A lost literary work (referred throughout this article just as a lost work) is a document, literary work, or piece of multimedia, produced of which no surviving copies are known to exist, meaning it can be known only through reference, or literary fragments. This term most commonly applies to works from the classical world, although it is increasingly used in relation to modern works. A work may be lost to history through the destruction of an original

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

and all later copies. Works—or, commonly, small fragments of works—have survived by being found by archaeologists during investigations, or accidentally by laypersons such as, for example, the finding Nag Hammadi library scrolls. Works also survived when they were reused as bookbinding materials, quoted or included in other works, or as palimpsests, where an original document is imperfectly erased so the substrate on which it was written can be reused. The discovery, in 1822, of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

's '' De re publica'' was one of the first major recoveries of a lost ancient text from a palimpsest. Another famous example is the discovery of the Archimedes Palimpsest, which was used to make a prayer book almost 300 years after the original work was written. A work may be recovered in a library, as a lost or mislabeled codex, or as a part of another book or codex. Well known but not recovered works are described by compilations that did survive, such as the '' Naturalis Historia'' of

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

or the '' De architectura'' of Vitruvius. Sometimes authors will destroy their own works. On other occasions, authors instruct others to destroy their work after their deaths. Such instructions are not always followed:

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

'' was saved by Augustus, and Kafka's novels by Max Brod. Handwritten copies of manuscripts existed in limited numbers before the era of printing. The destruction of

ancient libraries Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

, whether by intent, chance or neglect, resulted in the loss of numerous works. Works to which no subsequent reference is preserved remain unknown. Deliberate destruction of works may be termed ''literary crime'' or ''literary vandalism'' (see book burning). Through statistical analysis, it is estimated that the number of lost Incunable (works printed in Europe before 1501) editions is at least 20,000.

Antiquity (to 500 CE)

Specific titles

* Enheduanna (24th–23rd century BC) ** ''Hymn of Praise of Enheduanna'', only survives in fragments. *

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

(8th or 7th century BC) ** '' Margites'' ** The '' Odyssey'' mentions the blind singer Demodocus performing a poem recounting the otherwise unknown "Quarrel of Odysseus and

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

", which might have been an actual work that did not survive. * The Hesiodic '' Catalogue of Women'' (sometime between 750 and 650 BC) * The work of the Cyclic poets (excluding

, dated between the 8th century and 5th century BC), specifically: ** six epics of the Epic Cycle: '' Cypria'', '' Aethiopis'', the '' Little Iliad'', the '' Iliupersis'' ("Sack of Troy"), '' Nostoi'' ("Returns"), and '' Telegony''. ** four epics of the Theban Cycle: '' Oedipodea'', ''

Thebaid The Thebaid or Thebais (, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nome (Egypt), nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos, Egypt, Abydos to Aswan. Pharaonic history The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximit ...

'', '' Epigoni'', and '' Alcmeonis''. ** other early Greek epics: ''

Titanomachy In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy (; ) was a ten-year war fought in ancient Thessaly, consisting of most of the Titans (the older generation of gods, based on Mount Othrys) fighting against the Twelve Olympians, Olympians (the younger generati ...

'', '' Heracleia'', '' Capture of Oechalia'', '' Naupactia'', '' Phocais'', '' Minyas'' * Thespis () (possibly erroneous attributions or forgeries made during the Common Era) ** ''Contest of

Pelias Pelias ( ; Ancient Greek: Πελίας) was king of Iolcus in Greek mythology. He was the one who sent Jason on the quest for the Golden Fleece. Family Pelias was the son of Tyro and Poseidon. His wife is recorded as either Anaxibia, ...

and Phorbas'' ** ''Hiereis'' (or ''Priests'') ** ''Hemitheoi'' (or ''Demigods'') ** ''Pentheus'' * Thales () ** ''On the Solstice'' (possible lost work) ** ''On the Equinox'' (possible lost work) * Anaximander () ** ''On Nature'' (or ''Perì Phúseôs'') ** ''Rotation of the Earth'' (or ''Gês Períodos'') ** ''On Fixed Stars'' (or ''Perì Tôn Aplanôn'') ** ''The Celestial Sphere'' (or ''Sphaîra)'') * The '' Hellespontine Sibyl'' (c. 6th century BC) ** Sibylline Books * Pherecydes of Syros (6th century BCE) ** ''Heptamychia'' * Ctesias (fifth century BC) ** ''Persica'', a history of

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 23 books ** '' Indica'', an account of India *

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

(525–455 BC) ** ''Alcmene'' ** ''The Argo'' ** ''Atalanta'' ** ''The Bacchae'' ** ''Callisto'' ** ''The Children of Heracles'' ** ''Circe'' ** ''The Danaids'' ** ''The Egyptians'' ** ''Epigoni'' ** ''Iphigenia'' ** ''Ixion'' ** ''The Lion'' ** ''Memnon'' ** '' Myrmidons'', survives in fragments. ** ''

Nereids In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; ; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanids, Oceanid Doris (Oceanid), Doris, sisters to their bro ...

'', survives in fragments. ** ''Niobe'' ** ''The Nurses of Dionysus'' ** ''Penelope'' ** ''Pentheus'' ** ''Philoctetes'' ** '' Phrygians'' (or ''Hector’s Ransom''), survives in fragments. ** ''The Priestesses'' ** ''Prometheus The Fire-Bearer'' ** ''Prometheus The Fire-Kindler'' ** ''Prometheus Unbound'' ** ''Semele'' ** ''Sisyphus The Runaway'' ** ''Sisyphus The Stone-Roller'' ** ''The Sphinx'' ** ''Telephus'' ** ''The Thracian Women'' ** ''The Weighing of Souls'' ** ''Women of Salamis'' ** ''The Youths'' * Anaxagoras (c. 500 – 428 BC) ** ''Book of Philosophy''. Only fragments of the first part have survived. * Xenocles (c. 5th century BC) ** ''Athamas'' ** ''Bacchae'' ** ''Licymnius'' ** ''Lycaon'' ** ''Myes'' ** ''Oedipus'' * Sophocles (c. 497 – 406 BC) ** ''Akhilleôs Erasti'' (or ''Male Lover of Achilles''). ** ''Aigeus'' ** '' Aithiopes'' ** ''Alexandros'' ** '' Amphiaurus'' ** '' Amycos Satyrykos'' ** ''Antenoridae'' ** ''Cassandra'' ** ''Cerberus'' ** ''Clytemnestra'' ** ''Daedalus'' ** ''Danae'' ** ''Dionysiaca'' ** '' Epigoni'', only small fragments survive. ** ''Eris'' ** ''Helenes Apaitesis'' (or ''Helen’s Demand''). ** ''Helenes Gamos'' (or ''Helen’s Marriage''). ** ''Herakles Epi Tainaro'' (or ''Heracles At Taenarum''). ** '' Ichneutae'', only a fragmentary 400 lines survive making it the second best surviving

Satyr play The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is st ...

behind Euripides's ''Cyclops''. ** ''Inachos'', only small fragments survive. ** ''Ion'' ** ''Iphigenia'' ** ''Ixion'' ** ''Minos'' ** ''Niobe'' ** '' Odysseus Acanthoplex'', only fragments survive. ** ''Odysseus Mainomenos'' (or ''Odysseus Gone Mad'') ** ''Pandora'' ** ''Peleus'' ** ''Phaedra'' ** ''Philoctetes In Troy'' ** ''Phoenix'' ** ''Priam'' ** ''Sisyphus'' ** ''Tantalus'' ** '' Tereus'', only fragmentary knowledge survives. ** ''Theseus'' ** '' Triptolemos'', only small fragments survive. * Ion of Chios (c. 490 BC – c. 420 BC) ** ''Agamemnon'' ** ''Alcmene'' ** ''Argives'' ** ''Eurytidai'' (or ''Sons of Erytus'') ** ''Laertes'' ** ''Omphale'' ** ''Phoenix and Caeneus'' ** ''Phoenix Deuteros'' ** ''Phrouroi'' (or ''Sentinels'') ** ''Teucer'' * Protagoras (c. 490 BC – c. 420 BC) ** "On the Gods" (essay) ** ''On the Art of Disputation'' ** ''On the Original State of Things'' ** ''On Truth'' * Gorgias (483–375 BC) ** ''On Non-Existence'' (or ''On Nature''). Only two sketches of it exist. ** ''Epitaphios''. What exists is thought to be only a small fragment of a significantly longer piece. * Pherecydes of Leros (c. 480 BC) ** A history of Leros ** ''On Iphigeneia'', an essay ** ''On the Festivals of Dionysus'' * Euripides (c. 480 – c. 406 BC) ** '' Alcmaeon in Corinth'' (405 BC), only fragments survive. ** '' Alcmaeon in Psophis'' (438 BC), only fragments survive. ** ''Alexandros'' (415 BC) ** '' Andromeda'' (412 BC), only fragments survive. ** ''Antiope'' (410 BC) ** '' Archelaus'' (410 BC), only fragments survive. ** '' Bellerophon'' (430 BC), only fragments survive. ** ''Captive Melanippe'' (412 BC) ** ''Cresphontes'' (425 BC) ** ''Cretan Women'' (438 BC) ** ''Cretans'' (435 BC) ** '' Dictys'' (431 BC), only fragments survive. ** ''Erectheus'' (422 BC) ** '' Hypsipyle'' (410 BC), only fragments survive. ** ''Palamedes'' (415 BC) ** '' Peliades'' (455 BC) ** '' Phaethon'' (420 BC), only fragments survive. ** '' Philoctetes'' (431 BC), only fragments survive. ** '' Sisyphus'' (415 BC) ** ''Sthenboea'' (429 BC) ** ''Telephus'' (438 BC) ** '' Theristai'' (or ''Reapers'') (431 BC) ** ''Wise Melanippe'' (420 BC) *

