics, a work on conic sectionConic sectionIn mathematics, a conic section is a curve obtained by intersecting a cone with a plane. In analytic geometry, a conic may be defined as a plane algebraic curve of degree 2...
s later extended by Apollonius of PergaApollonius of PergaApollonius of Perga [Pergaeus] was a Greek geometer and astronomer noted for his writings on conic sections. His innovative methodology and terminology, especially in the field of conics, influenced many later scholars including Ptolemy, Francesco Maurolico, Isaac Newton, and René Descartes...
into his famous work on the subject. - PorismPorismA porism is a mathematical proposition or corollary. In particular, the term porism has been used to refer to a direct result of a proof, analogous to how a corollary refers to a direct result of a theorem.-Beginnings:...
s, the exact meaning of the title is controversial (probably "corollaries"). - Pseudaria, or Book of Fallacies, an elementary text about errors in reasoning.
- Surface Loci concerned either lociLocus (mathematics)In geometry, a locus is a collection of points which share a property. For example a circle may be defined as the locus of points in a plane at a fixed distance from a given point....
(sets of points) on surfaces or loci which were themselves surfaces.
- Conics, a work on conic section
- EudemusEudemus of RhodesEudemus of Rhodes was an ancient Greek philosopher, and first historian of science who lived from ca. 370 BC until ca. 300 BC. He was one of Aristotle's most important pupils, editing his teacher's work and making it more easily accessible...
':- History of Arithmetics, on the early history of Greek arithmetics (only one short quote survives)
- History of Astronomy, on the early history of Greek astronomy (several quotes survive)
- History of Geometry, on the early history of Greek geometry (several quotes survive)
- Verrius FlaccusVerrius FlaccusMarcus Verrius Flaccus was a Roman grammarian and teacher who flourished under Augustus and Tiberius.-Life:He was a freedman, and his manumitter has been identified with Verrius Flaccus, an authority on pontifical law; but for chronological reasons the name of Veranius Flaccus, a writer on augury,...
':- De Orthographia: De Obscuris Catonis, an elucidation of obscurities in the writings of Cato the ElderCato the ElderMarcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...
- Saturnus, dealing with questions of Roman ritual
- Rerum memoria dignarum libri, an encyclopaedic work much used by Pliny the ElderPliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
- Res Etruscae, probably on augury.
- De Orthographia: De Obscuris Catonis, an elucidation of obscurities in the writings of Cato the Elder
- Frontinus:
- De re militari, a military manual
- GorgiasGorgiasGorgias ,Greek sophist, pre-socratic philosopher and rhetorician, was a native of Leontini in Sicily. Along with Protagoras, he forms the first generation of Sophists. Several doxographers report that he was a pupil of Empedocles, although he would only have been a few years younger...
':- On Non-Existence (or On Nature) - Only two sketches of it exist.
- Epitaphios - What exists is thought to be only a small fragment of a significantly longer piece.
- HomerHomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's MargitesMargitesThe Margites, a comic mock-epic of Ancient Greece,is about an idiot named "Margites" who was so dense he did not know which parent had given birth to him...
. - LivyLivyTitus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
:- 107 of the 142 books of Ab Urbe Condita (book)Ab Urbe condita (book)Ab urbe condita libri — often shortened to Ab urbe condita — is a monumental history of ancient Rome written in Latin sometime between 27 and 25 BC by the historian Titus Livius. The work covers the time from the stories of Aeneas, the earliest legendary period from before the city's founding in c....
, a history of Rome
- 107 of the 142 books of Ab Urbe Condita (book)
- LucanMarcus Annaeus LucanusMarcus Annaeus Lucanus , better known in English as Lucan, was a Roman poet, born in Corduba , in the Hispania Baetica. Despite his short life, he is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial Latin period...
's:- Catachthonion
- Iliacon from the Trojan cycle
- Epigrammata
- AdlocutioAdlocutioIn ancient Rome, an adlocutio was an address by a general to his massed army and a general salute from the army to their leader. It is often portrayed in sculpture, either simply as a single, life-size contraposto figure of the general with his arm outstretched , or a relief scene of the general...
ad Pollam - Silvae
- Saturnalia
- Medea
- Salticae Fabulae
- Laudes Neronis, a praise of Nero
- Orpheus
- Prosa oratio in Octavium Sagittam
- Epistulae ex Campania
- De Incendio Urbis
- Memnon of HeracleaMemnon of HeracleaMemnon of Heraclea was a Greek historical writer, probably a native of Heraclea Pontica. He described the history of that city in a large work, known only through the Excerpta of Photius , and describing especially the various tyrants who had at times ruled Heraclea.Memnon's history encompassed...
's history of Heraclea PonticaHeraclea PonticaHeraclea Pontica , an ancient city on the coast of Bithynia in Asia Minor, at the mouth of the river Lycus. It was founded by the Greek city-state of Megara c.560-558 and was named after Heracles who the Greeks believed entered the underworld at a cave on the adjoining Archerusian promontory .The...
. - NicanderNicanderNicander of Colophon , Greek poet, physician and grammarian, was born at Claros, , near Colophon, where his family held the hereditary priesthood of Apollo. He flourished under Attalus III of Pergamum.He wrote a number of works both in prose and verse, of which two survive complete...
's:- Aetolica, a prose history of Aetolia.
- Heteroeumena, a mythological epic.
- Georgica and Melissourgica, of which considerable fragments are preserved.
- OvidOvidPublius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
's poem Medea, of which only two fragments survive. - Pamphilus of AlexandriaPamphilus of AlexandriaPamphilus was a Greek grammarian, of the school of Aristarchus of Samothrace.He was the author of a comprehensive lexicon, in 95 books, of foreign or obscure words, the idea of which was credited to another grammarian, Zopyrion, himself the compiler of the first four books...
's comprehensive lexicon in 95 books of foreign or obscure words. - Pherecydes of LerosPherecydes of LerosPherecydes of Leros was a Greek mythographer and logographer. He came from the island of Leros. Pherecydes spent the greater part of his working life in Athens, and so he was also called Pherecydes of Athens: the encyclopedic Byzantine Suda consider Pherecydes of Athens and of Leros...
:- A history of LerosLerosLeros is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies 317 km from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 11-hour ferry ride . Leros is part of the Kalymnos peripheral unit...
- an essay, On Iphigeneia
- On the Festivals of Dionysus
- Genealogies of the gods and heroes, originally in ten books; numerous fragments have been preserved.
- A history of Leros
- Pherecydes of SyrosPherecydes of SyrosPherecydes of Syros was a Greek thinker from the island of Syros, of the 6th century BC. Pherecydes authored the Pentemychos or Heptamychos, one of the first attested prose works in Greek literature, which formed an important bridge between mythic and pre-Socratic thought.- Life :Very little is...
' Heptamychia - Pliny the ElderPliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
's:- History of the German Wars, some quotations survive in TacitusTacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
' AnnalsAnnals (Tacitus)The Annals by Tacitus is a history of the reigns of the four Roman Emperors succeeding Caesar Augustus. The surviving parts of the Annals extensively cover most of the reigns of Tiberius and Nero. The title Annals was probably not given by Tacitus, but derives from the fact that he treated this...
and GermaniaGermaniaGermania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube... - Studiosus, a detailed work on rhetoric
- Dubii sermonis, in eight books
- History of his Times, in thirty-one books, also quoted by Tacitus.
- De jaculatione equestri a military handbook on missiles thrown from horseback.
- History of the German Wars, some quotations survive in Tacitus
- Gaius Asinius PollioGaius Asinius Pollio (consul 40 BC)Gaius Asinius Pollio was a Roman soldier, politician, orator, poet, playwright, literary critic and historian, whose lost contemporary history, provided much of the material for the historians Appian and Plutarch...
's Historiae ("Histories") - Alexander PolyhistorAlexander PolyhistorLucius Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor was a Greek scholar who was enslaved by the Romans during the Mithridatic War and taken to Rome as a tutor. After his release, he continued to live in Italy as a Roman citizen...
's Successions of PhilosophersSuccessions of PhilosophersSuccessions of Philosophers or Philosophers' Successions was the name of several lost works from the Hellenistic era. Their purpose was to depict the philosophers of different schools in terms of a line of succession of which they were a part...
. - PraxagorasPraxagorasPraxagoras was an influential figure of medicine in ancient Greece. He was born on the Greek island of Kos in about 340 BC. Both his father, Nicarchus, and his grandfather were physicians...
's History of Constantine the Greathttp://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_03bibliotheca.htm#62. - ProdicusProdicusProdicus of Ceos was a Greek philosopher, and part of the first generation of Sophists. He came to Athens as ambassador from Ceos, and became known as a speaker and a teacher. Plato treats him with greater respect than the other sophists, and in several of the Platonic dialogues Socrates appears...
':- On Nature
- On the Nature of Man
- "On Propriety of Language"
- On the Choice of Heracles
- ProtagorasProtagorasProtagoras was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and is numbered as one of the sophists by Plato. In his dialogue Protagoras, Plato credits him with having invented the role of the professional sophist or teacher of virtue...
':- "On the Gods" (essay)
- On the Art of Disputation
- On the Original State of Things
- On Truth
- QuintilianQuintilianMarcus Fabius Quintilianus was a Roman rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing...
's De Causis Corruptae Eloquentiae (On the Causes of Corrupted Eloquence) - Diodorus SiculusDiodorus SiculusDiodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
' Bibliotheca historia (Historical Library)- of 40 books, only the first 5 books, and books 10 through 20 are extant. - The Hellespontine SibylHellespontine Sibylthumb|right|Montfoort's rendering of the Hellespontine SibylThe Hellespontine Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Dardania. The Sibyl is sometimes referred to as the Trojan Sibyl. The word Sibyl comes from the ancient Latin word sibylla, meaning prophetess or oracle...
's Sibylline BooksSibylline BooksThe Sibylline Books or Libri Sibyllini were a collection of oracular utterances, set out in Greek hexameters, purchased from a sibyl by the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, and consulted at momentous crises through the history of the Republic and the Empire... - SocratesSocratesSocrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
' verse versions of Aesop's FablesAesop's FablesAesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
. - StraboStraboStrabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
's History. - Marcus Terentius VarroMarcus Terentius VarroMarcus Terentius Varro was an ancient Roman scholar and writer. He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus.-Biography:...
's:- Saturarum Menippearum libri CL (Menippean Satires in 150 books)
- Antiquatatum rerum humanarum et divinarum libri XLI
- Logistoricon libri LXXVI
- Hebdomades vel de imaginibus
- Disciplinarum libri IX
- SuetoniusSuetoniusGaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
'- De Viris Illustribus ("On Famous Men" — in the field of literature), to which belongs: De Illustribus Grammaticis ("Lives Of The Grammarians"), De Claris Rhetoribus ("Lives Of The Rhetoricians"), and Lives Of The Poets. Some fragments exist.
- Lives of Famous Whores
- Royal Biographies
- Roma ("On Rome"), in four parts: Roman Manners & Customs, The Roman Year, The Roman Festivals, and Roman Dress.
- Greek Games
- On Public Offices
- On Cicero’s Republic
- The Physical Defects of Mankind
- Methods of Reckoning Time
- An Essay on Nature
- Greek Terms of Abuse
- Grammatical Problems
- Critical Signs Used in Books
- ThalesThalesThales of Miletus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition...
- On the Solstice(possible lost work)
- On the Equinox (possible lost work)
- VarroVarroVarro was a Roman cognomen carried by:*Marcus Terentius Varro, sometimes known as Varro Reatinus, the scholar*Publius Terentius Varro or Varro Atacinus, the poet*Gaius Terentius Varro, the consul defeated at the battle of Cannae...
- Saturarum Menippearum libri CL or Menippean Satires in 150 books
- Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum libri XLI
- Logistoricon libri LXXVI
- Hebdomades vel de imaginibus
- Disciplinarum libri IX
- The work of the Cyclic poetsCyclic PoetsCyclic Poets is a shorthand term for the early Greek epic poets, approximate contemporaries of Homer. We know no more about these poets than we know about Homer, but modern scholars regard them as having composed orally, as did Homer. In the classical period, surviving early epic poems were...
(excluding HomerHomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
), specifically:- six epics of the Epic Cycle: Cypria, Aethiopis, the Little IliadLittle IliadThe Little Iliad is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse. The story of the Little Iliad comes chronologically after that of the Aethiopis, and is followed by that of the...
, the Iliou persisIliou persisThe Iliupersis , also known as The Sack of Troy, is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse...
("Sack of Troy"), NostoiNostoiThe Nostoi , also known as Returns or Returns of the Greeks, was a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse...
("Returns"), and TelegonyTelegonyThe Telegony is a lost ancient Greek epic poem about Telegonus, son of Odysseus by Circe. His name is indicative of his birth on Aeaea, far from Odysseus' home of Ithaca. It was part of the Epic Cycle of poems that recounted the myths not only of the Trojan War but also of the events that led up...
. - four epics of the Theban CycleTheban CycleThe Theban Cycle is a collection of four lost epics of ancient Greek literature which related the mythical history of the Boeotian city of Thebes...
: OedipodeaOedipodeaThe Oedipodea is a lost poem of the Theban cycle, a part of the Epic Cycle . The poem was about 6,600 verses long and the authorship was credited by ancient authorities to Cinaethon , a barely known poet who lived probably in Sparta...
, ThebaidThebaid (Greek poem)The Thebaid or Thebais is an Ancient Greek epic poem of uncertain authorship sometimes attributed by early writers to Homer. It told the story of the war between the brothers Eteocles and Polynices, and was regarded as forming part of a Theban Cycle. Only fragments of the text...
, Epigoni (epic)Epigoni (epic)Epigoni was an early Greek epic, a sequel to the Thebaid and therefore grouped in the Theban cycle. Some ancient authors seem to have considered it a part of the Thebaid and not a separate poem....
, and AlcmeonisAlcmeonisAlcmeonis is the title of a lost early Greek epic which is considered to have formed part of the Theban cycle. There are only seven references to the Alcmeonis in ancient literature, and all of them make it clear that the authorship of the epic was unknown...
. - other early Greek epicsCyclic PoetsCyclic Poets is a shorthand term for the early Greek epic poets, approximate contemporaries of Homer. We know no more about these poets than we know about Homer, but modern scholars regard them as having composed orally, as did Homer. In the classical period, surviving early epic poems were...
: TitanomachyTitanomachy (epic poem)The Titanomachy is a lost epic poem, which is a part of Greek mythology. It deals with the struggle that Zeus and his siblings, the Olympian Gods, had in overthrowing their father Cronus and his divine generation, the Titans....
, HeracleiaPeisanderPeisander of Camirus in Rhodes, Ancient Greek epic poet, supposed to have flourished about 640 BC.He was the author of a Heracleia - Ἡράκλεια, in which he introduced a new conception of the hero Heracles costume, the lions skin and club taking the place of the older armor of the heroic era. He is...
, Capture of OechaliaCapture of OechaliaThe Capture of Oechalia was an epic segment of the ancient Greek Epic Cycle that has not survived; it was variously attributed in Antiquity to either Homer or Creophylus of Samos; a tradition was reported that Homer gave the tale to Creophylus, in gratitude for guest-friendship , and that he wrote...
, NaupactiaNaupactiaThe Naupactia is a lost epic poem of ancient Greek literature. In antiquity the title was also written Naupaktika , and it is also in the present day sometimes referred to among scholars by the Latin phrase carmen Naupactium...
, PhocaisThestorides of PhocaeaThestorides of Phocaea was a legendary or semi-legendary early Greek poet, one of those to whom the epic Little Iliad was ascribed.Thestorides figures as a major character in the fictional Life of Homer fraudulently ascribed to Herodotus...
, MinyasMinyas (poem)Minyas was the title of an early Greek epic poem, probably dating to the 6th century BC, which is now lost and whose author is unknown. The very few fragments that survive Minyas was the title of an early Greek epic poem, probably dating to the 6th century BC, which is now lost and whose author...
- six epics of the Epic Cycle: Cypria, Aethiopis, the Little Iliad
Multiple works
- Lost plays of AeschylusAeschylusAeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
. He is believed to have written some 90 plays of which 6 plays survive. A seventh play is attributed to him. Fragments of his play Achilles were said to have been discovered in the wrappings of a mummyMummyA mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
in the 1990s - Lost plays of AgathonAgathonAgathon was an Athenian tragic poet whose works, up to the present moment, have been lost. He is best known for his appearance in Plato's Symposium, which describes the banquet given to celebrate his obtaining a prize for his first tragedy at the Lenaia in . He is also a prominent character in...
. None of them survives. - Lost poems of Alcaeus of Mytilene. Of a reported ten scrolls, there exist only quotes and numerous fragments.
- Lost choral poems of AlcmanAlcmanAlcman was an Ancient Greek choral lyric poet from Sparta. He is the earliest representative of the Alexandrinian canon of the nine lyric poets.- Family :...
. Of six books of choral lyrics were known (ca. 50-60 hymns), only fragmentary quotations in other Greek authors were known until the discovery of a fragment in 1855, containing approximately 100 verses. In the 1960s, many more fragments were discovered and published from a dig at OxyrhynchusOxyrhynchusOxyrhynchus is a city in Upper Egypt, located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo, in the governorate of Al Minya. It is also an archaeological site, considered one of the most important ever discovered...
. - Lost poems of AnacreonAnacreonAnacreon was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and hymns. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of nine lyric poets.- Life :...
. Of the five books of lyrical pieces mentioned in the SudaSudaThe Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...
and by AthenaeusAthenaeusAthenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD...
, only mere fragments collected from the citations of later writers now exist. - Lost works of AnaximanderAnaximanderAnaximander was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived in Miletus, a city of Ionia; Milet in modern Turkey. He belonged to the Milesian school and learned the teachings of his master Thales...
. There are a few extant fragments of his works. - Lost plays of Aristarchus of TegeaAristarchus of TegeaAristarchus or Aristarch of Tegea was a contemporary of Sophocles and Euripides, who lived to be a centenarian, to compose seventy pieces and to win two tragic victories. Only the titles of three of his plays with a single line of the text, have come down to us, though Ennius freely borrowed from...
. Of seventy pieces, only the titles of three of his plays, with a single line of the text have survived. - Lost plays of AristophanesAristophanesAristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
. He wrote forty plays, eleven of which survive. - Lost works of AristotleAristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
. It is believed that we have about one third of his original works. - Lost work of AristoxenusAristoxenusAristoxenus of Tarentum was a Greek Peripatetic philosopher, and a pupil of Aristotle. Most of his writings, which dealt with philosophy, ethics and music, have been lost, but one musical treatise, Elements of Harmony, survives incomplete, as well as some fragments concerning rhythm and...
. He is said to have written 453 works, dealing with philosophy, ethics and music. His only extant work is Elements of Harmony. - Lost works of the historian ArrianArrianLucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian, public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period...
. - Lost works of CallimachusCallimachusCallimachus was a native of the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya. He was a noted poet, critic and scholar at the Library of Alexandria and enjoyed the patronage of the Egyptian–Greek Pharaohs Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes...
