We had suggested in our post of 24 August 2009 that a great way to start an argument among book collectors is to ask what is the greatest novel ever written?
An equally good way to start an argument is to ask what is the most influential book ever written?
The two questions are very different. What makes a book a great novel are not necessarily the same things that make a book influential. Felicitous turns of phrase, for example, may be important for great novels but not necessarily relevant for books that are extraordinarily influential.
Excepting the foundational texts of the major religions (which believers everywhere are apt to cite as the most influential book ever written), what book do you think is the most influential book ever written? Why do you find it influential? Is its influence personal, or is its influence more widely acknowledged? Is it influential because it changed how you view the world, because it changed how lots of other people view the world, because it founded a line of scientific inquiry that has come to permeate every aspect of human existence? Consider the following:
And what about these...?
And even earlier....
Of course, such choices always are intensely personal. For many book collectors, the most influential book may be, quite simply, the book that got them hooked on books in the first place....
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