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

(c. 470–399 BC) ** Verse versions of

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

. * Pherecydes of Athens (c. 465 BC) ** Genealogies of the gods and heroes, originally in ten books; numerous fragments have been preserved. * Prodicus ( – c. 395 BC) ** ''On Nature'' ** ''On the Nature of Man'' ** "On Propriety of Language" ** ''On the Choice of Heracles'' * Agathon (c. 448 – c. 400 BC) ** ''Aerope'' ** ''Alcmaeon'' ** '' Anthos'' (or ''The Flower'') ** ''Mysoi'' (or ''Mysians'') ** ''Telephos'' (or ''Telephus'') ** ''Thyestes'' * Aristophanes (c. 446 BC – c. 386 BC) ** Banqueters (427 BC) ** Babylonians (426 BC) ** The Clouds (first version 423 BC) ** Amphiaraus (414 BC) ** Plutus (first version 408 BC) ** Cocalus (387 BC) ** Aiolosicon (387 BC) *

Speusippus Speusippus (; ; c. 408 – 339/8 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek philosopher. Speusippus was Plato's nephew by his sister Potone. After Plato's death, c. 348 BC, Speusippus inherited the Platonic Academy, Academy, near age 60, and remai ...

(c. 408 – 339/8 BC) ** ''On Pythagorean Numbers'' *

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

(384–322 BC) ** second book of '' Poetics'', dealing with comedy ** ''On the Pythagoreans'' ** '' Protrepticus'' (fragments survived) * Eudemus (c. 370 BCE – c. 300 BCE) ** ''History of Arithmetics'', on the early history of

Greek mathematics Ancient Greek mathematics refers to the history of mathematical ideas and texts in Ancient Greece during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity, mostly from the 5th century BC to the 6th century AD. Greek mathematicians lived in cities ...

(only one short quote survives) ** ''History of Astronomy'', on the early history of

Greek astronomy Ancient Greek astronomy is the astronomy written in the Greek language during classical antiquity. Greek astronomy is understood to include the Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek, Hellenistic period, Hellenistic, Roman Empire, Greco-Roman, and Late an ...

(several quotes survive) ** ''History of Geometry'', on the early history of Greek

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

(several quotes survive) * Ptolemy I Soter (c. 364 – 282 BC) ** ''History of Alexander'' * Callisthenes (c. 360 – 327 BCE) ** An account of

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

's expedition ** A history of Greece from the Peace of Antalcidas (387) to the Third Sacred War (357) ** A history of the Phocian war * Cleitarchus (mid to late 4th century BCE) ** '' History of Alexander'' * Pytheas of Massalia (c. 350 BC, fl. c. 320–306 BC) ** τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ (''ta peri tou Okeanou'') "On the Ocean" * Aristarchus of Samos (c. 310 – c. 230 BCE) ** Astronomy book outlining his heliocentrism (

astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...

model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun) * Manetho (early third century BC) ** '' Ægyptiaca'' (''History of Egypt'') in three books. Few, indirect, fragments survive. * Berossus (beginning of the 3rd century BC) ** '' Babyloniaca'' (''History of Babylonia'') *

Euclid Euclid (; ; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of geometry that largely domina ...

(fl. 300 BC) ** ''Conics'', a work on conic sections later extended by Apollonius of Perga into his famous work on the subject. ** '' Porisms'', the exact meaning of the title is controversial (probably " corollaries"). ** ''Pseudaria'', or ''Book of Fallacies'', an elementary text about

fallacies A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument that may appear to be well-reasoned if unnoticed. The term was introduced in the Western intellectual tradition by the Aristotelian '' De Sophis ...

in reasoning. ** ''Surface Loci'' concerned either loci (sets of points) on surfaces or loci which were themselves surfaces. *

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse ( ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Greek mathematics, mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and Invention, inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse in History of Greek and Hellenis ...

(c. 287 – c. 212 BC) ** ''On Sphere-Making'' ** ''On Polyhedra'' * Ctesibius (285–222 BC) ** ''On pneumatics'', a work describing force pumps ** ''Memorabilia'', a compilation of his research works * Livius Andronicus (284–204 BC) ** ''Achilles'' ** ''Aegisthus'' ** ''Aiax Mastigophorus'' (or ''Ajax with the Whip'') ** ''Andromeda'' ** ''Antiopa'' ** ''Danae'' ** ''Equus Troianus'' ** ''Gladiolus'', only fragments survive ** ''Hermiona'' ** ''Ludius'' ** ''Odusia'', a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

translation of Homer’s Odyssey, only fragments survive ** ''Tereus'' ** ''Virgo'' * Eratosthenes (c. 276 BC – c. 195/194 BC) ** Περὶ τῆς ἀναμετρήσεως τῆς γῆς (''On the Measurement of the Earth''; lost, summarized by

Cleomedes Cleomedes () was a Greek astronomer who is known chiefly for his book ''On the Circular Motions of the Celestial Bodies'' (Κυκλικὴ θεωρία μετεώρων), also known as ''The Heavens'' (). Placing his work chronologically His bi ...

) ** ''Geographica'' (lost, criticized by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

) ** ''Arsinoe'' (a memoir of queen Arsinoe; lost; quoted by Athenaeus in the '' Deipnosophistae'') * Cato the Elder (234–149 BC) ** ''Origines'', a 7-book history of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and the Italian states. ** ''Carmen de moribus'', a book of prayers or incantations for the dead in verse. ** ''Praecepta ad Filium'', a collection of maxims. ** A collection of his speeches. * Nicagoras, Athenian sophist (2nd century BC) ** ''Lives of Famous People'' ** ''On Cleopatra in Troas'' ** ''Embassy Speech to Philip the Roman Emperor'' * Minucianus, son of Nicagoras the Athenian sophist (2nd century BC) ** ''Art of Rhetoric'' ** ''Progymnasmata'' * Nicander (2nd century BC) ** ''Aetolica'', a prose history of Aetolia. ** ''Heteroeumena'', a mythological epic. ** ''Georgica'' and ''Melissourgica'', of which considerable fragments are preserved. * Agatharchides (2nd century BC) **''Ta kata ten Asian'' (''Affairs in Asia'') in 10 books ** ''Ta kata ten Europen'' (''Affairs in Europe'') in 49 books ** ''Peri ten Erythras thalasses'' (''On the Erythraean Sea'') in 5 books * Apollodorus of Athens (c. 180 BC – after 120 BC) ** ''Chronicle'' (''Χρονικά''), a Greek history in verse ** ''On the Gods'' (''Περὶ θεῶν''), known through quotes to have included etymologies of the names and epithets of the

gods A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

** A twelve-book essay about Homer's Catalogue of Ships *

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

(138–78 BC) ** ''Memoirs'', referenced by

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

* Varro (116–27 BC) ** ''Saturarum Menippearum libri CL or Menippean Satires in 150 books'' ** ''Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum libri XLI'' ** ''Logistoricon libri LXXVI'' ** ''Hebdomades vel de imaginibus'' ** ''Disciplinarum libri IX'' * Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC) ** '' Hortensius'' a dialogue also known as "On Philosophy". ** '' Consolatio'', written to soothe his own sadness at the death of his daughter Tullia * Quintus Tullius Cicero (102 – 43 BC) ** Four tragedies in the Greek style: ''Troas'', ''Erigones'', ''Electra'', and one other. * Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC) ** ''Bibliotheca historia'' (''Historical Library''). Of 40 books, only books 1–5 and 10–20 are extant. * Alexander Polyhistor (first half of 1st century BC) ** ''

Successions of Philosophers Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

'' * Gaius Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC) ** ''Anticatonis Libri II'' (only fragments survived) ** ''Carmina et prolusiones'' (only fragments survived) ** ''De analogia libri II ad M. Tullium Ciceronem'' ** ''De astris liber'' ** ''Dicta collectanea'' ("collected sayings", also known by the Greek title ''άποφθέγματα'') ** Letters (only fragments survived) *** ''Epistulae ad Ciceronem'' ('Letters to Cicero') *** ''Epistulae ad familiares'' ('Letters to Relatives') ** ''Iter'' ('journey')) (only one fragment survived) ** ''Laudes Herculis'' ** ''Libri auspiciorum'' ("books of auspices", also known as ''Auguralia'') ** ''Oedipus'' ** other works: *** contributions to the ''libri pontificales'' as ''pontifex maximus'' *** possibly some early love poems * Gaius Asinius Pollio (75 BC – AD 4) ** ''Historiae'' (''Histories'') ** ''Epitome'' by Gaius Asinius Pollio of Tralles *

Gaius Maecenas Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( 13 April 68 BC – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. ...