. Of about 800 works, in verse and prose; only six hymns, sixty-four epigrams and some fragments survive; a considerable fragment of the epic HecaleHecaleIn Greek mythology, Hecale, or Hekálē, was an old woman who offered succor to Theseus on his way to capture the Marathonian Bull.On the way to Marathon to capture the Bull, Theseus sought shelter from a storm in a shack owned by an ancient lady named Hecale. She swore to make a sacrifice to Zeus if...
, was discovered in the Rainer papyri. - Lost works of ChrysippusChrysippusChrysippus of Soli was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a native of Soli, Cilicia, but moved to Athens as a young man, where he became a pupil of Cleanthes in the Stoic school. When Cleanthes died, around 230 BC, Chrysippus became the third head of the school...
. Of over 700 written works, none survive, except a few fragments embedded in the works of later authors. - Lost works of CiceroCiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
. Of his books, six on rhetoric have survived, and parts of seven on philosophy. Only books 1-3 of his 6 book work De re publicaDe re publicaDe re publica is a dialogue on Roman politics by Cicero, written in six books between 54 and 51 BC. It is written in the format of a Socratic dialogue in which Scipio Africanus Minor takes the role of a wise old man — an obligatory part for the genre...
have survived mostly intact. - Lost works of Clitomachus. According to Diogenes LaertiusDiogenes LaertiusDiogenes Laertius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is one of the principal surviving sources for the history of Greek philosophy.-Life:Nothing is definitively known about his life...
, he wrote some 400 books, of which none are extant today, although a few titles are known. - Lost plays of CratinusCratinusCratinus , Athenian comic poet of the Old Comedy.-Life:Cratinus was victorious six times at the City Dionysia, first probably in the mid- to late 450s BCE , and three times at the Lenaia, first probably in the early 430s...
. Only fragments of his works have been preserved. - Lost works of DemocritusDemocritusDemocritus was an Ancient Greek philosopher born in Abdera, Thrace, Greece. He was an influential pre-Socratic philosopher and pupil of Leucippus, who formulated an atomic theory for the cosmos....
. He wrote extensively on natural philosophy and ethics, of which little remains. - Lost works of DiphilusDiphilusDiphilus, of Sinope, was a poet of the new Attic comedy and contemporary of Menander . Most of his plays were written and acted at Athens, but he led a wandering life, and died at Smyrna....
. He is said to have written 100 comedies, the titles of fifty of which are preserved. - Lost works of EnniusEnniusQuintus Ennius was a writer during the period of the Roman Republic, and is often considered the father of Roman poetry. He was of Calabrian descent...
. Only fragments of his works survive. - Lost works of EmpedoclesEmpedoclesEmpedocles was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of Agrigentum, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is best known for being the originator of the cosmogenic theory of the four Classical elements...
. Little of what he wrote survives today. - Lost plays of Epicharmus of KosEpicharmus of KosEpicharmus is thought to have lived within the hundred year period between c. 540 and c. 450 BC. He was a Greek dramatist and philosopher often credited with being one of the first comic writers, having originated the Doric or Sicilian comedic form. Aristotle writes that he and Phormis invented...
. He wrote between 35 and 52 comedies, many of which have been lost or exist only in fragments. - Lost plays of EuripidesEuripidesEuripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
. He is believed to have written over ninety plays, eighteen of which have survived. Fragments, some substantial, of most other plays also survive. - Lost plays of EupolisEupolisEupolis was an Athenian poet of the Old Comedy, who flourished during the time of the Peloponnesian War.-Biography:Nothing whatsoever is known of his personal history. There are few sources on when he first appeared on the stage...
. Of the 17 plays attributed to him, only fragments remain. - Lost works of HeraclitusHeraclitusHeraclitus of Ephesus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Asia Minor. He was of distinguished parentage. Little is known about his early life and education, but he regarded himself as self-taught and a pioneer of wisdom...
. His writings only survive in fragments quoted by other authors. - Lost works of HippasusHippasusHippasus of Metapontum in Magna Graecia, was a Pythagorean philosopher. Little is known about his life or his beliefs, but he is sometimes credited with the discovery of the existence of irrational numbers.-Life:...
. Few of his original works now survive. - Lost works of HippiasHippiasHippias of Elis was a Greek Sophist, and a contemporary of Socrates. With an assurance characteristic of the later sophists, he claimed to be regarded as an authority on all subjects, and lectured on poetry, grammar, history, politics, mathematics, and much else...
. He is credited with an excellent work on Homer, collections of Greek and foreign literature, and archaeological treatises, but nothing remains except the barest notes. - Lost orations of Hyperides. Some 79 speeches were transmitted in his name in antiquity. A codex of his speeches was seen at Buda in 1525 C.E. in the library of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, but was destroyed by the Turks in 1526. In 2002, Natalie Tchernetska of Trinity College, Cambridge discovered and identified fragments of two speeches of Hyperides that have been considered lost, Against Timandros and Against Diondas. Six other orations survive in whole or part.
- Lost poems of IbycusIbycusIbycus , was an Ancient Greek lyric poet, a citizen of Rhegium in Magna Graecia, probably active at Samos during the reign of the tyrant Polycrates and numbered by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria in the canonical list of nine lyric poets...
. According to the SudaSudaThe Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...
, he wrote seven books of lyrics. - Lost works of Juba IIJuba IIJuba II or Juba II of Numidia was a king of Numidia and then later moved to Mauretania. His first wife was Cleopatra Selene II, daughter to Greek Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony.-Early life:Juba II was a prince of Berber descent from North Africa...
. He wrote a number of books in Greek and Latin on history, natural history, geography, grammar, painting and theatre. Only fragments of his work survive. - Lost works of LeucippusLeucippusLeucippus or Leukippos was one of the earliest Greeks to develop the theory of atomism — the idea that everything is composed entirely of various imperishable, indivisible elements called atoms — which was elaborated in greater detail by his pupil and successor, Democritus...
. No writings exist which we can attribute to him. - Lost works of Melissus of SamosMelissus of SamosMelissus of Samos was the third and last member of the ancient school of Eleatic philosophy, whose other members included Zeno and Parmenides. Little is known about his life except that he was the commander of the Samian fleet shortly before the Peloponnesian War. Melissus’ contribution to...
. Only fragments preserved in other writers' works exist. - Lost plays of MenanderMenanderMenander , Greek dramatist, the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy, was the son of well-to-do parents; his father Diopeithes is identified by some with the Athenian general and governor of the Thracian Chersonese known from the speech of Demosthenes De Chersoneso...
. He wrote over a hundred comedies of which one survives. Fragments of a number of his plays survive. - Lost works of PhilemonPhilemon (poet)Philemon ; was an Athenian poet and playwright of the New Comedy. He was born either at Soli in Cilicia or at Syracuse in Sicily but moved to Athens some time before 330 BC, when he is known to have been producing plays....
. Of his ninety-seven works, fifty-seven are known to us only as titles and fragments. - Lost poetry of PindarPindarPindar , was an Ancient Greek lyric poet. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian described him as "by far the greatest of the nine lyric poets, in virtue of his inspired magnificence, the beauty of his thoughts and figures, the rich...
. Of his varied books of poetry, only his victory odes survive in complete form. The rest are known only by quotations in other works or papyrus scraps unearthed in Egypt. - Lost plays of PlautusPlautusTitus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
. He wrote approximately one hundred and thirty plays, of which twenty-one survive. - Lost poems and orations of Pliny the YoungerPliny the YoungerGaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...
. - Rhetorical works of Julius PolluxJulius PolluxJulius Pollux was a Greek or Egyptian grammarian and sophist from Alexandria who taught at Athens, where he was appointed professor of rhetoric at the Academy by the emperor Commodus — on account of his melodious voice, according to Philostratus' Lives of the Sophists. Nothing of his...
. - Lost works of PosidoniusPosidoniusPosidonius "of Apameia" or "of Rhodes" , was a Greek Stoic philosopher, politician, astronomer, geographer, historian and teacher native to Apamea, Syria. He was acclaimed as the greatest polymath of his age...
. All of his works are now lost. Some fragments exist, as well as titles and subjects of many of his books.http://assets.cambridge.org/052160/4419/toc/0521604419_toc.pdf - Lost works of ProclusProclusProclus Lycaeus , called "The Successor" or "Diadochos" , was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major Classical philosophers . He set forth one of the most elaborate and fully developed systems of Neoplatonism...
. A number of his commentaries on PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
are lost. - Lost works of PyrrhusPyrrhus of EpirusPyrrhus or Pyrrhos was a Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic era. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house , and later he became king of Epirus and Macedon . He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome...
. He wrote Memoirs and several books on the art of war, all now lost. According to Plutarch, Hannibal was influenced by them and they received praise from Cicero. - Lost works of PythagorasPythagorasPythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...
. No texts by him survive. - Lost plays of RhinthonRhinthonRhinthon was a Hellenistic dramatist.The son of a potter, he was probably a native of Syracuse and afterwards settled at Tarentum....
. Of thirty-eight plays, only a few titles and lines have been preserved. - Lost poems of SapphoSapphoSappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
. Only a few full poems and fragments of others survive. - Lost poems of Simonides of CeosSimonides of CeosSimonides of Ceos was a Greek lyric poet, born at Ioulis on Kea. The scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria included him in the canonical list of nine lyric poets, along with Bacchylides and Pindar...
. Of his poetry we possess two or three short elegies, several epigrams and about 90 fragments of lyric poetry. - Lost plays of SophoclesSophoclesSophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
. Of 123 plays, 7 survive, with fragments of others. - Lost poems of StesichorusStesichorusStesichorus was the first great poet of the Greek West. He is best known for telling epic stories in lyric metres but he is also famous for some ancient traditions about his life, such as his opposition to the tyrant Phalaris, and the blindness he is said to have incurred and cured by composing...
