The Greatest Reference Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
620 The Elements of Style E. B. White, William Strunk Jr. 1918 American English
675 The Joy of Cooking Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker 1931 American English
714 Encyclopedia Britannica Encyclopedia Britannica 1768 British English
787 Quotations from Chairman Mao Mao 1964 Chinese Chinese
806 The Story of Art Ernest H. Gombrich 1950 British English
1102 I Ching China -1000 Chinese Chinese
1526 A History of Western Philosophy Bertrand Russell 1945 British English
1706 The Principia Mathematica Alfred North Whitehead, Bertrand Russell 1910 British English
1713 Encyclopédie Denis Diderot 1751 French French
1843 Euclid's Elements Euclid -300 Greek Ancient greek
1896 Smoking and Health Surgeon General 1964 American English
2109 Oxford English Dictionary Oxford University Press 1884 British English
2186 The American Language H. L. Mencken 1919 American English
2253 A Field Guide to the Birds Roger Tory Peterson 1934 American English
2499 Psychopathia Sexualis Richard von Krafft-Ebing 1886 German German
2613 Book of Common Prayer Thomas Cranmer 1549 British English
2671 Webster's Dictionary Noah Webster 1828 American English
2704 Natural History Pliny the Elder 77 Roman Latin
2879 Scouting For Boys Robert Baden-Powell 1908 British English
3220 The American Cinema Andrew Sarris 1968 American English
3413 A Biographical Dictionary Of Film David Thomson 1975 British English
3468 The Story Of English Robert McCrum 1986 British English
3637 Charter of the United Nations United Nations 1945 Multiple English
3637 Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home Emily Post 1922 American English
3637 The Jazz Book Joachim-Ernst Berendt 1953 German German
3637 The Tomb Of Tutankhamun Howard Carter 1954 British English
3637 Deutsches Wörterbuch Brothers Grimm 1854 German German
3637 Architecture Walter Gropius 1935 German German
3637 The Four Books On Architecture Andrea Palladio 1570 Italian Italian
3637 An Outline Of European Architecture Nikolaus Pevsner 1943 British English
3637 Nuremberg Chronicle Hartmann Schedel 1493 German Latin
3637 Brockhaus Enzyklopädie Unknown 1796 German German
3637 Duden. Die Deutsche Rechtschreibung Unknown 1880 German German
3843 The Fractal Geometry Of Nature Benoît Mandelbrot 1977 French English
4222 A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander 1977 American English
4288 On the Fabric of the Human Body Andreas Vesalius 1543 Belgian Latin
4414 The House Book Terence Conran 1974 British English
4531 Der Naturen Bloeme Jacob van Maerlant 1270 Dutch Middle dutch
4643 Micrographia Robert Hooke 1665 British English
4676 Our Bodies, Ourselves Unknown 1970 American English
4737 Trees And Shrubs Of New Zealand Audrey Eagle 1975 New Zealand English
4816 The New Oxford Book Of English Verse Helen Gardner 1972 British English
4867 Grid Systems In Graphic Design Josef Müller-Brockmann 1981 Swiss German
4899 Rules Of Civility And Decent Behavior In Company And Conversation George Washington 1748 American English
5089 On Food and Cooking Harold McGee 1984 American English
5484 The Ants E. O. Wilson, Bert Hölldobler 1990 American English
5846 Revolution in the Head Ian MacDonald 1994 British English
5894 The Prose Edda Snorri Sturluson 1220 Icelandic Old norse
6240 Dictionary Of Newfoundland English G.M. Story 1982 Canadian English
6381 The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights United Nations 1948 Multiple English
6381 Enquiries Into The Course Of Nature In The Development Of The Human Race Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi 1797 Swiss German
6483 The Dictionary Of New Zealand English Harry Orsman 1997 New Zealand English
6657 Aus Dem Wörterbuch Des Unmenschen Dolf Sternberger 1989 German German
6714 Diccionario De Autores Latinoamericanos César Aira 2001 Argentinian Spanish
6973 Our Bodies, Ourselves Boston Women’s Health Collective 1970 American English
7112 Index To Science Fiction Anthologies And Collections And Supplement William G. Contento 1978 American English
7200 Science Fiction And Fantasy Literature & Supplement R. Reginald 1979 American English
7216 The New York Times Manual Of Style And Usage Allan M. Siegal, William G. Connolly 1950 American English
7597 The Guide To Supernatural Fiction Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
7597 Supernatural Fiction Writers Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
7688 The Rest is Noise Alex Ross 2007 American English