(c. 70 – 8 BC) ** ''Prometheus''; descriptive fragments from some other authors survive. Construct of book is surmised by researchers. * Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus (64 BC – AD 8 or c. 12) ** Memoirs of the civil wars after the death of Caesar, used by Suetonius and Plutarch ** Bucolic poems in Greek *

( 64 or 63 BC – c. 24 AD) ** ''History'' * Augustus (63 BC – AD 14) ** ''Rescript to Brutus Respecting Cato'' ** ''Exhortations to Philosophy'' ** ''History of His Own Life'' ** ''Sicily'' (a work in verse) ** ''Epigrams'' * Livy (59 BC – AD 17) ** 107 of the 142 books of ''

Ab Urbe Condita ''Ab urbe condita'' (; 'from the founding of Rome, founding of the City'), or (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is ...

,'' a history of Rome are lost * Verrius Flaccus (c. 55 BC – AD 20) ** ''De Orthographia: De Obscuris Catonis'', an elucidation of obscurities in the writings of Cato the Elder ** ''Saturnus'', dealing with questions of Roman ritual ** ''Rerum memoria dignarum libri'', an encyclopaedic work much used by

** ''Res Etruscae'', probably on augury * Helvius Cinna (died 20 March 44 BC) **''Zmyrna'', a mythological epic poem about the incestuous love of Smyrna (or Myrrha) for her father Cinyras * Ovid 43 BC – 17/18 AD) ** ''Medea'', of which only two fragments survive. *

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

(42 BC – AD 37) ** Autobiography ("brief and sketchy", per Suetonius) *

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

(10 BC – AD 54) ** '' De arte aleae'' (''The art of playing dice'', a book on dice games) ** an Etruscan dictionary ** '' Tyrrhenika'', twenty volumes on Etruscan history ** a history of Augustus's reign ** ''Carchedonica'', eight volumes on Carthaginian history ** a defense of Cicero against the charges of Asinius Gallus *

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger ( ; AD 65), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, a dramatist, and in one work, a satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca ...

(c. 4 BC – AD 65) ** Book on signs, 5000 were compiled ** ''Against Superstitions,'' Augustine preserved some passages. ** Book on medicine. Either a planned or lost literary work * Memnon of Heraclea (c. 1st century AD) ** ''History of Heraclea Pontica'' * Pamphilus of Alexandria (1st century AD) ** Comprehensive lexicon in 95 books of foreign or obscure words. * Agrippina the Younger (AD 15 – AD 59) ** ''Casus suorum'' (''Misfortunes of her Family'', a memoir) *

(AD 23/24 – 79) ** ''History of the German Wars'', some quotations survive in Tacitus's '' Annals'' and ''

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

'' ** ''Studiosus'', a detailed work on

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

** ''Dubii sermonis'', in eight books ** ''History of his Times'', in thirty-one books, also quoted by Tacitus. ** ''De jaculatione equestri'', a military handbook on missiles thrown from horseback. *

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

(c. 35 – c. 100 AD) ** ''De Causis Corruptae Eloquentiae'' (''On the Causes of Corrupted Eloquence'') * Lucan (39 AD – 65 AD) ** ''Catachthonion'' ** ''Iliacon'' from the Trojan cycle ** ''Epigrammata'' ** '' Adlocutio ad Pollam'' ** ''Silvae'' ** ''Saturnalia'' ** ''Medea'' ** ''Salticae Fabulae'' ** ''Laudes Neronis'', a praise of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

** ''Orpheus'' ** ''Prosa oratio in Octavium Sagittam'' ** ''Epistulae ex Campania'' ** ''De Incendio Urbis'' * Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) ** ''De re militari'', a military manual *

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

(AD 53 – 117) ** ''

Dacica ''Dacica'' ("Dacian atters), or ''De bello dacico'' ("On the Dacian War"), is a lost Latin work by Roman Emperor Trajan, written in the spirit of Julius Caesar's commentaries like ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico, De Bello Gallico'', and descri ...

'' (or ''De bello dacico'') * Philo of Byblos (c. 64 – 141) ** ''Phoenician History'', a Greek translation of the original Phoenician book attributed to Sanchuniathon. Considerable fragments have been preserved, chiefly by Eusebius in the ''Praeparatio evangelica'' (i.9; iv.16). * Suetonius (c. AD 69 – after AD 122) ** ''De Viris Illustribus'' (''On Famous Men'' – in the field of literature), to which belongs: ''De Illustribus Grammaticis'' (''Lives Of The Grammarians''), ''De Claris Rhetoribus'' (''Lives Of The Rhetoricians''), and ''Lives Of The Poets''. Some fragments exist. ** ''Lives of Famous Whores'' ** ''Royal Biographies'' ** ''Roma'' (''On Rome''), in four parts: ''Roman Manners & Customs'', ''The Roman Year'', ''The Roman Festivals'', and ''Roman Dress''. ** ''Greek Games'' ** ''On Public Offices'' ** ''On Cicero’s Republic'' ** ''The Physical Defects of Mankind'' ** ''Methods of Reckoning Time'' ** ''An Essay on Nature'' ** ''Greek Terms of Abuse'' ** ''Grammatical Problems'' ** ''Critical Signs Used in Books'' *

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

(145 – 211) ** ''Autobiography'' * Callinicus (3rd century AD) **''Against the Philosophical Sects'' **''On the Renewal of Rome'' **''Prosphonetikon to Gallienus,'' a salute addressed to the emperor **''To Cleopatra, On the History of Alexandria'', most likely dedicated to Zenobia, who claimed descent from Cleopatra **''To Lupus, On Bad Taste on Rhetoric'' * Zoticus (3rd century AD) ** ''Story of Atlantis,'' a poem mentioned by Porphyry * Longinus (c. 213 – 273 AD) **''On The End: by Longinus in answer to Plotinus and Gentilianus Amelius'' (preface survives, quoted by Porphyry) **''On Impulse'' **''On Principles'' **''Lover of Antiquity'' **''On the Natural Life'' **''Difficulties in Homer'' **''Whether Homer is a Philosopher'' **''Homeric Problems and Solutions'' **''Things Contrary to History which the Grammarians Explain as Historical'' **''On Words in Homer with Multiple Senses'' **''Attic Diction'' **''Lexicon of Antimachus and Heracleon'' * Zenobia (c. 240 – c. 274) ** Epitome of the history of Alexandria and the Orient (according to the '' Historia Augusta'') * Gaius Asinius Quadratus (fl. AD 248) **''The Millennium'', a thousand-year history of Rome; thirty fragments remain * Sulpicius Alexander (late fourth century AD) ** ''Historia'' (History)

Unnamed works

* Lost plays of

. He is believed to have written some 90 plays, of which six survive. A seventh play is attributed to him. Fragments of his play ''Achilleis'' were said to have been discovered in the wrappings of a

mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...

in the 1990s. * Lost plays of Agathon. None of these survive. * Lost poems of Alcaeus of Mytilene. Of a reported ten scrolls, there exist only quotes and numerous fragments. * Lost choral poems of Alcman. Of six books of choral lyrics that were known (ca. 50–60 hymns), only fragmentary quotations in other Greek authors were known until the discovery of a fragment in 1855, containing approximately 100 verses. In the 1960s, many more fragments were discovered and published from a dig at Oxyrhynchus. * Lost poems of Anacreon. Of the five books of lyrical pieces mentioned in the ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

'' and by Athenaeus, only mere fragments collected from the citations of later writers now exist. * Lost works of Anaximander. There are a few extant fragments of his works. * Lost works of

Apuleius Apuleius ( ), also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (c. 124 – after 170), was a Numidians, Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He was born in the Roman Empire, Roman Numidia (Roman province), province ...

in many genres, including a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

, ''Hermagoras'', as well as poetry, dialogues, hymns, and technical treatises on politics, dendrology, agriculture, medicine, natural history, astronomy, music, and arithmetic. * Lost plays of Aristarchus of Tegea. Of 70 pieces, only the titles of three of his plays, with a single line of the text, have survived. * Lost plays of Aristophanes. He wrote 40 plays, 11 of which survive. * Lost works of

. It is believed that we have about one third of his original works. * Lost work of Aristoxenus. He is said to have written 453 works, dealing with philosophy,

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

and music. His only extant work is ''Elements of Harmony''. * Lost works of the historian Arrian. * Lost works of Callimachus. Of about 800 works, in verse and prose; only six hymns, 64 epigrams and some fragments survive; a considerable fragment of the epic '' Hecale'', was discovered in the Rainer papyri. * Lost works of Chrysippus. Of over 700 written works, none survive, except a few fragments embedded in the works of later authors. * Lost works of

. Of his books, six on rhetoric have survived, and parts of seven on philosophy. Books 1–3 of his work '' De re publica'' have survived mostly intact, as well as a substantial part of book 6. A dialogue on philosophy called '' Hortensius'', which was highly influential on

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

, is lost. Part of '' De Natura Deorum'' is lost. * Lost works of Cleopatra including books on medicine, magical charms, and

cosmetics Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either Natural product, natural source ...