. Of several long works, significant fragments survive. - Lost works of TheodectesTheodectesTheodectes was a Greek rhetorician and tragic poet, of Phaselis in Lycia who lived in the period which followed the Peloponnesian War. Along with the continual decay of political and religious life, tragedy sank more and more into mere rhetorical display. The school of Isocrates produced the...
. Of his fifty tragedies, we have the names of about thirteen and a few unimportant fragments. His treatise on the art of rhetoric and his speeches are lost. - Lost works of TheophrastusTheophrastusTheophrastus , a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings, and...
. Of his 227 books, only a handful survive, including On Plants and On Stones, but On Mining is lost. Fragments of others survive. - Lost works of XenophanesXenophanesof Colophon was a Greek philosopher, theologian, poet, and social and religious critic. Xenophanes life was one of travel, having left Ionia at the age of 25 he continued to travel throughout the Greek world for another 67 years. Some scholars say he lived in exile in Siciliy...
. Fragments of his poetry survive only as quotations by later Greek writers. - Lost works of Zeno of EleaZeno of EleaZeno of Elea was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of southern Italy and a member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides. Aristotle called him the inventor of the dialectic. He is best known for his paradoxes, which Bertrand Russell has described as "immeasurably subtle and profound".- Life...
. None of his works survive intact. - Lost works of Zeno of CitiumZeno of CitiumZeno of Citium was a Greek philosopher from Citium . Zeno was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 BC. Based on the moral ideas of the Cynics, Stoicism laid great emphasis on goodness and peace of mind gained from living a life of virtue in...
. None of his writings have survived except as fragmentary quotations preserved by later writers.
Ancient Chinese texts
- Classic of MusicClassic of MusicThe Classic of Music is sometimes referred to as the sixth "Chinese classic text". It was lost by the time of the Han Dynasty.A few traces remain and can be found in other ancient Chinese classics like Zuo Zhuan , Zhou li , and the Classic of Rites...
by ConfuciusConfuciusConfucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
. - Medical treatise of the renowned physician Hua TuoHua TuoHua Tuo was an ancient Chinese physician who lived during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. The Records of Three Kingdoms and Book of Later Han record Hua as the first person in China to use anesthesia during surgery. He used a general anesthetic combining wine with a...
(traditional Chinese: 華佗; simplified Chinese: 华陀; pinyinPinyinPinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Huà Tuó) from late Eastern Han. The treatise was traditionally referred to as Qing Nang Shu (traditional Chinese 青囊書; simplified Chinese: 青囊书; pinyinPinyinPinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Qīng Náng Shū), literally Book in the Cyan Bag. When Hua Tuo was sentenced to death after incurring the wrath of Cao CaoCao CaoCao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...
, who controlled the Imperial Court, the physician tried to entrust the text to his gaoler. However, the gaoler was afraid of potentially implicating himself and in disappointment, Hua Tuo had the text burnt. Records of the Three Kingdoms Chapter 29, Book of Wei - Technology 《三国志卷二十九·魏书·方技传》
Lost Biblical texts
- HexaplaHexaplaHexapla is the term for an edition of the Bible in six versions. Especially it applies to the edition of the Old Testament compiled by Origen of Alexandria, which placed side by side:#Hebrew...
, a compilation of the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
by OrigenOrigenOrigen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
.
Lost texts referenced in the Old Testament
- Book of the Covenant (may be the Covenant CodeCovenant CodeThe Covenant Code, or alternatively Book of the Covenant, is the name given by academics to a text appearing in the Torah at Exodus - . Biblically, the text is the second of the law codes given to Moses by God at Mount Sinai...
) - Book of the Wars of the LordBook of the Wars of the LordThe Book of the Wars of the is one of several non-canonical books referenced in the Bible which have now been completely lost. It is mentioned in , which reads: "From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the desert and bounding the Amorite territory. For Arnon...
- Book of Jasher (may be the Book of JasherBook of Jasher (Pseudo-Jasher)The Book of Jasher, or Pseudo-Jasher, is an 18th-century literary forgery by Jacob Ilive. It purports to be an English translation by Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus of a lost Book of Jasher...
or the Midrash of JasherSefer haYashar (midrash)The Sefer haYashar is a Hebrew midrash also known as the Toledot Adam and Dibre ha-Yamim be-'Aruk. It is known in English translation mostly as The Book of Jasher...
) - Manner of the Kingdom
- Acts of SolomonActs of SolomonThe Acts of Solomon is a lost text that may have been written by the Biblical prophet Iddo, who was the author of other lost texts. The book is described in , where it reads: "And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of...
- Chronicles of the Kings of IsraelChronicles of the Kings of IsraelThe Chronicles of the Kings of Israel is a book that gives a more detailed account of the reigns of the kings of ancient Kingdom of Israel than that presented in the Hebrew Bible, and may have been the source from which parts of the biblical account was drawn...
- Chronicles of the Kings of JudahChronicles of the Kings of JudahThe Chronicles of the Kings of Judah is a book that gives a more detailed account of the reigns of the kings of ancient Kingdom of Judah than that presented in the Hebrew Bible, and may have been the source from which parts of the biblical account was drawn...
- Book of the Kings of IsraelBook of the Kings of IsraelThe Book of the Kings of Israel is a non-canonical work described in . The passage reads:It is referenced again at , which reads:It is referenced again at , which reads:This name is sometimes written The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah....
- Annals of King DavidAnnals of King DavidThe Annals of King David is a lost work mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.that may have been written by the Biblical prophet Nathan, who was one of King David's contemporaries....
- Book of Samuel the SeerBook of Samuel the SeerThe Book of Samuel the Seer is a lost text.-Description:A description within Books of Chronicles 29:29, the passage reads:"Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the...
- Book of Nathan the ProphetBook of Nathan the ProphetThe Book of Nathan the Prophet is a lost text that claims authorship by the Biblical prophet Nathan. It is described at . The passage reads: "Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the...
- Book of Gad the SeerBook of Gad the SeerThe Book of Gad the Seer is a lost text that purports to have been written by the Biblical prophet Gad. It is described at . The passage reads: "Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the...
- History of Nathan the ProphetHistory of Nathan the ProphetThe History of Nathan the Prophet is one of the lost books of the Tanakh. It may have been written by the Biblical prophet Nathan, who may have been the author of other lost texts. The book is described in...
- Prophecy of AhijahProphecy of AhijahThe Prophecy of Ahijah is a lost text that may have been written by the Biblical prophet Ahijah. The book is described in . The passage reads: "Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite,...
- Visions of Iddo the SeerVisions of Iddo the SeerThe book called the Visions of Iddo the Seer is a lost text that was probably written by the Biblical Prophet Iddo, who lived at the time of Rehoboam. The book is described at...
- Book of Shemaiah the ProphetBook of Shemaiah the ProphetThe Book of Shemaiah the Prophet is one of the lost books of the Old Testament. It was probably written by the Biblical Prophet Shemaiah, who lived at the time of Rehoboam. The book is described at...
- Iddo GenealogiesIddo GenealogiesThe book called the Iddo Genealogies is one of the Lost books of the Old Testament. It was attributed to the Biblical Prophet Iddo, who is said to have lived at the time of Rehoboam. The book is described at...
- Story of the Prophet IddoStory of the Prophet IddoThe Story of the Prophet Iddo is a lost text that was probably written by the Biblical Prophet Iddo, who lived at the time of Rehoboam. The book is described at...
- Book of the Kings of Judah and IsraelBook of the Kings of Judah and IsraelThe Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel is one of the lost books of the Old Testament. The book is described at . The passage reads: "And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel."...
- Book of JehuBook of JehuThe Book of Jehu is a lost text that may have been written by the Biblical prophet Jehu ben Hanani, who was one of King Baasha's contemporaries. The book is described in : "Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who...
- Story of the Book of KingsStory of the Book of KingsThe Story of the Book of Kings is one of the Lost books of the Old Testament. The book is described in . The passage reads: "Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of the book of the kings...
- Acts of UziahActs of UziahThe Acts of Uziah is a lost text that may have been written by Isaiah, who was one of King Uzziah's contemporaries. The book is described in . The passage reads: "Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write."This manuscript is sometimes called...
- Acts of the Kings of IsraelActs of the Kings of IsraelThe Acts of the Kings of Israel is a non-canonical work described in . The passage reads: "Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of...
- Sayings of the SeersSayings of the SeersThe Sayings of the Seers, , is a lost text referred to in . The passage reads: "His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written...
- Laments for JosiahLaments for JosiahLaments for Josiah is the term used in reference to . The passage reads: "And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations."This...
- Book of the Chronicles
- Chronicles of King Ahasuerus
- Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia
Lost works referenced in the New Testament
- Epistle to Corinth
- Epistle from Laodicea to the Colossians
Lost Works Pertaining to Jesus
(These works are generally 2nd century and later; some would be considered reflective of proto-orthodox Christianity, and others would be heterodox.)- Gospel of EveGospel of EveThe Gospel of Eve is a currently almost entirely lost text from the New Testament apocrypha, which may be the same as the also lost Gospel of Perfection...
- Gospel of JudasGospel of JudasThe Gospel of Judas is a Gnostic gospel that purportedly documents conversations between the Disciple Judas Iscariot and Jesus Christ.It is believed to have been written by Gnostic followers of Jesus, rather than by Judas himself, and probably dates from no earlier than the 2nd century, since it...
, a fragmentary coptCoptThe Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
ic codexCodexA codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
rediscovered and translated, 2006 - Gospel of ManiGospel of ManiThe Living Gospel was a 3rd century gnostic gospel written by Mani. It was originally written in Syriac and called the Evangelion , from the Greek: Ευαγγελιον and one of the seven original scriptures of Manichaeism...
- Gospel of MatthiasGospel of MatthiasThe Gospel of Matthias is a lost text from the New Testament apocrypha, ascribed to Matthias, the apostle chosen by lots to replace Judas Iscariot . The content has been surmised from various descriptions of it in ancient works by church fathers . There is too little evidence to decide whether a...
- Gospel of PerfectionGospel of PerfectionThe Gospel of Perfection is a currently lost text from the New Testament apocrypha. The text is mentioned in ancient anti-heretical works by the church fathers. It is thought to be a gnostic text of the Ophites, and is believed by some to be the same as the Gospel of Eve, though the words of Saint...
- Gospel of the Four Heavenly RealmsGospel of the Four Heavenly RealmsThe Gospel of the Four Heavenly Realms is a currently lost text from the New Testament apocrypha.The content has been surmised from various descriptions of it in ancient works by church fathers...
- Gospel of the HebrewsGospel of the HebrewsThe Gospel of the Hebrews , commonly shortened from the Gospel according to the Hebrews or simply called the Hebrew Gospel, is a hypothesised lost gospel preserved in fragments within the writings of the Church Fathers....
- Gospel of the SeventyGospel of the SeventyThe Gospel of the Seventy is a currently lost text from the New Testament apocrypha. The title of the text refers to the number of disciples sent by Jesus to preach, in Luke's Gospel. See Seventy Disciples, quoted in some manuscrpits as 72....
- Gospel of the TwelveGospel of the TwelveThe Gospel of the Twelve , possibly also referred to as the Gospel of the Apostles, is a lost gospel mentioned by Origen in Homilies in Luke as part of a list of heretical works.-Gospel of the Twelve :...
- Memoria ApostolorumMemoria ApostolorumMemoria Apostolorum, which means memory of the apostles, is one of the lost texts from the New Testament apocrypha.Given the name, it may be one of the texts which are already known, and for which we have some of the content, such as the Gospel of the Twelve, or one of the apocryphal Acts, or...
- Secret Gospel of MarkSecret Gospel of MarkThe Secret Gospel of Mark is a putative non-canonical Christian gospel known exclusively from the Mar Saba letter, which describes Secret Mark as an expanded version of the canonical Gospel of Mark with some episodes elucidated, written for an initiated elite.In 1973 Morton Smith , professor of...
2nd century
- HegesippusHegesippus (chronicler)Saint Hegesippus , was a Christian chronicler of the early Church who may have been a Jewish convert and certainly wrote against heresies of the Gnostics and of Marcion...
' Hypomnemata (Memoirs) in five books, and a history of the Christian church. - The Gospel of the LordGospel of MarcionThe Gospel of Marcion, called by its adherents the Gospel of the Lord, was a text used by the mid-2nd century Christian teacher Marcion to the exclusion of the other gospels...
compiled by Marcion of SinopeMarcion of SinopeMarcion of Sinope was a bishop in early Christianity. His theology, which rejected the deity described in the Jewish Scriptures as inferior or subjugated to the God proclaimed in the Christian gospel, was denounced by the Church Fathers and he was excommunicated...
to support his interpretation of Christianity. Marcion's writings were suppressed although a portion of them have been recreated from the works that were used to denounce them. - Papias' Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord in five books, mentioned by Eusebius.
3rd century
- Various works of TertullianTertullianQuintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
. Some fifteen works in Latin or Greek are lost, some as recently as the 9th century (De Paradiso, De superstitione saeculi, De carne et anima were all extant in the now damaged Codex AgobardinusCodex AgobardinusThe Codex Agobardinus is a collection, dating from the 9th century, of the works of Christian author Tertullian. It is named after its first owner, the Bishop Agobard of Lyons. He gave it to the Cathedral of Saint Stephen in Lyons, and the parchment codex remained there until the mid-16th century....
in 814 AD).
4th century
- Praeparatio Ecclesiasticahttp://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_03bibliotheca.htm#11, and Demonstratio Ecclesiasticahttp://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_03bibliotheca.htm#12 by Eusebius of CaesareaEusebius of CaesareaEusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...
5th century
- SozomenSozomenSalminius Hermias Sozomenus was a historian of the Christian church.-Family and Home:He was born around 400 in Bethelia, a small town near Gaza, into a wealthy Christian family of Palestine....
's history of the Christian church, from the Ascension of Jesus to the defeat of Licinius in 323, in twelve books.
12th century
- Four works by Gerald of Wales:
- Duorum speculum
- Vita sancti Karadoci ("Life of St Caradoc")
- De fidei fructu fideique defectu
- Cambriae mappa
- The Old FrenchOld FrenchOld French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
romanceRomance (genre)As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...
s André de FranceAndré de FranceAndré de France or André de Paris is an Old French romance, written in the 12th century, whose text is now lost. The eponymous hero was in love with a queen, and eventually died of love....
and Gui d'ExcideuilGui d'ExcideuilGui d'Excideuil is an Old French romance, written in the 12th century, whose text is now lost. The eponymous hero's lover was a fairy, but he lost her because he began to think about the queen, who loved him unrequitedly...
14th century
- Inventio FortunataInventio FortunataInventio Fortunata , "Fortunate, or fortune-making, discovery", is a lost book, probably dating from the 14th century, containing a description of the North Pole as a magnetic island surrounded by a giant whirlpool and four continents...
- a 14th century description of the geography of the North PoleNorth PoleThe North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
. - Itinerarium - a geography book by Jacobus Cnoyen of 's-Hertogenbosch, cited by Gerardus MercatorGerardus Mercatorthumb|right|200px|Gerardus MercatorGerardus Mercator was a cartographer, born in Rupelmonde in the Hapsburg County of Flanders, part of the Holy Roman Empire. He is remembered for the Mercator projection world map, which is named after him...
- Res gestae Arturi britanni (The Deeds of Arthur of Britain) - book cited by Jacobus Cnoyen
- Of the Wreched Engendrynge of Mankynde, Origenes upon the Maudeleyne, and The book of the Leoun - three works by Geoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
.
15th century
- Yongle EncyclopediaYongle EncyclopediaThe Yongle Encyclopedia was a Chinese compilation of information commissioned by the Chinese Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle in 1403 and completed by 1408...
(traditional Chinese: 永樂大典; simplified Chinese: 永乐大典; pinyinPinyinPinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Yǒnglè Dàdiǎn; literally “The Great Canon [or Vast Documents] of the Yongle Era”). It was one of the world's earliest, and the then largest, encyclopaedia commissioned by Emperor YongleYongle EmperorThe Yongle Emperor , born Zhu Di , was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China from 1402 to 1424. His Chinese era name Yongle means "Perpetual Happiness".He was the Prince of Yan , possessing a heavy military base in Beiping...
of Ming DynastyMing DynastyThe Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
in AD 1403, completed circa AD 1408. About 400 chapters (less than 4%) of the original survive today. - François VillonFrançois VillonFrançois Villon was a French poet, thief, and vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison...
's poem "The Romance of the Devil's Fart."
16th century
- Nigramansir. A Moral Interlude and a Pithy. by John SkeltonJohn SkeltonJohn Skelton, also known as John Shelton , possibly born in Diss, Norfolk, was an English poet.-Education:...
. Printed 1504. A copy seen in 1759 in Chichester has since vanished. - Ur-HamletUr-HamletThe Ur-Hamlet is the name given to a play mentioned as early as 1589, a decade before most scholars believe Shakespeare composed Hamlet...
- an earlier version of the play HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
predating William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's version, author believed to be Thomas KydThomas KydThomas Kyd was an English dramatist, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama....
. - Love's Labour's WonLove's Labour's WonLove's Labour's Won is the name of a play written by William Shakespeare before 1598. The play appears to have been published by 1603, but no copies are known to have survived. One theory holds that it is a lost work, possibly a sequel to Love's Labour's Lost...
, play by William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. - The Ocean to CynthiaElizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
- a poem by Sir Walter RaleighWalter RaleighSir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
of which only fragments are known. - Luís de CamõesLuís de CamõesLuís Vaz de Camões is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Vondel, Homer, Virgil and Dante. He wrote a considerable amount of lyrical poetry and drama but is best remembered for his epic work Os Lusíadas...
' philosophic work The Parnasum of Luís Vaz is lost. - The Isle of DogsThe Isle of Dogs (play)The Isle of Dogs is a play by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson which was performed in 1597. It was immediately suppressed, and no copy of it is known to exist.-The Play:...
(1597), a play by Thomas NasheThomas NasheThomas Nashe was an English Elizabethan pamphleteer, playwright, poet and satirist. He was the son of the minister William Nashe and his wife Margaret .-Early life:...
and Ben JonsonBen JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
. - Phaethon a play by Thomas Dekker, mentioned in Philip Henslowe's diary, 1597.
- Hot Anger Soon ColdHot Anger Soon ColdHot Anger Soon Cold is a play written by Henry Chettle, Henry Porter and Ben Jonson. It is mentioned in Philip Henslowe's diary in August 1598. No extant copies of the play are known....
a play by Henry ChettleHenry ChettleHenry Chettle was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era.The son of Robert Chettle, a London dyer, he was apprenticed in 1577 and became a member of the Stationer's Company in 1584, traveling to Cambridge on their behalf in 1588. His career as a printer and author is...
, Henry Porter and Ben JonsonBen JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
; mentioned in Philip HenslowePhilip HenslowePhilip Henslowe was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his diary, a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance London...
's diary, August 1598. - The Stepmother's TragedyThe Stepmother's TragedyThe Stepmother's Tragedy is a play written by Henry Chettle and Thomas Dekker. It is mentioned in Philip Henslowe's diary in August 1599. No extant copies of the play are known....
