The Greatest Books of All Time on Symbolism

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

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
1305 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
2625 The Hero with a Thousand Faces Joseph Campbell 1949 American English
2786 The Philosophy Of Symbolic Forms Ernst Cassirer 1929 German German
3003 The Savage Mind Claude Lévi-Strauss 1962 French French
3246 The Transcendent Unity Of Religions Frithjof Schuon 1953 French French
3273 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
3877 Subconscious Opens Like A Fan Yona Wallach 1985 Israeli Hebrew
3954 Ενδοχωρα Andreas Embiricos 1947 Greek Greek
3954 Υψικαμινος Andreas Embiricos 1935 Greek Greek
4580 History Of Art Elie Faure 1919 French French
4642 The Psychopathology Of Everyday Life Sigmund Freud 1901 German German
4755 Angels And Demons Dan Brown 2000 American English
4810 Oktana Andreas Embiricos 1975 Greek Greek
4900 On Occult Philosophy Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa 1531 German Latin
5026 Στην Κοιλαδα Με Τους Ροδωνες Nikos Engonopoulos 1978 Greek Greek
5571 Imaginary Portraits Walter Pater 1887 British English
5750 The Message In the Bottle Walker Percy 1975 American English
5863 The Stones Of Venice John Ruskin 1851 British English
5891 Sartor Resartus Thomas Carlyle 1836 British English
6005 Divagations Stéphane Mallarmé 1897 French French
6005 Theatre Of The World Frances A. Yates 1969 British English
6308 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009 American English
6325 The Voices Of Silence Andre Malraux 1951 French French
6367 Studies in Iconology Erwin Panofsky 1939 German English
6371 The Candle Of Vision George William Russell 1974 Irish English
6502 Vermeer Lawrence Gowing 1952 British English
6811 Écrits Jacques Lacan 1966 French French
7216 The Expulsion Of The Triumphant Beast Giordano Bruno 1584 Italian Italian
7216 Selected Writings Jules Laforgue 1901 French French
7216 The Queen Of The Air John Ruskin 1869 British English
7216 Appreciations Walter Pater 1889 British English
7216 A Vision William Butler Yeats 1925 Irish English
7216 Counter Statement Kenneth Burke 1931 American English
7612 Selected Poetry And Prose Stéphane Mallarmé 1945 French French
7724 Purity And Danger Mary Douglas 1966 British English
7861 A Rhetoric Of Motives Kenneth Burke 1950 American English
8706 Strategies Of Fantasy Brian Attebery 1992 American English
8827 Words In Stone Yves Bonnefoy 1965 French French
10246 Understanding Poetry Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks 1938 American English
10309 The Secret Life Of Salvador Dali Salvador Dali 1942 Spanish Spanish
10309 Film Form Sergei Eisenstein 1949 Russian Russian
10309 The Sacred And The Profane Mircea Eliade 1957 Romanian French
10309 Perspective As Symbolic Form Erwin Panofsky 1927 German German
10849 Homo Necans Walter Burkert 1972 German German
10852 Strange Pictures Uketsu 2022 Unknown Unknown
13135 Lifeblood Mina Holland 2025 British English
13362 Two Essays on Analytical Psychology Carl Jung 1921 Swiss German
13533 Gardner's Art Through The Ages Helen Gardner 1926 American English
14723 Allegorical Expositions of the Holy Laws Philo of Alexandria 50 Jewish Greek
14857 Anatomy Of Criticism Northrop Frye 1957 Canadian English
15877 The Masks Of God, Volume 4 Joseph Campbell 1968 American English
15916 Psychology of the Unconscious Carl Jung 1912 Swiss German
15916 Kabbalah Unknown 1300 Multiple Hebrew
15916 The Masks Of God Joseph Campbell 1959 American English
15916 The Origins Of European Thought R. B. Onians 1951 British English
15916 The House Of Life Mario Praz 1958 Italian Italian
15886 Myths To Live By Joseph Campbell 1972 American English
15916 The Elementary Forms Of The Religious Life Emile Durkheim 1912 French French
16701 Psychology And Alchemy C.G. Jung 1944 Swiss German
17163 The Raw and the Cooked Claude Lévi-Strauss 1964 French French
17163 Masterworks of the Classical Haida Mythtellers Robert Bringhurst 2000 Canadian English
17163 Radiance From The Waters Sylvia Ardyn Boone 1989 American English
17163 Dawn of Art Jean-Marie Chauvet 1995 French French
17163 The Roots Of Civilization Alexander Marshack 1972 American English
16852 Revolt Against The Modern World Julius Evola 1934 Italian Italian
17163 The Power Of Myth Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers 1988 American English
17163 The Red Book C.G. Jung 2009 Swiss German
17163 Dan Brown Omnibus Dan Brown 2004 American English
17163 The Angelical Language, Volume I Aaron Leitch 2010 Unknown English
16999 The Book Of Thoth Aleister Crowley 1944 British English
17163 The Art Of Fiction David Lodge 1992 British English
17163 Modern Russian Poetry Vladimir Markov, Merrill Sparks 1967 Unknown English
17163 Icons And Saints Of The Eastern Orthodox Church Alfredo Tradigo 2006 Unknown Italian
16955 The King And The Corpse Heinrich Zimmer 1948 German English
17163 The Primordial Mind In Health And Illness Michael Robbins 2011 American Unknown
17163 Lectures On Imagination Paul Ricoeur Unknown French
17039 The Origins And History Of Consciousness Carl Jung, Franz Neumann, Helen R. Hull 1949 German German
17163 Thou Art That Joseph Campbell American English
17163 The Inner Reaches Of Outer Space Joseph Campbell 1986 American English
17163 Pathways To Bliss Joseph Campbell American English
17163 Inferno Dan Brown 2013 American English