(according to the historian Al-Masudi). * Lost works of Clitomachus. According to Diogenes Laërtius, he wrote some 400 books, of which none are extant today, although a few titles are known. * Lost plays of Cratinus. Only fragments of his works have been preserved. * Lost works of

Democritus Democritus (, ; , ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, Thrace, Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an ...

. He wrote extensively on

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. It was dominant before the develop ...

and ethics, of which little remains. * Lost works of Diogenes of Sinope. He is reported to have written several books, none of which has survived to the present date. Whether or not these books were actually his writings or attributions are in dispute. * Lost works of Diphilus. He is said to have written 100 comedies, the titles of 50 of which are preserved. * Lost works of Ennius. Only fragments of his works survive. * Lost works of Enoch. According to the Second Book of Enoch, the prophet wrote 360 manuscripts. * Lost works of Empedocles. Little of what he wrote survives today. * Lost plays of Epicharmus of Kos. He wrote between 35 and 52 comedies, many of which have been lost or exist only in fragments. * Lost plays of Euripides. He is believed to have written over 90 plays, 18 of which have survived. Fragments, some substantial, of most other plays also survive. * Lost plays of Eupolis. Of the 17 plays attributed to him, only fragments remain. * Lost works of Heraclitus. His writings only survive in fragments quoted by other authors. * Lost works of Hippasus. Few of his original works now survive. * Lost works of Hippias. He is credited with an excellent work on Homer, collections of Greek and foreign literature, and archaeological treatises, but nothing remains except the barest notes. * Lost orations of Hyperides. Some 79 speeches were transmitted in his name in antiquity. A codex of his speeches was seen at Buda in 1525 in the library of King

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, but was destroyed by the Turks in 1526. In 2002, Natalie Tchernetska of Trinity College, Cambridge discovered and identified fragments of two speeches of Hyperides that have been considered lost, ''Against Timandros'' and ''Against Diondas''. Six other orations survive in whole or part. * Lost poems of Ibycus. According to the ''

'', he wrote seven books of lyrics. * Lost plays of Ion of Chios. Variously stated to have written 12 to 40 tragedies during his lifetime with only the titles and fragments of 11 of these plays survive. * Lost works of Juba II. He wrote a number of books in Greek and Latin on history, natural history, geography, grammar, painting and theatre. Only fragments of his work survive. * Lost works of Leucippus. No writings exist which we can attribute to him. * Lost works of Lucius Varius Rufus. The author of the poem ''De morte'' and the tragedy ''Thyestes'' praised by his contemporaries as being on a par with the best Greek poets. Only fragments survive. * Lost works of Melissus of Samos. Only fragments preserved in other writers' works exist. * Lost plays of Menander. He wrote over a hundred comedies of which one survives. Fragments of a number of his plays survive. * Lost poems of Phanocles. He wrote some poems about homosexual relationships among heroes of the mythical tradition of which only one survives, along with a few short fragments. * Lost works of Philemon. Of his 97 works, 57 are known to us only as titles and fragments. * Lost poetry of

Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

. Of his varied books of poetry, only his victory odes survive in complete form. The rest are known only by quotations in other works or papyrus scraps unearthed in Egypt. * Lost plays of Plautus. He wrote approximately 130 plays, of which 21 survive. * Lost poems and orations of Pliny the Younger. * Rhetorical works of Julius Pollux. * There exist
a list
of more than 60 lost works in many genres by the philosopher Porphyry, including ''Against the Christians'' (of which only fragments survive). * Lost works of Posidonius. All of his works are now lost. Some fragments exist, as well as titles and subjects of many of his books. * Lost works of Proclus. A number of his commentaries on

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

are lost. * Lost works of Pyrrhus. He wrote ''Memoirs'' and several books on the art of war, all now lost. According to Plutarch, Hannibal was influenced by them and they received praise from Cicero. * Lost works of Pythagoras. No texts by him survived. * Lost works of Pythangelus. Cited as a tragic poet in Aristophanes play ''The Frogs'' though little is known about his existence and none of his work survives. * Lost plays of Rhinthon. Of 38 plays, only a few titles and lines have been preserved. * Lost poems of Sappho. Only a few full poems and fragments of others survive. It has been hypothesized that poems 61 and 62 of Catullus were inspired by lost works of Sappho. * Lost poems of Simonides of Ceos. Of his poetry we possess two or three short elegies, several epigrams and about 90 fragments of lyric poetry. * Lost plays of Sophocles. Of 123 plays, seven survive, with fragments of others. * Lost poems of Sulpicia, who wrote erotic poems of conjugal bliss and was herself the subject of two poems by

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', pu ...

, who wrote (10.35) that "All girls who desire to please one man should read Sulpicia. All husbands who desire to please one wife should read Sulpicia." * Lost poems of Stesichorus. Of several long works, significant fragments survive. * Lost works of Theodectes. Of his 50 tragedies, we have the names of about 13 and a few unimportant fragments. His treatise on the art of rhetoric and his speeches are lost. * Lost works of

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; ; c. 371 – c. 287 BC) was an ancient Greek Philosophy, philosopher and Natural history, naturalist. A native of Eresos in Lesbos, he was Aristotle's close colleague and successor as head of the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum, the ...

. Of his 227 books, only a handful survive, including ''On Plants'' and ''On Stones'', but ''On Mining'' is lost. Fragments of others survive. * Lost plays of Thespis. None of his works survive. * Lost works of Timon. None of his works survive except where he is quoted by others, mainly Sextus Empiricus. * Lost works of Tiro. A biography of

in at least four books is referenced by Asconius Pedianus in his commentaries on Cicero's speeches. * Lost plays of Xenocles. Referenced various times in the works of Aristophanes as an inferior poet and had won first place in the Dionysia in 415 BC though none of his works survive. * Lost works of Xenophanes. Fragments of his poetry survive only as quotations by later Greek writers. * Lost works of Zeno of Elea. None of his works survive intact. * Lost works of Zeno of Citium. None of his writings have survived except as fragmentary quotations preserved by later writers.

Amerindian texts and codices

* The original Aztec codices were burned by Tlacaelel after Itzcoatl took power. * Most Maya codices were burned by Spanish priests in the sixteenth century. * Many

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

Quipus (an ancient device used for record keeping and communication) were burned by Spanish priests in 1583 on the orders of the Third Council of Lima. Only 751 quipus are known to have survived to the present.

Ancient Chinese texts

* '' Classic of Music'' attributed to

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

. * Medical treatise of the renowned physician Hua Tuo ( traditional Chinese: 華佗; simplified Chinese: 华陀;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: Huà Tuó) from late Eastern Han. The treatise was traditionally referred to as ''Qing Nang Shu'' ( traditional Chinese 青囊書; simplified Chinese: 青囊书;

: Qīng Náng Shū), literally ''Book in the Cyan Bag''. When Hua Tuo was sentenced to death after incurring the wrath of

Cao Cao Cao Cao (; ; ; 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation f ...

, who controlled the Imperial Court, the physician tried to entrust the text to his gaoler. However, the gaoler was afraid of potentially implicating himself and in disappointment, Hua Tuo had the text burned
Records of the Three Kingdoms Chapter 29, Book of Wei – Technology 《三国志卷二十九·魏书·方技传》
* Book of Bai Ze ( simplified Chinese 白泽图;

: Bái Zé Tú). A guide to the forms and habits of all 11,520 types of supernatural creatures in the world, and how to overcome their hauntings and attacks, as dictated by the mythical creature, Bai Ze, to the Yellow Emperor in the 26th century BCE. * Works of the 5th century BCE philosopher Yang Zhu burned on the orders of the emperor Shi Huangdi, the founder of the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

Ancient Japanese texts

* '' Tennōki'' * '' Kokki''

Ancient Indian texts

* ''Jaya'' and ''Bharata'', early versions of the Hindu epic '' Mahabharata'' * '' Bārhaspatya-sūtras'', the foundational text of the Cārvāka school of philosophy. The text probably dates from the final centuries BC, with only fragmentary quotations of it surviving. * '' Valayapathi'', Tamil epic poem, only fragments survive. * '' Kundalakesi'', Tamil epic poem, only fragments survive. * '' Brihatkatha'', a collection of stories in Paishachi composed by Gunadhya between the 1st c. BC and the 3rd c. AD. Parts of it were adapted into

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and some vernaculars (see main article).

Ancient Egyptian texts

*The Book of Thoth, a legendary manuscript alluded to in Egyptian literature believed to contain the secrets to comprehend the power of the gods and speech of animals. *Additionally, thousands of other pieces are attributed to the deity Thoth. Seleuces noted that the number of his writings was 20,000 while Manetho held it was 36,525.

Avestan texts

* '' Avesta'', the holy book of Zoroaster. After Alexander's conquest, avesta was fragmented and it has been said only a third of it survived orally. * ''Avesta'' recollected in 21 volumes, in Sasanian era, only a quarter of which survive.

Gnostic texts

*''The Seventh Universe of the Prophet Hieralias'', an unknown manuscript showing up by name inside the

Gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

piece '' On the Origin of the World''.

Pahlavi / Middle-Persian texts

* '' Khwātay-Nāmag'' (Book of Lords) : A chronological history of Iranian kings from the mythical era to the end of Sasanian period. This book was an important reference for post-Sasanian and Islamic historians such as Ibn al-Muqaffa' as well as Ferdowsi in his epic work '' Shahnameh''. * ''Ewen-Nāmag'': Multi-volume book on Iranian ceremonies, entertainment, warfare, politics, precepts, principles and examples in the Sasanian era. * ''Zij-i Shahryār'': An important work of astronomy. * ''Karirak ud Damanak'': A version translated into Pahlavi of the Indian work of fiction '' Pancatantra''. * ''Hazār Afsān'' or ''Thousand Tales'': A Pahlavi compilation of Iranian and Indian tales. This work was translated to Arabic in the Islamic era and became known as '' One Thousand and One Nights''. * ''Mazdak-Nāmag'': Biography of Mazdak, the Zoroastrian reformer and the primate of Mazdakism movement. * ''Kārvand'': A book of rhetoric. * ''Jāvidan Khrad'' (Immortal wisdom): Quotations of the mythical Iranian king and sage Hushang. * ''Scientific Works of Gondishapur Academy'': Works of Greek, Indian, and Persian scholars of the Academy of Gondishapur on medicine, astrology, and philosophy. A remarkable part of their heritage was translated into

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

during the Graeco-Arabic translation movement. The Middle-Persian literature had a remarkable diversity based on historical accounts. Only a poor part of mostly religious texts survived by Zoroastrian minorities in Persia and India.

Manichaean texts

* '' Ardahang (Arzhang)'': The holy pictured book of Manichaeism. * '' Shabuhragan'': The holy book of Mani dedicated to Shapur the Great; only fragments survive.

Lost Biblical texts

* ''

Hexapla ''Hexapla'' (), also called ''Origenis Hexaplorum'', is a Textual criticism, critical edition of the Hebrew Bible in six versions, four of them translated into Ancient Greek, Greek, preserved only in fragments. It was an immense and complex wor ...

'': a compilation of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

Lost texts referenced in the Old Testament

* The book referred to at Exodus 17:14. ''Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

...'' * The ''Book of the Covenant'' referred to at Exodus 24:7 * The '' Book of the Wars of the Lord'' ( Numbers 21:14) * '' Book of Jasher'' * ''Manner of the Kingdom'' * '' Acts of Solomon'' * '' Chronicles of the Kings of Israel'' * '' Chronicles of the Kings of Judah'' * '' Book of the Kings of Israel'' * '' Annals of King David'' * '' Book of Samuel the Seer'' * '' Book of Nathan the Prophet'' * '' Book of Gad the Seer'' * '' History of Nathan the Prophet'' * '' Prophecy of Ahijah'' * '' Visions of Iddo the Seer'' * '' Book of Shemaiah the Prophet'' * '' Iddo Genealogies'' * '' Story of the Prophet Iddo'' * '' Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel'' * '' Book of Jehu'' * '' Story of the Book of Kings'' * '' Acts of Uzziah'' * '' Acts of the Kings of Israel'' * '' Sayings of the Seers'' * '' Laments for Josiah'' * '' Chronicles of King Ahasuerus'' * '' Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia''

Lost works referenced in Deutero-canonical texts

*The five volume account of the Maccabean revolt compiled by Jason of Cyrene, abridged by the writer of 2 Maccabees

Lost works referenced in the New Testament

* '' Epistle to Corinth'' * '' Epistle from Laodicea to the Colossians''

Lost works pertaining to Jesus

(These works are generally 2nd century and later; some would be considered reflective of proto-orthodox Christianity, and others would be heterodox.) * '' Gospel of Eve'' * '' Gospel of Mani'' * '' Gospel of Matthias'' * '' Gospel of Perfection'' * '' Gospel of the Four Heavenly Realms'' * '' Gospel of the Hebrews'' * '' Gospel of the Seventy'' * '' Gospel of the Twelve'' * '' Memoria Apostolorum'' * '' Secret Gospel of Mark''

2nd century

* Hegesippus's ''Hypomnemata'' (''Memoirs'') in five books, and a history of the Christian church. * The '' Gospel of the Lord'' compiled by Marcion of Sinope to support his interpretation of Christianity. Marcion's writings were suppressed but a portion of them have been recreated from the works that were used to denounce them. * Papias's ''Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord'' in five books, mentioned by Eusebius of Caesarea.

3rd century

*Edict of

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius ( 201June 251), known as Trajan Decius or simply Decius (), was Roman emperor from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops a ...

, 250 AD * Various works of

Tertullian Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...

. Some fifteen works in Latin or Greek are lost, some as recently as the 9th century (''De Paradiso'', ''De superstitione saeculi'', ''De carne et anima'' were all extant in the now damaged Codex Agobardinus in 814 AD).

4th century

* ''Praeparatio Ecclesiastica'', and ''Demonstratio Ecclesiastica'' by Eusebius of Caesarea *''History of Constantine the Great'' (known from a précis by Photius) by Praxagoras of Athens

5th century

* Sozomen's history of the Christian church, from the Ascension of Jesus to the defeat of Licinius in 323, in twelve books. * Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus, a historical work of twelve volumes of which only brief fragments survive, a few passages being quoted in chapters eight and nine of the second book of

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...

's ''Decem libri historiarum'' (''Ten Books of Histories'')

Middle Ages (500–1500)

6th century

Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Christian Roman statesman, a renowned scholar and writer who served in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senato ...

's ''Gothic History'', which survives only in a much shorter abridgement, the ''

Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae''), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'' (), written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the ori ...

'' of

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

7th century

* The '' Kakinomoto no Ason Hitomaro Kashū'' is lost as a standalone work, although an unknown portion of it was preserved as part of the later .

8th century

* '' The Life of God's Messenger'' by Ibn Ishaq, although Ibn Hisham published a further revised version of the book, under the same title.

Anglo-Saxon works

* '' The Battle of Maldon'', a heroic poem of which only 325 lines in the middle survive. * '' Waldere'', an epic which is now lost apart from two short fragments. * The Finnesburg Fragment, comprising 50 lines from an otherwise lost poem. * Bede's translation of John's Gospel, c. 735. * '' Beowulf'': since a fire in 1731 parts of the manuscript have been lost, most notably a large section of the fight between Beowulf and the dragon towards the end of the poem. (c. 1000)

12th century

* Three works by Gerald of Wales: ** ''Vita sancti Karadoci'' ("Life of St Caradoc") ** ''De fidei fructu fideique defectu'' ** ''Cambriae mappa'' * A romance on the subject of King Mark and Iseult by

Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (; ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on King Arthur, Arthurian subjects such as Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's chivalric romances, including ''Erec and Enide'' ...

. * The

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th romances ''André de France">Romance (heroic literature)">romances ''André de France'' and ''Gui d'Excideuil">André_de_France.html" ;"title="Romance (heroic literature)">romances ''André de France">Romance (heroic literature)">romances ''André de France'' and ''Gui d'Excideuil'' * ''Hryggjarstykki'', a Norse saga about almost contemporary Norwegian kings written around 1140. * ''Skjöldunga saga'', a Norse saga on the List of legendary kings of Denmark, legendary Danish dynasty of the Skjöldungs, composed c. 1180–1200 * '' Gauks saga Trandilssonar'', a lost saga of the Icelanders. * Life of Despot Stefan Lazarević is a work first written in 1166 but the only surviving chronicle is from 1431 by Constantine of Kostenets who includes a genealogy of the Nemanjić dynasty up until Despot Stefan Lazarević. * William of Tyre's ''Gesta orientalium principum'', a history of the Islamic world

13th century

* The Quaternuli by David of Dinant. Which were condemned by a provincial council headed by Peter of Corbeil in 1210, who ordered for them to be burned for expressing pantheist beliefs. David may have also published another work, entitled ''De Tomis, seu Divisionibus''; this may be another title for the ''Quaternuli''. * The literary tradition of the Nizari Ismailis (" Assassins"), partially destroyed during the reign of Hassan III of Alamut, and eventually lost completely during the Mongol campaign against the Nizaris, in particular during the burning of the Library of Alamut Castle ** ''Sargudhasht-i Bābā Sayyidinā'' (), Hasan-i Sabbah's biography. Juvayni "saved" it before burning the library, and used it as a source in his ''

Tarikh-i Jahangushay ''Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy'' ( "The History of The World Conqueror") or ''Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy-i Juwaynī'' () is a detailed historical account written by the Persian people, Persian Ata-Malik Juvayni describing the Mongol, Hulegu Khan, and I ...