, a play by Henry ChettleHenry ChettleHenry Chettle was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era.The son of Robert Chettle, a London dyer, he was apprenticed in 1577 and became a member of the Stationer's Company in 1584, traveling to Cambridge on their behalf in 1588. His career as a printer and author is...
and Thomas Dekker; mentioned in Philip HenslowePhilip HenslowePhilip Henslowe was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his diary, a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance London...
's diary, August 1599. - Black Batman of the North, Part II, a play by Henry ChettleHenry ChettleHenry Chettle was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era.The son of Robert Chettle, a London dyer, he was apprenticed in 1577 and became a member of the Stationer's Company in 1584, traveling to Cambridge on their behalf in 1588. His career as a printer and author is...
and Robert WilsonRobert Wilson (dramatist)Robert Wilson , was an Elizabethan dramatist who worked primarily in the 1580s and 1590s. He is also believed to have been an actor who specialized in clown roles....
; mentioned in Henslowe's diary in April 1598.
17th century
- The History of Cardenio, play by William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and John FletcherJohn Fletcher (playwright)John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
(1613) - El Manuscrito de Astorga, written by one Juan de Bergara in 1624. Dealt with fly fishing, has been in the possession of Francisco FrancoFrancisco FrancoFrancisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
. - Claudio MonteverdiClaudio MonteverdiClaudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, gambist, and singer.Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition – the...
composed at least eighteen operas, but only three (L'Orfeo, L'incoronazione di Poppea, and Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria) and the famous aria, Lamento, from his second opera L'Arianna have survived. - Lost haikus of Ihara SaikakuIhara Saikakuwas a Japanese poet and creator of the "floating world" genre of Japanese prose .-Biography:Born the son of the wealthy merchant Hirayama Tōgo in Osaka, he first studied haikai poetry under Matsunaga Teitoku, and later studied under Nishiyama Sōin of the Danrin School of poetry, which emphasized...
. - Jean RacineJean RacineJean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
's first play, Amasie (1660) is lost. - John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
wrote nearly two acts of a tragedy called Adam Unparadiz'd, which was then lost. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/26/features/BLUME.php - Lost works of MolièreMolièreJean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
:- A translation of "De Rerum NaturaOn the Nature of ThingsDe rerum natura is a 1st century BC didactic poem by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius with the goal of explaining Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. The poem, written in some 7,400 dactylic hexameters, is divided into six untitled books, and explores Epicurean physics through richly...
" by LucretiusLucretiusTitus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is an epic philosophical poem laying out the beliefs of Epicureanism, De rerum natura, translated into English as On the Nature of Things or "On the Nature of the Universe".Virtually no details have come down concerning...
. - Le Docteur amoureux (play, 1658)
- Gros-René, petit enfant (play, 1659)
- Le Docteur Pédant (play, 1660)
- Les Trois Docteurs (play, ca. 1660)
- Gorgibus dans le sac (play, 1661)
- Le Fagotier (play, 1661)
- Le Fin Lourdaut (play attributed, 1668)
- A translation of "De Rerum Natura
- Lost works of Dubhaltach Mac FhirbhisighDubhaltach Mac FhirbhisighDubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh, also known as Dubhaltach Óg mac Giolla Íosa Mór mac Dubhaltach Mór Mac Fhirbhisigh, Duald Mac Firbis, Dudly Ferbisie, and Dualdus Firbissius was an Irish scribe, translator, historian and genealogist...
include;- Ughdair Ereann - fragments survive
18th century
- Lady Mary Wortley MontaguLady Mary Wortley MontaguThe Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was an English aristocrat and writer. Montagu is today chiefly remembered for her letters, particularly her letters from Turkey, as wife to the British ambassador, which have been described by Billie Melman as “the very first example of a secular work by a woman about...
's journal was burnt by her daughter on the grounds that it contained much scandal and satire. - Edward GibbonEdward GibbonEdward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
burned the manuscript of his History of the Liberty of the Swiss. - The Green-Room Squabble or a Battle Royal between the Queen of Babylon and the Daughter of Darius a 1756 play by Samuel FooteSamuel FooteSamuel Foote was a British dramatist, actor and theatre manager from Cornwall.-Early life:Born into a well-to-do family, Foote was baptized in Truro, Cornwall on 27 January 1720. His father, John Foote, held several public positions, including mayor of Truro, Member of Parliament representing...
is lost. - Numerous works by J. S. Bach, notably at least two large-scale Passions, and many cantatas, are irretrievably lost.
- Mozart and Salieri are known to have composed together a cantata for voice and piano called Per la ricuperata salute di Ophelia which was celebrating the return to stage of the singer Nancy StoraceNancy StoraceNancy Storace , , was an English operatic soprano...
, and which has been lost, although it had been printed by ArtariaArtariaArtaria and company was one of the most important music publishing firms of the late 18th and 19th century. Founded in the 18th century in Vienna, the company is associated with many leading names of the classical era.- History :...
in 1785. - Beethoven'sLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
1793 'Ode to Joy', which was later incorporated into his ninth SymphonySymphony No. 9 (Beethoven)The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem... - Haydn'sJoseph HaydnFranz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
Double Bass Concerto, which of only the first two measures survive, the rest burned and destroyed. Supposedly a copy of it may exist somewhere, according to many different speculations.
19th century
- Memoirs of Lord Byron - destroyed by his literary executors led by John MurrayJohn Murray (publisher)John Murray is an English publisher, renowned for the authors it has published in its history, including Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Byron, Charles Lyell, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Herman Melville, and Charles Darwin...
on 17 May 1824. The decision was made to destroy Byron's manuscript journals in order to protect his reputation. Opposed only by Thomas MooreThomas MooreThomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
, the two volumes of memoirs were dismembered and burnt in the fireplace at Murray's office. - The Scented Garden by Sir Richard Francis BurtonRichard Francis BurtonCaptain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his...
- manuscript of a new translation from Arabic of The Perfumed GardenThe Perfumed GardenThe Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight by Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Nafzawi is a fifteenth-century Arabic sex manual and work of erotic literature....
, was burnt by his widow, Lady Isabel Burton née Arundel, along with other papers. - A large number of manuscripts and longer poems by William BlakeWilliam BlakeWilliam Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
were burnt soon after his death by Mr.Frederick Tatham. - Parts two and three of Dead SoulsDead SoulsDead Souls is a novel by Nikolai Gogol, first published in 1842, and widely regarded as an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature. Gogol himself saw it as an "epic poem in prose", and within the book as a "novel in verse". Despite supposedly completing the trilogy's second part, Gogol...
by Nikolai GogolNikolai GogolNikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...
- burnt by Gogol at the instigation of the priest Father Matthew Konstantinovskii. - At least four complete volumes and around seven pages of text are missing from Lewis CarrollLewis CarrollCharles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
's 13 diaries, destroyed by his family for reasons frequently debated. - The son of the Marquis de SadeMarquis de SadeDonatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
had all of de Sade's unpublished manuscripts burned after de Sade's death in 1814; this included the immense multi-volume work Les Journées de Florbelle. - Franz LisztFranz LisztFranz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
claimed to have written a manual of piano technique for the Geneva Conservatoire. Many early works, including 3 sonatas and 2 concertos for piano, are also believed to be lost due to the want of a fixed domicile. - Gerard Manley HopkinsGerard Manley HopkinsGerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was an English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous 20th-century fame established him among the leading Victorian poets...
burned all his early poetry on entering the priesthood. - In the Suspiria de ProfundisSuspiria de ProfundisSuspiria de Profundis is one of the best-known and most distinctive literary works of the English essayist Thomas De Quincey.__FORCETOC__-Genre:...
of Thomas de QuinceyThomas de QuinceyThomas Penson de Quincey was an English esssayist, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater .-Child and student:...
, 18 of 32 pieces have not survived. - In 1871, Gustave FlaubertGustave FlaubertGustave Flaubert was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary , and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.-Early life and education:Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, in Rouen,...
buried a box of letters and papers as war approached; the box was never recovered. - A schoolmate of Arthur RimbaudArthur RimbaudJean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
confessed he lost a notebook of poems by the famous poet. - The first draft of Thomas CarlyleThomas CarlyleThomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
's The French Revolution: A HistoryThe French Revolution: A HistoryThe French Revolution: A History was written by the Scottish essayist, philosopher, and historian Thomas Carlyle. The three-volume work, first published in 1837 , charts the course of the French Revolution from 1789 to the height of the Reign of Terror and culminates in 1795...
was sent to John Stuart MillJohn Stuart MillJohn Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...
, whose maid mistakenly burned it, forcing Carlyle to rewrite it from scratch. - Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Lehi from the MormonMormonThe term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
Golden PlatesGolden PlatesAccording to Latter Day Saint belief, the golden plates are the source from which Joseph Smith, Jr. translated the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the faith...
was either hidden, destroyed, or modified by Lucy Harris, the wife of transcriber Martin Harris. Whatever their fate, the pages were not returned to Joseph Smith and declared "lost." Smith did not recreate the translation. - Letters written by Felix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
seem to suggest that he wrote a cello concerto. It was supposedly lost when the only copy of it fell off the coach that was carrying it to its dedicatee. - Various works of Johannes BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
. Brahms was a perfectionist who destroyed many of his own early works, including a violin sonata. He claimed once to have destroyed 20 string quartets before he issued his official First in 1873. - Isle of the CrossIsle of the CrossIsle of the Cross was an unpublished and subsequently lost novel by Herman Melville. The work was completed after the commercial failures of Moby-Dick and Pierre: or, The Ambiguities. Concerned about poor reviews of Pierre, and Melville's continuing viability as a successful novelist, the work was...
