Major Works of the Stoics 3-Book Boxed Set

Major Works of the Stoics 3-Book Boxed Set

Meditations; Letters from a Stoic; Discourses and Selected Writings

About the Book

A beautiful, boxed set of the major works by the three great Stoic philosophers, designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith

This collection presents the greatest works by the three major Stoic philosophers, in beautiful Clothbound Classic mini hardcover editions designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith. Meditations, written by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius to provide personal consolation, is one of the most influential works of philosophy of all time. Seneca's Letters to a Stoic upholds the ideals of Stoicism — the wisdom of the self-possessed person immune to life's setbacks — while valuing friendship and courage. And in his Discourses, Epictetus argues that happiness lies in learning to perceive exactly what is in our power to change and what is not. Together, these works offer a gift-worthy introduction to Stoicism.
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A Penguin Classics Hardcover Series

Major Works of the Stoics 3-Book Boxed Set
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All Quiet on the Western Front
Lord of the Flies
The Lives of the Caesars
Metamorphoses
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The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories
The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories
The Prophet
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About the Author

Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was born to an upper-class Roman family in A.D. 121 and was later adopted by the future emperor Antoninus Pius, whom he succeeded in 161. His reign was marked by a successful campaign against Parthia, but was overshadowed in later years by plague, an abortive revolt in the eastern provinces, and the deaths of friends and family, including his co-emperor Lucius Verus. A student of philosophy from his earliest youth, he was especially influenced by the first-century Stoic thinker Epictetus. His later reputation rests on his Meditations, written during his later years and never meant for formal publication. He died in 180, while campaigning against the barbarian tribes on Rome’s northern frontier. More by Marcus Aurelius
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Seneca
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, statesman, philosopher, advocate and man of letters, was born at Cordoba in Spain around 4 BC. He rose to prominence in Rome, pursuing a career in the courts and political life, for which he had been trained, while also acquiring celebrity as an author of tragedies and essays. Falling foul of successive emperors (Caligula in AD 39 and Claudius in AD 41), he spent eight years in exile, allegedly for an affair with Caligula’s sister. Recalled in AD 49, he was made praetor and was appointed tutor to the boy who was to become, in AD 54, the emperor Nero. On Nero’s succession, Seneca acted for some eight years as an unofficial chief minister. The early part of this reign was remembered as a period of sound government, for which the main credit seems due to Seneca. His control over Nero declined as enemies turned the emperor against him with representations that his popularity made him a danger, or with accusations of immorality or excessive wealth. Retiring from public life he devoted his last three years to philosophy and writing, particularly the Letters to Lucilius. In AD 65 following the discovery of a plot against the emperor, in which he was thought to be implicated, he and many others were compelled by Nero to commit suicide. His fame as an essayist and dramatist lasted until two or three centuries ago, when he passed into literary oblivion, from which the twentieth century has seen a considerable recovery. More by Seneca
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Epictetus
Epictetus (c. AD 55–135) was a teacher and Greco-Roman philosopher. Originally a slave from Hierapolis in Anatolia (modern Turkey), he was owned for a time by a prominent freedman at the court of the emperor Nero. After gaining his freedom he moved to Nicopolis on the Adriatic coast of Greece and opened a school of philosophy there. His informal lectures (Discourses) were transcribed and published by his student Arrian, who also composed a digest of Epictetus's teaching known as the Manual (or Enchiridion). More by Epictetus
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Coralie Bickford-Smith
Coralie Bickford-Smith is an award-winning designer at Penguin Books, where she has created several highly acclaimed series designs. She studied typography at Reading University and lives in London. More by Coralie Bickford-Smith
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Martin Hammond
Martin Hammond is headmaster of the Tonbridge School and has translated Homer’s Iliad for Penguin Classics. More by Martin Hammond
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Robin Campbell
Martin Hammond is headmaster of the Tonbridge School and has translated Homer’s Iliad for Penguin Classics. More by Robin Campbell
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Robert Dobbin
Robert Dobbin received a PhD in classics from the University of California, Berkeley, and taught history and classics at the college level. He is the translator and editor of Epictetus's Discourses and Selected Writings for Penguin Classics, as well as an author of articles on Virgil, Plato, and Pythagoras. He works as a book editor in Northern California. More by Robert Dobbin
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