'', but he claimed that he burned it after reading it.

14th century

* '' Inventio Fortunata''. A 14th-century description of the geography of the North Pole. * ''Itinerarium''. A geography book by Jacobus Cnoyen of 's-Hertogenbosch, cited by

Gerardus Mercator Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a Flemish people, Flemish geographer, cosmographer and Cartography, cartographer. He is most renowned for creating the Mercator 1569 world map, 1569 world map based on a new Mercator pr ...

* ''Res gestae Arturi britanni'' (''The Deeds of Arthur of Britain''). A book cited by Jacobus Cnoyen * ''Of the Wreched Engendrynge of Mankynde'', ''Origenes upon the Maudeleyne'', and ''The book of the Leoun''. Three works by

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

. * The Coventry Mystery Plays, a cycle of which only two plays survive. * Carostavnik or Rodoslov. Old Serbian biography enters a new— historiographic or even chronographic—phase with the appearance of the so-called ''Vita'', better yet "Lives of Serbian Kings and Archbishops" by Danilo II, Serbian Archbishop, formerly Abbot of the Hilandar Monastery, and his successors, most of whom remained anonymous. * Vrhobreznica Chronicle originates in 1371 but the work is not transcribed until two and half centuries later by a writer named Gavrilo, a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

, who collected earlier annals in his redaction composed in 1650 at the Vrhobreznica monastery. Part of a manuscript archived as "Prague Museum #29" (together with Vrhobreznica Genealogy). * Koporin Chronicle – a 1371 chronicle transcribed in 1453 by Damjan, a deacon, who also wrote the annals on the order of Archbishop of Zeta, Josif, at the Koporin monastery. * Studenica Chronicle – a 14th century chronicle from 1350–1400. Oldest survived copy in a 16th-century manuscript, together with a younger annals. *

Cetinje Cetinje ( cnr-Cyrl, Цетиње, ) is a List of cities and towns in Montenegro, town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, prijestonica, приjестоница, separator=" / ") of Montenegro and is the location of sev ...

Chronicle covers events from 14th century until the end of 16th century, though the manuscript collection is from the end of the 16th century.

15th century

* '' Yongle Encyclopedia'' (). It was one of the world's earliest, and the then-largest, encyclopaedia commissioned by the Yongle Emperor of China's

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

in 1403, completed about 1408. About 400 volumes (less than 4%) of a 16th-century manuscript set survive today. * François Villon's poem "The Romance of the Devil's Fart."

Modern age (1500–present)

16th century

* ''Nigramansir. A Moral Interlude and a Pithy.'' by John Skelton. Printed 1504. A copy seen in 1759 in

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

has since vanished. * '' Ur-Hamlet''. An earlier version of the

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

play '' Hamlet''. Some scholars believe it to be a lost work written by Thomas Kyd, while others attribute it to Shakespeare, identifying the Ur-Hamlet with the first quarto text. * '' Love's Labour's Won'', play by

. * ''The Ocean’s Love to Cynthia''. A poem by Sir Walter Raleigh of which only fragments are known. * Luís de Camões's philosophical work ''The Parnasum of Luís Vaz'' is lost. * '' The Isle of Dogs'' (1597), a play by Thomas Nashe and

Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...

. * '' Phaethon'', a play by Thomas Dekker, mentioned in Philip Henslowe's diary, 1597. * '' Hot Anger Soon Cold'' a play by Henry Chettle, Henry Porter and

; mentioned in Henslowe's diary, August 1598. * '' The Stepmother's Tragedy'', a play by Henry Chettle and Thomas Dekker; mentioned in Henslowe's diary, August 1599. * ''Black Bateman of the North, Part II'', a play by Henry Chettle and Robert Wilson; mentioned in Henslowe's diary in April 1598. * Only four Maya codices survived the Spanish conquest; most were destroyed by conquistadors, the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

or the Aztecs.

17th century

* '' The History of Cardenio'', play by

and John Fletcher (1613) * '' Keep the Widow Waking'', play by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

and John Webster (1624) * Claudio Monteverdi composed at least eighteen operas, but only three (''L'Orfeo'', ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'', and ''Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria'') and the famous

aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

, "Lamento", from his second opera ''L'Arianna'' have survived. * Lost

haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

of Ihara Saikaku. * Jean Racine's first play, ''Amasie'' (1660) is lost. In addition, his biography of Louis XIV, ''Vie de Louis XIV'', was destroyed in the fire at Valincour's house. * John Milton wrote nearly two acts of a tragedy called ''Adam Unparadiz'd,'' which was then lost. * Lost works of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

: ** A translation of '' De Rerum Natura'' by

Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( ; ; – October 15, 55 BC) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem '' De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, which usually is t ...

. ** ''Le Docteur amoureux'' (play, 1658) ** ''Gros-René, petit enfant'' (play, 1659) ** ''Le Docteur Pédant'' (play, 1660) ** ''Les Trois Docteurs'' (play, ca. 1660) ** ''Gorgibus dans le sac'' (play, 1661) ** ''Le Fagotier'' (play, 1661) ** ''Le Fin Lourdaut'' (play attributed, 1668) * Lost works of Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh include; ** ''Ughdair Ereann''. Fragments survive * Works by Buhurizade Mustafa Itri, a major Ottoman musician, composer, singer and poet, who is known to have composed more than a thousand works, only forty of which survive to the present. * ''Olympica'',

René Descartes René Descartes ( , ; ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and Modern science, science. Mathematics was paramou ...

's youthful account of dreams and their interpretations, was last excerpted by Leibniz in 1675. ''L'Art de l'escrime'' by Descartes, a book about fencing, was also lost. * ''De non existentia Dei'' by Kazimierz Łyszczyński, an atheist philosophical treatise, destroyed after the trial and execution of Łyszczyński (1689). Fragments survived in court records.

18th century

* All poems and literary works by Carlo Gimach, except for the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

''Applauso Genetliaco'', are believed to be lost. * Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's journal was burned by her daughter on the grounds that it contained too much scandal and

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

. * Edward Gibbon burned the manuscript of his ''History of the Liberty of the Swiss''. * Adam Smith had most of his manuscripts destroyed shortly before his death. In his last years he had been working on two major treatises, one on the theory and history of law and one on the sciences and arts. The posthumously published '' Essays on Philosophical Subjects'' (1795) probably contain parts of what would have been the latter treatise. * ''The Green-Room Squabble or a Battle Royal between the Queen of Babylon and the Daughter of Darius'', a 1756 play by Samuel Foote, is lost. * Numerous works by J. S. Bach, notably at least two large-scale Passions and many cantatas (see

List of Bach cantatas This is a sortable list of Bach cantatas, the cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. His almost 200 extant cantatas are among his important Vocal music (Bach), vocal compositions. Many are known to be lost. Bach composed both Church cantata ...

) are lost. * Mozart's Cello Concerto in F and Trumpet Concerto are lost. * Beethoven's 1793 'Ode to Joy', which was later incorporated into his ninth Symphony * Haydn's "Double Bass Concerto", of which only the first two measures survive; the rest were burned and destroyed. Supposedly a copy of it may exist somewhere, according to many different speculations. * Personal letters between

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

and his wife Martha Washington; all but three destroyed by Mrs. Washington after his death in 1799. * Georg Philipp Telemann: his all-encompassing oeuvre comprises more than 3,000 compositions, half of which have been lost.

19th century

* '' The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth'' by

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

, a compilation of the teachings of Jesus extracted from a copy of the King James Bible and bound in 1804; no copies are known to survive since the book was lost in 1858. * Aaron Burr's farewell address to the U.S. Senate in 1805 has been lost, though the general outlines are known through contemporaneous comments. Most of Burr's letters and papers from prior to 1812 were subsequently lost in a shipwreck which resulted in Burr being one of the least understood of the " Founding Fathers of the United States", especially given that his, in general, morally upstanding life is often overshadowed by his infamous duel with fellow Founding Father

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

, who was the less popular, and less liked, of the two. * The '' Memoirs'' of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

, destroyed by his literary executors led by John Murray on 17 May 1824. The decision to destroy Byron's manuscript journals, which was opposed only by Thomas Moore, was made in order to protect his reputation. The two volumes of memoirs were dismembered and burned in the fireplace at Murray's office. * ''The Scented Garden'' by Sir Richard Francis Burton, a manuscript of a new translation from Arabic of '' The Perfumed Garden'', was burned by his widow, Lady Isabel Burton ''née'' Arundel, along with other papers. * A large number of manuscripts and longer poems by William Blake were burned soon after his death by Frederick Tatham. * Parts two and three of '' Dead Souls'' by Nikolai Gogol, burned by Gogol at the instigation of the priest Father Matthew Konstantinovskii. * At least four complete volumes and around seven pages of text are missing from Lewis Carroll's thirteen diaries, destroyed by his family for reasons frequently debated. * The son of the Marquis de Sade had all of de Sade's unpublished manuscripts burned after de Sade's death in 1814; this included the immense multi-volume work ''Les Journées de Florbelle''. * A large section of the manuscript for

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...