, Herman MelvilleHerman MelvilleHerman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
's followup to the unsuccessful PierrePierre: or, The AmbiguitiesPierre: or, The Ambiguities is a novel written by Herman Melville, and published in 1852 by Harper & Brothers.The publication of Pierre was a critical and financial disaster for Melville. It was universally condemned for both its morals and its style...
was rejected by his publishers and has subsequently been lost. - Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
burned his first completed draft of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde after his wife criticized the work. Stevenson wrote and published a revised version. - Leon TrotskyLeon TrotskyLeon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
describes the loss of an unfinished play manuscript (a collaboration with Sokolovsky) in his My Life, end of chapter 6 (sometime between 1896 and 1898).http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1930-lif/ch06.htm - The Poor Man and the LadyThe Poor Man and the LadyThe Poor Man and the Lady was the first novel written by Thomas Hardy. It was written in 1867 and never published. After the manuscript had been rejected by at least five publishers, Hardy gave up his attempts to sell the novel in its original form; however, he incorporated some of its scenes and...
. Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
's first novel (1867) was never published. After rejection by several publishers, he destroyed the manuscript. - George GissingGeorge GissingGeorge Robert Gissing was an English novelist who published twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. From his early naturalistic works, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era.-Early life:...
abandoned many novels and destroyed the incomplete manuscripts. He also completed at least three novels which went unpublished and have been lost.
20th century
- James JoyceJames JoyceJames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
's play "A Brilliant Career" (which he burned) and the first half of his novel Stephen HeroStephen HeroStephen Hero is a posthumously-published autobiographical novel by Irish author James Joyce. Its published form reflects only a portion of an original manuscript, part of which was lost. Many of its ideas were used in composing A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.-External links:*...
(which may yet turn up) - Various parts of Daniel Paul SchreberDaniel Paul SchreberDaniel Paul Schreber was a German judge who suffered from what was then diagnosed as dementia praecox. He described his second mental illness , making also a brief reference to the first illness in his book Memoirs of My Nervous Illness...
's "Memoirs of My Nervous Illness" (original German title "Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken") (1903) was destroyed by his wife and doctor Flesching for protecting his reputation, which was mentioned by Sigmund FreudSigmund FreudSigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
as highly important in his essay "The Schreber Case" (1911). - In 1907, August StrindbergAugust StrindbergJohan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
destroyed a play, The Bleeding Hand, immediately after writing it. He was in a bad mood at the time and commented in a letter that the piece was unusually harsh even for him. - The French composer Albéric MagnardAlbéric MagnardLucien Denis Gabriel Albéric Magnard was a French composer, sometimes referred to as the "French Bruckner", though there are significant differences between the two composers...
's house was set on fire by German soldiers in 1914. The fire destroyed Magnard's unpublished scores, such as the orchestral score of his early opera Yolande, the orchestral score of Guercoeur (the piano reduction had been published, and the orchestral score of the second act was extant) and a more recent song cycle. - "Text I" of Seven Pillars of WisdomSeven Pillars of WisdomSeven Pillars of Wisdom is the autobiographical account of the experiences of British soldier T. E. Lawrence , while serving as a liaison officer with rebel forces during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks of 1916 to 1918....
- a 250,000 word manuscript by T. E. LawrenceT. E. LawrenceLieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
lost at Reading railway stationReading railway stationReading railway station is a major rail transport hub in the English town of Reading. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre, close to the main retail and commercial areas, and also the River Thames...
in December 1919. - The Irish Public Records Office in Dublin - burnt by the IRA in 1922, destroying 1,000 years of state and religious archives.
- In 1922, a suitcase with almost all of Ernest HemingwayErnest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
's work to date was stolen from a train compartment at the Gare de LyonParis-Gare de LyonParis Lyon is one of the six large railway termini in Paris, France. It is the northern terminus of the Paris–Marseille railway. It is named after the city of Lyon, a stop for many long-distance trains departing here, most en route to the south of France. In general the station's SNCF services run...
in Paris, from his wife. It included a partial WWI novel. - The novels Tobold and Theodor by Robert WalserRobert Walser (writer)Robert Walser , was a German-speaking Swiss writer.-1878–1897:...
are lost, possibly destroyed by the author, as is a third, unnamed novel. (1910–1921) - Symphony No. 8 (Sibelius)Symphony No. 8 (Sibelius)Jean Sibelius's Symphony No. 8 was the last major work the composer worked on, and never completed. Today, virtually none of the score exists. The manuscript was probably burned by Sibelius in 1945...
. Composer Jean SibeliusJean SibeliusJean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
mysteriously destroyed his last symphony. - The original version of Ultramarine by Malcolm LowryMalcolm LowryClarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who was best known for his novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.-Biography:...
was stolen from his publisher's car in 1932, and the author had to reconstruct it. - Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi quotes extensively from Richard Wright's travel diaries in 1935/6. Following Wright's death they have become 'lost'.
- In a letter of 1938, George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
mentions an "anti-war pamphlet" that he had written earlier that year but could not get published. Not even the title of this pamphlet is known today. With the beginning of World War Two Orwell's views on pacifismPacifismPacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
were to change radically, so he may well have destroyed the manuscript. - Lost papers and a possible unfinished novel by Isaac BabelIsaac BabelIsaak Emmanuilovich Babel was a Russian language journalist, playwright, literary translator, and short story writer. He is best known as the author of Red Cavalry, Story of My Dovecote, and Tales of Odessa, all of which are considered masterpieces of Russian literature...
, confiscated by the NKVD, May 1939. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/11/books/11NOTE.html?ei=5070&en=f603c2d6191ed90f&ex=1144987200&pagewanted=print - Manuscript of EfebosEfebosEfebos is a lost novel written by Karol Szymanowski, who is best known as a composer. During the difficult period of time around World War I and the Russian Revolution, Szymanowski's childhood home in what is now Ukraine was destroyed, and he found himself unable to compose...
, a novel by Karol SzymanowskiKarol SzymanowskiKarol Maciej Szymanowski was a Polish composer and pianist.-Life:Szymanowski was born into a wealthy land-owning Polish gentry family in Tymoszówka, then in the Russian Empire, now in Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine. He studied music privately with his father before going to Gustav Neuhaus'...
, destroyed in bombing of Warsaw, 1939. - Constant LambertConstant LambertLeonard Constant Lambert was a British composer and conductor.-Early life:Lambert, the son of Russian-born Australian painter George Lambert, was educated at Christ's Hospital and the Royal College of Music...
's ballet HoroscopeHoroscope (ballet)Horoscope is a ballet created in 1937 by Frederick Ashton with scenery by Sophie Fedorovich and music by Constant Lambert. It is based on astrological themes, and is reminiscent of Gustav Holst's The Planets in its musical exploration of the mystical. The story of the ballet concerns a young man...
was being performed in the Netherlands in 1940, and the unpublished full score had to be left behind when German forces invaded that country. It was never recovered, and only nine individual numbers remain. - The German-language original of Arthur KoestlerArthur KoestlerArthur Koestler CBE was a Hungarian author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria...
's Darkness at NoonDarkness at NoonDarkness at Noon is a novel by the Hungarian-born British novelist Arthur Koestler, first published in 1940...
was lost. Only the English translation by Daphne Hardy survived to be published. - Five volumes of poetry and a drama, all in manuscript, by Saint-John PerseSaint-John PerseSaint-John Perse was a French poet, awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960 "for the soaring flight and evocative imagery of his poetry." He was also a major French diplomat from 1914 to 1940, after which he lived primarily in the USA until 1967.-Biography:Alexis Leger was...
were destroyed at his house outside Paris soon after he had gone into exile in the summer of 1940. The diplomat Alexis Léger (Perse's real name) was a well-known and uncompromising anti-Nazi and his house was raided by German troops. The works had been written during his diplomat years, but Perse had decided not to publish any new writing until he had retired from diplomacy. - There are reports that Bruno SchulzBruno SchulzBruno Schulz was a Polish writer, fine artist, literary critic and art teacher born to Jewish parents, and regarded as one of the great Polish-language prose stylists of the 20th century. Schulz was born in Drohobycz, in the province of Galicia then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and spent...
worked on a novel called The Messiah, but no trace of this manuscript survived his death (1942). - In 1944, just before the Warsaw UprisingWarsaw UprisingThe Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
, the Polish composer Andrzej PanufnikAndrzej PanufnikSir Andrzej Panufnik was a Polish composer, pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He became established as one of the leading Polish composers, and as a conductor he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra after World War II...
fled Warsaw leaving all his manuscripts behind. When he returned to his apartment in 1945, he discovered that his entire oeuvre had survived the widespread destruction, but had then been burnt on a bonfire by his landlady. The lost works included two symphonies and other orchestral works, as well as vocal and chamber compositions; Panufnik subsequently reconstructed some of them. - The novel In Ballast to the White SeaIn Ballast to the White SeaIn Ballast to the White Sea was a novel by Malcolm Lowry, lost in a fire in 1945....
by Malcolm LowryMalcolm LowryClarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who was best known for his novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.-Biography:...
, lost in a fire in 1945. - The novel Wanderers of Night and poems of Daniil Andreev were destroyed in 1947 as "anti-Soviet literature" by the MGBMinistry for State Security (USSR)The Ministry of State Security was the name of Soviet secret police from 1946 to 1953.-Origins of the MGB:The MGB was just one of many incarnations of the Soviet State Security apparatus. Since the revolution, the Bolsheviks relied on a strong political police or security force to support and...
. - Some pages of William Burroughs's original Naked LunchNaked LunchNaked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs originally published in 1959. The book is structured as a series of loosely-connected vignettes. Burroughs stated that the chapters are intended to be read in any order...
were stolen. - Three early, unpublished novels by Philip K. DickPhilip K. DickPhilip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
written in the 1950s are no longer extant: A Time for George StavrosA Time for George StavrosA Time for George Stavros is an early, unpublished, non-science fiction novel by author Philip K. Dick. It was written sometime around 1955, a time when Dick was getting his science fiction published but still dreamed of being a mainstream writer....
