The Greatest Books of All Time on Symbolism

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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
177 The Interpretation of Dreams Sigmund Freud 1899 Austrian German
537 The Waning of the Middle Ages Johan Huizinga 1919 Dutch Dutch
583 Against Nature J. K. Huysmans 1884 French French
604 The Blind Owl Ṣādiq Hidāyat 1937 Iranian Persian
730 Petersburg Andrei Bely 1913 Russian Russian
1076 Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres Henry Adams 1904 American English
1080 Mount Analogue René Daumal 1952 French French
1121 Fantasia Assia Djebar 1985 French French
1141 The Golden Bough James George Frazer 1890 British English
1304 Collected Poems Stéphane Mallarmé 1887 French French
1516 Heinrich of Ofterdingen Novalis 1802 German German
1887 The Uses of Enchantment Bruno Bettelheim 1976 Austrian English
1961 Demian Hermann Hesse 1919 German German
2624 The Hero with a Thousand Faces Joseph Campbell 1949 American English
2785 The Philosophy Of Symbolic Forms Ernst Cassirer 1929 German German
3001 The Savage Mind Claude Lévi-Strauss 1962 French French
3245 The Transcendent Unity Of Religions Frithjof Schuon 1953 French French
3272 Bohemian Lights Ramón del Valle-Inclán 1920 Spanish Spanish
3607 A Throw Of The Dice Will Never Abolish Chance Stéphane Mallarmé 1897 French French
3638 Homo Ludens Johan Huizinga 1938 Dutch Dutch
3638 Der Siebente Ring Stefan George 1907 German German
3878 Subconscious Opens Like A Fan Yona Wallach 1985 Israeli Hebrew
3953 Ενδοχωρα Andreas Embiricos 1947 Greek Greek
3953 Υψικαμινος Andreas Embiricos 1935 Greek Greek
4578 History Of Art Elie Faure 1919 French French
4640 The Psychopathology Of Everyday Life Sigmund Freud 1901 German German
4753 Angels And Demons Dan Brown 2000 American English
4807 Oktana Andreas Embiricos 1975 Greek Greek
4898 On Occult Philosophy Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa 1531 German Latin
5022 Στην Κοιλαδα Με Τους Ροδωνες Nikos Engonopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5569 Imaginary Portraits Walter Pater 1887 British English
5747 The Message In the Bottle Walker Percy 1975 American English
5860 The Stones Of Venice John Ruskin 1851 British English
5888 Sartor Resartus Thomas Carlyle 1836 British English
6002 Divagations Stéphane Mallarmé 1897 French French
6002 Theatre Of The World Frances A. Yates 1969 British English
6305 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009 American English
6322 The Voices Of Silence Andre Malraux 1951 French French
6364 Studies in Iconology Erwin Panofsky 1939 German English
6368 The Candle Of Vision George William Russell 1974 Irish English
6500 Vermeer Lawrence Gowing 1952 British English
6811 Écrits Jacques Lacan 1966 French French
7215 The Expulsion Of The Triumphant Beast Giordano Bruno 1584 Italian Italian
7215 Selected Writings Jules Laforgue 1901 French French
7215 The Queen Of The Air John Ruskin 1869 British English
7215 Appreciations Walter Pater 1889 British English
7215 A Vision William Butler Yeats 1925 Irish English
7215 Counter Statement Kenneth Burke 1931 American English
7611 Selected Poetry And Prose Stéphane Mallarmé 1945 French French
7722 Purity And Danger Mary Douglas 1966 British English
7860 A Rhetoric Of Motives Kenneth Burke 1950 American English
8702 Strategies Of Fantasy Brian Attebery 1992 American English
8822 Words In Stone Yves Bonnefoy 1965 French French
10239 Understanding Poetry Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks 1938 American English
10303 The Secret Life Of Salvador Dali Salvador Dali 1942 Spanish Spanish
10303 Film Form Sergei Eisenstein 1949 Russian Russian
10303 The Sacred And The Profane Mircea Eliade 1957 Romanian French
10303 Perspective As Symbolic Form Erwin Panofsky 1927 German German
10843 Homo Necans Walter Burkert 1972 German German
12063 Strange Pictures Uketsu 2022 Unknown Unknown
13132 Lifeblood Mina Holland 2025 British English
13359 Two Essays on Analytical Psychology Carl Jung 1921 Swiss German
13532 Gardner's Art Through The Ages Helen Gardner 1926 American English
14722 Allegorical Expositions of the Holy Laws Philo of Alexandria 50 Jewish Greek
14855 Anatomy Of Criticism Northrop Frye 1957 Canadian English
15866 The Masks Of God, Volume 4 Joseph Campbell 1968 American English
15897 Psychology of the Unconscious Carl Jung 1912 Swiss German
15897 Kabbalah Unknown 1300 Multiple Hebrew
15897 The Masks Of God Joseph Campbell 1959 American English
15897 The Origins Of European Thought R. B. Onians 1951 British English
15897 The House Of Life Mario Praz 1958 Italian Italian
15874 Myths To Live By Joseph Campbell 1972 American English
15897 The Elementary Forms Of The Religious Life Emile Durkheim 1912 French French
16669 Psychology And Alchemy C.G. Jung 1944 Swiss German
17117 The Raw and the Cooked Claude Lévi-Strauss 1964 French French
17117 Masterworks of the Classical Haida Mythtellers Robert Bringhurst 2000 Canadian English
17117 Radiance From The Waters Sylvia Ardyn Boone 1989 American English
17117 Dawn of Art Jean-Marie Chauvet 1995 French French
17117 The Roots Of Civilization Alexander Marshack 1972 American English
16829 Revolt Against The Modern World Julius Evola 1934 Italian Italian
17117 The Power Of Myth Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers 1988 American English
17117 Dan Brown Omnibus Dan Brown 2004 American English
17117 The Angelical Language, Volume I Aaron Leitch 2010 Unknown English
16920 The Book Of Thoth Aleister Crowley 1944 British English
17117 The Art Of Fiction David Lodge 1992 British English
17117 Modern Russian Poetry Vladimir Markov, Merrill Sparks 1967 Unknown English
17117 Icons And Saints Of The Eastern Orthodox Church Alfredo Tradigo 2006 Unknown Italian
16912 The King And The Corpse Heinrich Zimmer 1948 German English
17117 The Primordial Mind In Health And Illness Michael Robbins 2011 American Unknown
17117 Lectures On Imagination Paul Ricoeur Unknown French
16991 The Origins And History Of Consciousness Carl Jung, Franz Neumann, Helen R. Hull 1949 German German
17117 Thou Art That Joseph Campbell American English
17117 The Inner Reaches Of Outer Space Joseph Campbell 1986 American English
17117 Pathways To Bliss Joseph Campbell American English
17117 Inferno Dan Brown 2013 American English