's ''Lodore'' was lost in the mail to the publisher, and Shelley was forced to rewrite it. * Gerard Manley Hopkins burned all his early poetry on entering the priesthood. * In the '' Suspiria de Profundis'' of Thomas De Quincey, 18 of 32 pieces have not survived. * Alexander Ivanovich Galich's completed manuscripts ''Universal Rights'' and ''Philosophy of Human History'' were destroyed in a fire, an event the grieved Galich did not long survive. * Margaret Fuller's manuscript on the history of the 1849 Roman Republic was lost in the 1850 shipwreck in which Fuller herself, her husband and her child perished. In Fuller's own estimation, as well as of others who saw it, this work, based on her first-hand experience in Rome, might have been her most important work. * A schoolmate of Arthur Rimbaud claimed that he lost a notebook of poems Rimbaud had written, dubbed the "Cahier Labarrière", which reportedly contained about 60 poems. If this were true, and if all were distinct from Rimbaud's known verse poems, these lost poems would equal the extant works in volume. Paul Verlaine also mentioned a text called "'' La Chasse spirituelle''", claiming it to be Rimbaud's masterpiece. It was also never found; a

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally consists of the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific mens rea, intent to wikt:defraud#English, defraud. Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be fo ...

was published in 1949. * The first draft of Thomas Carlyle's '' The French Revolution: A History'' was sent to

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

, whose maid mistakenly burned it, forcing Carlyle to rewrite it from scratch. * Joseph Smith's Book of Lehi from the Mormon Golden Plates was either hidden, destroyed, or modified by Lucy Harris, the wife of transcriber Martin Harris. Whatever their fate, the pages were not returned to Joseph Smith and were declared "lost." Smith did not recreate the translation. * '' Isle of the Cross'',

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

's follow-up to the unsuccessful '' Pierre'' was rejected by his publishers and has subsequently been lost. *

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

burned his first completed draft of '' Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' after his wife criticized the work. Stevenson wrote and published a revised version. *

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

's Lost Speech, given on May 29, 1856, in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

. Traditionally regarded as lost because it was so engaging that reporters neglected to take notes, the speech is believed to have been an impassioned condemnation of slavery. * L. Frank Baum's theatre in Richburg, New York, burned to the ground. Among the manuscripts of Baum's original plays known to have been lost are ''The Mackrummins'', ''Matches'' (which was being performed the night of the fire), ''The Queen of Killarney'', ''Kilmourne, or O'Connor's Dream'', and the complete musical score for '' The Maid of Arran'', which survives only in commercial song sheets, which include six of the eight songs and no instrumental music. * Leon Trotsky describes the loss of an unfinished play manuscript (a collaboration with Sokolovsky) in his ''My Life'', end of chapter 6 (sometime between 1896 and 1898). * '' The Poor Man and the Lady''. Thomas Hardy's first novel (1867) was never published. After rejection by several publishers, he destroyed the manuscript. * George Gissing abandoned many novels and destroyed the incomplete manuscripts. He also completed at least three novels which went unpublished and have been lost. * During the many years of his career, Mark Twain produced a vast number of pieces, of which a considerable part, especially in his earlier years, was published in obscure newspapers under a great variety of pen names, or not published at all. Joe Goodman, who had been Twain's editor when he worked at the Virginia City, Nevada, "Territorial Enterprise", declared in 1900 that Twain wrote some of the best material of his life during his "Western years" in the late 1860s, but most of it was lost. In addition, many of Twain's speeches and lectures have been lost or were never written down. Researchers continue to seek this material, some of which was rediscovered as recently as 1995. * Although frequently referenced in the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

and traceable in several catalogues of libraries and booksellers, no copy of the 1852 book '' Meanderings of Memory'' by Nightlark could be tracked down. * The Reverend Francis Kilvert's diaries were edited and censored, possibly by his widow, after his death in 1879. In the 1930s, the surviving diaries were passed on to William Plomer, who transcribed them, before returning the originals to Kilvert's closest living relative, a niece, who destroyed most of the manuscripts. Plomer's own transcription was destroyed in the Blitz. He only learned of the originals' destruction when he planned to publish a complete edition in the 1950s. * Jean Sibelius's ''Karelia Music'' was destroyed after its premiere in 1893. What survives today fully are the Karelia Overture and the Karelia Suite. Most of the music was reconstructed in 1965 by Kalevi Kuosa, from the original parts that had survived. The parts that hadn't survived were those of the violas,

cellos The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, ...

, and double basses. Based on Kuosa's transcription, the Finnish composers Kalevi Aho and Jouni Kaipainen have individually reconstructed the complete music to Karelia Music. * The musical score to Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1871 opera Thespis has been mostly lost with only 3 musical passages being known to survive. * Nathaniel Hawthorne's ''Seven Tales of my Native Land'' was personally destroyed after being rejected by publishers. *

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

many of his early works have been lost. * Henri Duparc After 1890, his creative ability declined, and he destroyed his works, manuscripts, and correspondence. He died in 1933 at the age of 85.

20th century

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's play ''A Brilliant Career'' (which he burned) and the first half of his novel '' Stephen Hero''. His grandson

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

later burned Nora Barnacle's letters to James as well. * J. Meade Falkner left an almost complete fourth and last novel on a train and felt he was too old to start again. * A number of Scott Joplin's compositions have been lost, including his first opera, '' A Guest of Honor''. * John P. Marquand wrote an early novel called ''Yellow Ivory'' in collaboration with his friend W. A. Macdonald. * Various parts of Daniel Paul Schreber's ''"Memoirs of My Nervous Illness"'' (original German title ''"Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken"'') (1903) were destroyed by his wife and a Doctor Flesching for protecting his reputation, which was mentioned by

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

as highly important in his essay ''"The Schreber Case"'' (1911). * L. Frank Baum wrote four novels for adults that were never published and disappeared: ''Our Married Life'' and ''Johnson'' (1912), ''The Mystery of Bonita'' (1914), and ''Molly Oodle'' (1915). Baum's son claimed that Baum's wife burned these, but this was after being cut out of her

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

. Evidence that Baum's publisher received these manuscripts survives. Also lost are Baum's 1904 short stories "Mr. Rumple's Chill" and "Bess of the Movies", as well as his early plays ''Kilmourne, or O'Connor's Dream'' (opened April 4, 1883) and ''The Queen of Killarney'' (1883). * In 1907, August Strindberg destroyed a play, ''The Bleeding Hand'', immediately after writing it. He was in a bad mood at the time and commented in a letter that the piece was unusually harsh, even for him. * "Text I" of '' Seven Pillars of Wisdom'', a 250,000-word manuscript by T. E. Lawrence lost at Reading railway station in December 1919. * In 1922, a suitcase with almost all of