, Pilgrim on the HillPilgrim on the HillPilgrim on the Hill is a lost, early, non-science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. It was written somewhere around 1956 according to one account, or between 1948–50 according to another account. According to Lawrence Sutin's book, Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K...
, and Nicholas and the HigsNicholas and the HigsNicholas and the Higs is one of several early, unpublished novels by noted science fiction author Philip K. Dick. It was written somewhere around 1957 during the waning days of his second marriage, was re-written at the behest of his publisher in 1958, and was then ultimately rejected for publication...
. - The manuscript for Sylvia PlathSylvia PlathSylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
's unfinished second novel, provisionally titled Double Exposure, or Double Take, written 1962-63, disappeared some time before 1970. - There were known audio recordings of early Beatles performances, such as a song which featured Ringo StarrRingo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
on drums before he was a "offical" member. These tapes have thought to been taped over or destroyed. - Several pages of the original screenplay for Werner HerzogWerner HerzogWerner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
's Aguirre, der Zorn GottesAguirre, the Wrath of GodAguirre, the Wrath of God is a 1972 West German adventure film written and directed by Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski stars in the title role. The soundtrack was composed and performed by German progressive/Krautrock band Popol Vuh...
were reportedly thrown out of the window of a bus after one of his football team-mates threw up on them. - The screenplay for the proposed Dean StockwellDean StockwellDean Stockwell is an American actor of film and television, with a career spanning over 65 years. As a child actor under contract to MGM he first came to the public's attention in films such as Anchors Aweigh and The Green Years; as a young adult he played a lead role in the 1957 Broadway and...
-Herb Berman film After the Gold Rush is reportedly lost. - Diaries of Philip LarkinPhilip LarkinPhilip Arthur Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL is widely regarded as one of the great English poets of the latter half of the twentieth century...
- burnt at his request after his death on 2 December 1985. Other private papers were kept, contrary to his instructions. - Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
wrote both a prologue and epilogue to The ShiningThe Shining (novel)The Shining is a 1977 horror novel by American author Stephen King. The title was inspired by the John Lennon song "Instant Karma!", which contained the line "We all shine on…". It was King's third published novel, and first hardback bestseller, and the success of the book firmly established King...
titled Before The Play and After The Play, respectively. The epilogue is reportedly lost. - Hundreds of works by the Norwegian composer and pianist Geirr TveittGeirr TveittGeirr Tveitt, born Nils Tveit was a Norwegian composer and pianist. Tveitt was a central figure of the national movement in Norwegian cultural life during the 1930s.-Early years:...
were lost due to a house fire in 1970, when his house burned to the ground. Overall, about 4/5 of Tveitt's production are now gone from that fire, which included symphonies, concertos, choral works, operas, and many piano works. Fortunately some copies, parts, and recordings of some of the works existed elsewhere.
Lost literary collections
- Chinese emperor Qin Shi HuangQin Shi HuangQin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...
(3rd century BCE) had most previously-existing books burned when he consolidated his power. See Burning of books and burying of scholarsBurning of books and burying of scholarsBurning of the books and burying of the scholars is a phrase that refers to a policy and a sequence of events in the Qin Dynasty of Ancient China, between the period of 213 and 206 BC. During these events, the Hundred Schools of Thought were pruned; legalism survived...
. - The Library of AlexandriaLibrary of AlexandriaThe Royal Library of Alexandria, or Ancient Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was the largest and most significant great library of the ancient world. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty and functioned as a major center of scholarship from its construction in the...
, the largest library in existence during antiquity, was destroyed at some point in time between the Roman and Muslim conquests of Alexandria. - Aztec emperor ItzcoatlItzcóatlItzcoatl was the fourth emperor of the Aztecs, ruling from 1427 to 1440, the period when the Mexica threw off the domination of the Tepanecs and laid the foundations for the eventual Aztec Empire.- Biography :...
(ruled 1427/8-1440) ordered the burning of all historical Aztec codicesAztec codicesAztec codices are books written by pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs. These codices provide some of the best primary sources for Aztec culture....
in an effort to develop a state-sanctioned Aztec history and mythology. - During the Dissolution of the MonasteriesDissolution of the MonasteriesThe Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
, many monastic libraries were destroyed. Worcester Abbey had 600 books at the time of the dissolution. Only six of them have survived intact to the present day. At the abbey of the Augustinian Friars at York, a library of 646 volumes was destroyed, leaving only three surviving books. Some books were destroyed for their precious bindings, others were sold off by the cartload, including irreplaceable early English works. It is believed that many of the earliest Anglo-Saxon manuscripts were lost at this time.
-
- "A great nombre of them whych purchased those supertycyous mansyons, resrved of those lybrarye bokes, some to serve theyr jakes [i.e., as toilet paperToilet paperToilet paper is a soft paper product used to maintain personal hygiene after human defecation or urination. However, it can also be used for other purposes such as blowing one's nose when one has a cold or absorbing common spills around the house, although paper towels are more used for the latter...
], some to scoure candelstyckes, and some to rubbe their bootes. Some they solde to the grossers and soapsellers…" — John BaleJohn BaleJohn Bale was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English , and developed and published a very extensive list of the works of British authors down to his own time, just as the monastic libraries were being...
, 1549- At least 27 Maya codicesMaya codicesMaya codices are folding books stemming from the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, written in Maya hieroglyphic script on Mesoamerican bark cloth, made from the inner bark of certain trees, the main being the wild fig tree or Amate . Paper, generally known by the Nahuatl word amatl, was named by...
were ceremonially destroyed by Diego de LandaDiego de LandaDiego de Landa Calderón was a Spanish Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán. He left future generations with a mixed legacy in his writings, which contain much valuable information on pre-Columbian Maya civilization, and his actions which destroyed much of that civilization's...
(1524–1579), bishop of YucatánYucatánYucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
, on 12 July 1562. - The library of the Hanlin AcademyHanlin AcademyThe Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution founded in the eighth century Tang dynasty China by Emperor Xuanzong.Membership in the academy was confined to an elite group of scholars, who performed secretarial and literary tasks for the court. One of its main duties was to...
, containing irreplaceable ancient Chinese manuscripts, was mostly destroyed in 1900 during the Boxer RebellionBoxer RebellionThe Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla62/62-davd.htm.
- At least 27 Maya codices
- "A great nombre of them whych purchased those supertycyous mansyons, resrved of those lybrarye bokes, some to serve theyr jakes [i.e., as toilet paper
See also
- Art theftArt theftArt theft is usually for the purpose of resale or for ransom . Stolen art is sometimes used by criminals to secure loans.. One must realize that only a small percentage of stolen art is recovered. Estimates range from 5 to 10%. This means that little is known about the scope and characteristics of...
- ApocryphaApocryphaThe term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical"....
- Book burningBook burningBook burning, biblioclasm or libricide is the practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media. In modern times, other forms of media, such as phonograph records, video tapes, and CDs have also been ceremoniously burned, torched, or shredded...
- Bonfire of the VanitiesBonfire of the VanitiesBonfire of the Vanities refers to the burning of objects that are deemed to be occasions of sin. The most infamous one took place on 7 February 1497, when supporters of the Dominican priest Girolamo Savonarola collected and publicly burned thousands of objects like cosmetics, art, and books in...
- Destruction of librariesDestruction of LibrariesThis is a list of destroyed libraries that have been deliberately or accidentally destroyed or badly damaged. Sometimes libraries are purposely destroyed as a form of cultural cleansing...
- IconoclasmIconoclasmIconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
- List of comics that were never published
- List of unpublished books by notable authors
- Lost artworksLost artworksLost artworks are original pieces of art that credible sources indicate once existed but that cannot be accounted for in museums or private collections or are known to have been destroyed deliberately or accidentally, or neglected through ignorance and lack of connoisseurship.For lost literary...
- Lost filmLost filmA lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
- Unfinished workUnfinished workAn unfinished work is creative work that has not been finished. Its creator may have chosen never to finish it or may have been prevented from doing so by circumstances outside of their control such as death. Such pieces are often the subject of speculation as to what the finished piece would have...
- WipingWipingWiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
- List of missing treasure
Further reading
- Stuart Kelly - The Book of Lost Books (Viking, 2005) ISBN 0-670-91499-1
- Leo Deuel - Testaments Of Time: The Search for Lost Manuscripts and Records (New York: Knopf, 1965).
- Hermann W.G. Peter - Historicorum Romanorum Reliquiae (2 vols., B.G. TeubnerBibliotheca TeubnerianaThe Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or Teubner editions of Greek and Latin texts, comprise the most thorough modern collection ever published of ancient Greco-Roman literature...
, Leipzig, 1870, 2nd ed. 1914-16) - Glen Dudbridge - Lost books of Medieval China (London: The British Library, 2000)
- Thomas BrowneThomas BrowneSir Thomas Browne was an English author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including medicine, religion, science and the esoteric....
- Musaeum ClausumMusaeum ClausumMusaeum Clausum , also known as Bibliotheca abscondita, is a tract written by Sir Thomas Browne first published posthumously in 1684. The book contains short descriptions of supposed, rumoured or lost books pictures and objects...
or Bibliotheca Abscondita (published posthumously in 1683)
External links
- Discoveries of Lost Classical Literature
- Longing for Great Lost Works
- Lost works of Tertullian
- Lost Works of Berosus
- Lost Works of W.A. Mozart
- Weighing Words Over Last Wishes
- The missing masterpieces
- Fragmentary Tragedies of Sophocles Project
- In Search of a Lost JG Ballard Novel
- Hi-tech imaging could reveal lost texts
- The Suppression of Lesbian and Gay History
- The Memorial of Unsaved Work