7933 The Penguin Encyclopedia Of Horror And The Supernatural Jack Sullivan 1986 American English
8261 Diccionario Sánscrito Español Oscar Pujol 2011 Spanish Spanish
8288 The Interpretation Of Cultures Clifford Geertz 1973 American English
8398 The First Gothics Frederick S. Frank 1987 American English
8398 Science Fiction And Fantasy Reference Index, 1878 1985 And Supplements H. W. Hall 1987 American English
8638 The Whole Internet Ed Krol 1992 American English
8686 Fantasy Literature For Children And Young Adults Ruth Nadelman Lynn 1989 American English
8732 Kiswahili, Past, Present And Future Horizons Rocha Chimera 1998 Kenyan English
9218 Eats, Shoots and Leaves Lynne Truss 2003 British English
9375 Commentary On The Bibliography Of Edgar A. Poe John W. Robertson 1923 American English
9537 Petit Robert Paul Robert 1967 French French
9629 Bibliography Of The Writings Of Edgar A. Poe John W. Robertson 1934 American English
9657 Brehm's Life Of Animals Alfred Edmund Brehm 2015 German German
9657 De Architectura Vitruvius 2016 Roman Latin
9687 The Code Book Simon Singh 1999 British English
9706 The Etymologies Isidore of Seville 630 Spanish Latin
9813 The Supernatural Index Mike Ashley 1995 British English
9845 The Gothic Quest Montague Summers 1938 British English
9907 The Oxford Book Of Letters Frank Kermode, Anita Kermode 1995 British English
9950 A Gothic Bibliography Montague Summers 1940 British English
9991 Magill's Guide To Science Fiction And Fantasy Literature Magill 1996 Unknown English
10217 Her Majesty's Secret Service Christopher Andrew 1985 Unknown English
10242 Understanding Poetry Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks 1938 American English
10242 A History of Philosophy Frederick Charles Copleston 1946 British English
10306 A Dictionary of the English Language Samuel Johnson 1755 British English
10306 Chinook Texts Franz Boas 1894 American English
10306 A History Of Russian Literature Dmitry Svyatopolk Mirsky 1926 Russian English
10306 Morphology Of The Folktale Vladimir Aioakovlevich Propp 1928 Russian Russian
10391 Basic Documents in American History Richard Brandon Morris 1958 American English
10427 A Bibliography Of The Works Of Sir Henry Rider Haggard J. E. Scott 1947 British English
10529 The Checklist Of Science Fiction And Supernatural Fiction Everett F. Bleiler 1948 American English
10845 The World Of Economics John Eatwell, Murray Milgate, Peter Newman 1991 British English
11166 The Creators Daniel J. Boorstin 1992 American English
11365 Lessons On The French Language Pierre Guyotat French French
11472 Index To The Weird Fiction Magazines T. G. L. Cockcroft 1962 Unknown English
12020 An Illustrated History Of The Horror Film Carlos Clarens 1967 American English
12566 Dinner Meera Sodha British English
12918 Let Only Red Flowers Bloom Emily Feng 2025 Unknown English
13232 A Bibliography Of Arthur Machen Adrian Goldstone, Wesley Sweetser 1973 Unknown English
13298 Reference Guide To Fantastic Films Walt Lee 1974 American English
13298 The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction And Fantasy, Vol. I Donald H. Tuck 1974 Australian English
13355 The Ray Bradbury Companion William F. Nolan 1975 American English
13362 Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Peter Mark Roget 1852 British English
13362 How To Lie With Statistics Darrell Huff 1954 American English
13362 The Feynman Lectures On Physics, Vol. Iii Richard P. Feynman 1965 American English
13533 Gardner's Art Through The Ages Helen Gardner 1926 American English
13575 The Sound Of The City Charlie Gillett 1970 British English
13694 The Fabulous Fantasy Films Jeff Rovin 1977 American English
13735 Atlas Der Abgelegenen Inseln Judith Schalansky 2009 German German
13743 Dictionary Of Subjects And Symbols In Art James Hall 1974 British English
14212 Frank Stewart's Bridge Club Frank Stewart 2001 American English
14411 Global Health Ann Lindstrand 2006 Unknown English
14435 The World Of Mathematics James R. Newman 1956 American English
14554 Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets Don Paterson 2010 British English
14788 A Dictionary Of Modern English Usage H. W. Fowler 1926 British English
14788 French Country Cooking Elizabeth David 1951 British English
14821 Summulae De Dialectica John Buridan, Gyula Klima 1350 French Latin
14985 Book Lust Nancy Pearl 2003 American English
15593 Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex David Reuben 1969 American English