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

's work to date was stolen from a train compartment at the Paris-Gare de Lyon, Gare de Lyon in Paris, from his current wife. It included a partial World War I novel. * The novels ''Tobold'' and ''Theodor'' by Robert Walser (writer), Robert Walser are lost, possibly destroyed by the author, as is a third, unnamed novel. (1910–1921) * Jean Sibelius burned his unfinished 8th Symphony and several of his unfinished works in the 1920s. * The original version of ''Ultramarine'' by Malcolm Lowry was stolen from his publisher's car in 1932, and the author had to reconstruct it. * Franz Kafka's last lover, Dora Diamant, ignored his wishes to have his works destroyed posthumously. Instead she kept some 20 notebooks and 35–36 letters. The Gestapo in 1933 seized all papers in her home, including these notebooks and letters, in their search to find Communism, communist propaganda. Only three of these letters have been discovered since. Furthermore, when Max Brod, Kafka's literary executor who similarly ignored his wishes, died in 1968, he left Kafka's papers to his secretary, who left them to her daughters. The papers then passed into the ownership of the National Library of Israel in 2016. After a lengthy legal dispute between the library and the daughters, many of these papers have yet to be published. * Paramahansa Yogananda, Paramahansa Yogananda's ''Autobiography of a Yogi'' quotes extensively from his student's C. Richard Wright's travel diaries in 1935/6. Following Wright's death they became lost. * In 1938 George Orwell wrote ''Socialism and War'', an "anti-war pamphlet" for which he could not find a publisher. Although many previously unknown letters and other documents relating to Orwell have been discovered in recent years, no trace of this pamphlet has yet come to light. With the beginning of World War II Orwell's views on pacifism were to change radically, so he may well have destroyed the manuscript. * Lost papers and a possible unfinished novel by Isaac Babel, confiscated by the NKVD, May 1939. * Manuscript of ''Efebos'', a novel by Karol Szymanowski, destroyed in bombing of Warsaw, 1939. * Five volumes of poetry and a drama, all in manuscript, by "Saint-John Perse"—actually the pseudonym of French diplomat Alexis Léger—were destroyed at his house outside Paris in the summer of 1940. Perse was a well-known and uncompromising anti-Nazi and his house was raided by German troops. The works had been written during his diplomat years, but "Perse" had decided not to publish any new writing until he had retired from diplomacy. The real Léger went into exile following the Battle of France, Fall of France. * Walter Benjamin had a completed manuscript in his suitcase when was arrested by the Nazism, Nazis while attempting to flee France for neutral Spain in the summer of 1940. Benjamin committed suicide in the Pyrenees village Portbou, Spain on September 26, 1940, and the suitcase and its contents disappeared. * There are reports that Bruno Schulz worked on a novel called ''The Messiah'', but no trace of this manuscript survived his death (1942). * The diary of The Holocaust, Holocaust victim Margot Frank, Anne Frank's older sister, was never found (1944). Of The Diary of Anne Frank, the original volume or volumes covering the period between December 1942 and December 1943 was never found, and assumed to have been taken by the Nazis who raided the hiding place. This period is only known from the version Anne rewrote for preservation, which is known to have been in many ways different from her original. * The novel ''In Ballast to the White Sea'' by Malcolm Lowry, lost in a fire in 1945. * The novel ''Wanderers of Night'' and poems of Daniil Andreev were destroyed in 1947 as "anti-Soviet literature" by the Ministry for State Security (USSR), MGB. * Some pages of William Burroughs's original version of ''Naked Lunch'' were stolen. * Three early, unpublished novels by Philip K. Dick written in the 1950s are no longer extant: ''A Time for George Stavros'', ''Pilgrim on the Hill'', and ''Nicholas and the Higs''. * In 1958, while working on the last chapter, William H. Gass's novel ''Omensetter's Luck'' was stolen off of his desk, forcing him to begin from scratch. * The manuscript for Sylvia Plath's unfinished second novel, provisionally titled ''Double Exposure'', or ''Double Take'', written 1962–63, disappeared some time before 1970. * Venedikt Yerofeyev's novel ''Dmitry Shostakovich'' was in a bag with two bottles of fortified wine that was stolen from him in a commuter train in 1972. * Several pages of the original screenplay for Werner Herzog's ''Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes'' were reportedly thrown out of the window of a bus after one of his Association football, football teammates vomited on them. * The screenplay for the proposed Dean Stockwell–Herb Berman film ''After the Gold Rush'' is reportedly lost. * ''Diaries'' of Philip Larkin – burned at his request after his death on 2 December 1985. Other private papers were kept, contrary to his instructions. * The fourth novel of Sasha Sokolov have been lost when the Greece, Greek house where it was written burned down in the second half the 1980s. * Jacob M. Appel's first novel manuscript, ''Paste and Cover'', was in the trunk of an automobile that was stolen in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1998. The vehicle was recovered, but the manuscript was not.

21st century

* Terry Pratchett's unfinished works were destroyed in 2017 after his death, fulfilling his last will; his computer hard drive containing his unfinished works was deliberately crushed by a steamroller.

Lost literary collections

* Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang (3rd century BCE) had most previously existing books burned when he consolidated his power. See Burning of books and burying of scholars. * The Library of Alexandria, the largest library in existence during antiquity, was destroyed at some point in time between the Roman and Muslim conquests of Alexandria. * Aztec emperor Itzcoatl (ruled 1427/8–1440) ordered the burning of all historical Aztec codices in an effort to develop a state-sanctioned Aztec history and mythology. * During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, many monastic libraries were destroyed. Worcester Cathedral, Worcester Abbey had 600 books at the time of the dissolution. Only six of them have survived intact to the present day. At the abbey of the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian Friars at York, a library of 646 volumes was destroyed, leaving only three surviving books. Some books were destroyed for their precious bindings, others were sold off by the cartload, including irreplaceable early English works. It is believed that many of the earliest Anglo-Saxon language, Anglo-Saxon manuscripts were lost at this time. :: "A great nombre of them whych purchased those supertycyous mansyons, resrved of those lybrarye bokes, some to serve theyr jakes [i.e., as toilet paper], some to scoure candelstyckes, and some to rubbe their bootes. Some they solde to the grossers and soapsellers ..." — John Bale, 1549 * Many works of Anglo-Saxon literature, mostly unique and unpublished, were burned when a fire broke out in the Cotton library at Ashburnham House on 23 October 1731. However, the only surviving manuscript of '' Beowulf'' survived the fire and was printed for the first time in 1815. * In 1193, the Nalanda University was sacked by Bakhtiyar Khilji. The burning of the library continued for several months and "smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills." * The Siege of Baghdad (1258), sacking of Baghdad by the Mongols. * At least 27 Maya codices were ceremonially destroyed by Diego de Landa (1524–1579), bishop of Yucatán (state), Yucatán, on 12 July 1562. * The library of the Hanlin Academy, containing irreplaceable ancient Chinese manuscripts, was mostly destroyed in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. * The Sikh Reference Library in Amritsar, a collection of rare books, newspapers, manuscripts, and other literary works related to Sikhism and India, was looted and incinerated by Indian troops during the 1984 Operation Blue Star. The missing literature has not been recovered to this day and is presumed to be lost. The library hosted a vast collection of an estimated 20,000 literary works just before the destruction, including 11,107 books, 2,500 manuscripts, newspaper archives, historical letters, documents/files, and others. * During the 2014 unrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina, sections of the National Archives in Sarajevo were set on fire. Large numbers of historical documents were lost, many of them dating from the 1878–1918 Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the interwar period, and the 1941–1945 rule of the Independent State of Croatia. About 15,000 files from the 1996–2003 Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina were also destroyed.

Rediscovered works

* ''The 120 Days of Sodom'', written by the Marquis de Sade in the Bastille prison in 1785, was considered lost by its author (and was much lamented by him) after the Storming of the Bastille, storming and looting of 1789. It was rediscovered in the walls of his cell and published in 1904. * ''Lesbian Love'', by Eva Kotchever, had only 150 copies published "for private circulation only" in 1925. Historian Jonathan Ned Katz searched and found the only known copy, owned by Nina Alvarez, who had found the book in the lobby of her apartment building in 1998 in Albany, New York. Records show that another copy was held in the Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University, but it has not been located. * The Gospel of Judas, a fragmentary Coptic language, Coptic codex rediscovered and translated, 2006. * Henri Poincaré's prize-winning submission for the 1889 celestial mechanics contest of king Oscar II was thought to be lost. While this version was being printed, Poincaré himself discovered a serious error. The existing version was recalled and then replaced by a heavily modified and corrected version, now regarded as the seminal description of chaos theory. The original erroneous submission was thought to be lost, but it was found in 2011. * W. A. Mozart and Antonio Salieri are known to have composed together a cantata for voice and piano called ''Per la ricuperata salute di Ofelia'' which was celebrating the return to stage of the singer Nancy Storace, and which has been lost, although it had been printed by Artaria in 1785. The music had been considered lost until November 2015, when German musicologist and composer Timo Jouko Herrmann identified the score while searching for music by one of Salieri's ostensible pupils, Antonio Casimir Cartellieri, in the archives of the Czech Museum of Music in Prague.Muller, R., and Kahn, M.
"Czech musician performs long-lost Mozart score for first time"
Reuters, Feb. 16, 2016. * ''The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots, A Tale of Kitty in Boots'' by Beatrix Potter, the handwritten manuscripts for this story were found in school notebooks, including a few illustrations. She intended to finish the book, but was interrupted by wars and marriage and farming. It was found nearly 100 years later and published for the first time in September 2016.

In popular culture

* Umberto Eco's ''The Name of the Rose'' features a murder mystery whose solution hinges on the contents of Aristotle's Poetics (Aristotle), lost second book of ''Poetics'' (dealing with comedy). * Dan Brown's ''The Da Vinci Code'' builds its central theme around a fictional account of the apocryphal and partially lost Gnostic Gospels. * Joe Haldeman's science fiction novel ''The Hemingway Hoax'' centers on a suitcase with writings by

which was stolen in 1922 at the Paris-Gare de Lyon, Gare de Lyon in Paris. * "The Shakespeare Code" is a Doctor Who (series 3), ''Doctor Who'' episode that explains the fate of '' Love's Labour's Won''. * ''The Mysteries of Harris Burdick'' is presented as a series of images ostensibly created by one Harris Burdick, who had intended to use them for his children's books before he mysteriously disappeared. Each image is accompanied by a title and a single line of text, which encourage readers to create their own stories. * H. P. Lovecraft wrote that all the original Arabic copies of ''Necronomicon, The Necronomicon'' (''Al Azif'') have been destroyed, as well as the Arabic to Greek translations. Only five Greek to Latin translations are held by libraries, though copies may exist in private collections.

References

External links

List of Lost Literature
article category section on The Lost Media Wiki * :hu:Dokumentumpusztulások Magyarországon, Document destruction in Hungary
We have lost 90 per cent of the original copies of Medieval literature

Longing for Great Lost Works

Lost Works of W.A. Mozart

Fragmentary Tragedies of Sophocles Project

Hi-tech imaging could reveal lost texts

{{Authority control Lost literature, Literature lists Literary works