Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It begun in 1906. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent, who continue to publish Everyman Paperbacks.
Endpapers of the original 1906 run of the Everyman's Library. The art signed "RLK" is heavily based on that of William Morris and his Kelmscott Press, whereas the quotation is derived from the medieval play Everyman
Lais of Marie de France and others, translated by Eugene Mason, 1911
The Western canon is the body of high-culture literature, music, philosophy, and works of art that are highly valued in the West; works that have achieved the status of classics. However, not all these works originate in the Western world, and such works are also valued throughout the globe. It is "a certain Western intellectual tradition that goes from, say, Socrates to Wittgenstein in philosophy, and from Homer to James Joyce in literature".
Dante, Homer and Virgil in Raphael's Parnassus fresco (1511), key figures in the Western canon
Detail of Sappho from Raphael's Parnassus (1510–11), shown alongside other poets. In her left hand, she holds a scroll with her name written on it.
Picasso, Girl with a Mandolin (Fanny Tellier) (1910), oil on canvas, 100.3 × 73.6 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Chandos portrait of the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare
