Every Source in “The Discarded Image”
C.S. Lewis’ literary tour of the Middle Ages is full of works you’ve never heard of and would never have known about. Here is the bibliography.
C.S. Lewis was no slouch when it came to bibliographies: in his contribution to the Oxford History of English Literature series, he wrote up a 91-page bibliography that probably has more words in it than The Screwtape Letters.
But when it was time to write a little volume on medieval literature, exploring his favorite thing about it—what he calls “the medieval synthesis,” a comprehensive model of the universe—he simply did not bother much with citations, much less a laborious list in the back pages.
Reading The Discarded Image, one gets the sense that this was because so many of his references came straight off the top of his head. But he also takes a certain level of shared fluency for granted in his readers: Lewis is not going to slow down to explain what he means by “Troilus” or by “Gibbon” or by “Paradiso.”
Western society has moved far afield of that literary fluency; my own first reading of The Discarded Image was littered with references that were lost on me. And in many cases, I found that simply looking up a title and an author, then reading the abstract, shed significant light on Lewis’ flow of thought.
With that in mind, I have combed the pages and listed every source I could come up with—even some that weren’t named in the text.
An education in Middle Ages literature
I learned a few things in compiling this bibliography.
For example, I learned that Plato’s Timaeus—not his most famous work but the one that deals most extensively with the natural world and human nature—was especially important to writers in the Middle Ages. This seems to be due to a crucial Greek-to-Latin translation by someone named Chalcidius (see below, chapter 4).
I also learned that Lewis read like a bachelor. That is, he devoured quantities of books that are actually quite alarming—not to mention impossible for a family man or woman with absolutely anything else to do but read. A lesser intellect would not have kept its footing in the flood of words that seems to have continually cascaded through his head.
If nothing else, I hope that this strange bestiary of ancient texts will persuade you to read The Discarded Image and learn about the literary and imaginative soil into which Lewis had sunk his roots.
It does explain a lot about The Chronicles of Narnia, for example; even more about the Ransom Trilogy. And it opens up other works that you might want to read, as well, including Michael Ward’s Planet Narnia (2007) and Jason M. Baxter’s The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis (2022).
Where Lewis used the name of an author without referring to a distinct work, I have not included a reference. This happens on too many pages to make including such allusions helpful. The page numbers correspond to the Canto Classics edition now for sale.
Sources primary to Lewis’ thesis
It needs to be said that chapters 3 and 4 of The Discarded Image are actual bibliographies, in which Lewis provides his own reading list of works that helped shape the Medieval Model. He breaks these up into “The Classical Period” (ch. 3) and “The Seminal Period” (ch. 4), and of course, being Lewis, they are the most readable bibliographies you will ever find.
CLASSICAL PERIOD
These are works belonging to what Lewis calls “the old world … Pagan antiquity.” He finds dozens of ways that these four works in particular exerted profound influence on the development of the Medieval Cosmos.
You should know that Lewis assumes you already know your Virgil, your Ovid, and your Old and New Testaments—as these were the really fertile soils of the Medieval writers (p. 22). As such, they are exempt from his treatment here.
Somnium Scipionis (“The Dream of Scipio”), Cicero — pages 23–28
A passage from Cicero’s extended work on Roman politics, De Republica (“On the Republic”).
Pharsalia (or De Bello Civili, “On the Civil War”), Lucan — pages 29–34, 111
An incomplete epic poem on the Roman civil war between Julius Caesar and the army of the Roman Senate.
Thebaid (“Of Thebes”), Publius Papinius Statius — pages 34–40
An epic poem, written in Latin during the 1st century A.D., about the struggle between brothers Eteocles and Polynices for the throne of Thebes.
De Deo Socratis (“Of the God of Socrates”), Apuleius — pages 40–44
One of the earliest works to examine the existence and nature of demons or “middle spirits,” the creatures “between” the gods and human beings.
SEMINAL PERIOD
Lewis calls this “the transitional period,” beginning with the birth of Plotinus (205 A.D.) and lasting until around 533 A.D.
“This was the age which brought the characteristically medieval frame of mind into being,” writes Lewis. “It also witnessed the last stand of Paganism and the final triumph of the Church.” During this culturally and religiously tumultuous period, “much that was of Pagan origin was built irremovably into the Model.”
For what it’s worth, I suspect this accounts for what has seemed to many readers (often a discredit to Lewis) as his Neoplatonism. He truly was a medievalist—and this meant there would inevitably be some traces of the old pagan way of thinking in him.
Translation and Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus, Chalcidius — pages 49–60
An incomplete translation of Plato’s work from Greek into Latin, accompanied by an extensive commentary that was less strictly a commentary than a wide-ranging treatise taking Plato as his starting point. Chalcidius, in Lewis’ estimation, was the great filter that largely determined what the Middle Ages knew of Plato.
Commentary on Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis, Macrobius — pages 60–69
“A work of immense reputation and long-lasting influence” that earned Macrobius a reputation for studying and interpreting dreams.
The Celestial Hierarchies, Pseudo-Dionysius — pages 60–75
A theological work concerning the hierarchy of the angels that would later be incorporated into Christian theology by Thomas Aquinas.
De Consolatione Philosophiae (“The Consolation of Philosophy”), Boethius — pages 75–90
A medieval favorite, as Lewis tells it: written by a Christian man wrongly imprisoned and awaiting his execution, full of poignant truths that still resonate deeply today.
Works engaged at length in the text
The House of Fame (poem), Chaucer — pages 24, 54, 64, 92, 100, 118, 189, 191, 199, 207, 212–213
De Mundi Universitate (or Cosmographia, “On the Totality of the World”), Bernardus Silvestris — pages 26, 36, 59, 97, 118, 122, 134, 156, 199
Troilus and Criseyde (poem), Chaucer — pages 29, 80, 112, 155, 183, 194–195, 199, 209
Le Roman de la Rose (poem, “Romance of the Rose”), Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun — pages 35, 85, 153, 161, 193, 197, 198
Timaeus, Plato — pages 36, 39, 42–43, 49–60
Etymologiae (“Etymologies”), Isidore, Bishop of Seville — pages 90, 97, 111, 141, 148–150, 184, 186–187
Confessio Amantis (“Confession of a Lover”), John Gower (1390) — pages 81, 85, 92, 107, 108, 124, 131, 136, 143, 153, 184, 195
Piers Plowman, William Langland — pages 109, 110, 163, 188
Poems and other works less than book length
Brut (poem, “Raw” or “Unrefined”), Lazamon (circa late 12th century) — pages 2, 117, 206
Le Pelerinage de l’Homme (poem, “The Pilgrimage of the Life of Man”) Guillaume Deguileville (14th century) — pages 3, 35, 155, 199
Oedipus Rex (play, “Oedipus the King”), Sophocles — pages 10, 191
The Book of the Duchess (poem), Chaucer — pages 23, 197, 206
The Parlement of Foules (poem), Chaucer — pages 23, 35, 64, 94, 191
The King’s Quair (poem, “The King’s Book”), James I of Scotland — pages 24, 94
Satire III (poem), John Donne — page 26
Hymn of Apollo (poem), Percy Bysshe Shelley — page 27
De Volgari Eloquentia (essay or incomplete book, “On Eloquence in the Vernacular”), Dante — pages 29, 213
Convivio (unfinished work), Dante — pages 30–31, 84, 111, 186, 201
Macbeth (play), William Shakespeare — page 54
Reason and Sensuality (poem), John Lydgate — page 80
Anticlaudianus (or “The Good and Perfect Man,” poem), Alanus de Insulis — pages 81, 118
Samson Agonistes (play, “Samson the Champion”), John Milton — page 81
In Memoriam (poem), Alfred, Lord Tennyson — page 82
Hamlet (play), Shakespeare — pages 83, 109, 172
Twelfth Night (play), Shakespeare — page 83
Fortune (poem), Chaucer — page 84
The Rape of Lucrece (play), Shakespeare — pages 89, 161
The Taming of the Shrew (play), Shakespeare — page 90
Of the Progress of the Soul: The Second Anniversary (poem), John Donne — page 95
Il Penseroso (poem), John Milton — page 100
Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart (poem), Chrétien de Troyes — page 104
Eclogue (poem), John Donne — page 106
Love's Labour's Lost (play), William Shakespeare — page 108
The Winter's Tale (play), William Shakespeare — page 109
The Ecstacy (poem), John Donne — pages 110, 115, 167
L'Allegro (poem), John Milton — page 110
Lucifer in Starlight (poem), George Meredith — page 119
Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight (ballad), anonymous — page 124
Endymion (play), John Lyly — page 124
The World Is Too Much With Us (poem), William Wordsworth — page 126
The Wee Wee Man (ballad), anonymous — page 127
The Castle of Indolence (poem), James Thomson — page 129
The Rape of the Lock (poem), Alexander Pope — page 129
Thomas the Rymer (ballad), anonymous — pages 130–132, 137
Sir Launfal (poem), Thomas Chestre — pages 130–132
Sir Orfeo (poem), anonymous — pages 130–133, 137
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (poem), anonymous — pages 130–133, 147, 198
The Descriptive Catalogue (accompaniment to a set of 16 pictures), William Blake — page 133
Orlando Innamorato (poem), Matteo Maria Boiardo — page 134
Doctor Faustus (play), Christopher Marlowe — pages 134, 192
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (play), William Shakespeare — pages 135, 138, 216
Theodore and Honoria (poem), Giovanni Boccaccio translated by John Dryden — page 137
“A briefe description of Afrike” (essay contained in Richard Hakluyt’s The principal nauigations, voyages, traffiques and discoveries of the English nation), Richard Eden — page 145
Kubla Khan (poem), Samuel Taylor Coleridge — page 145
The Fox and the Dragon (fable), Phaedrus — page 147
Siegfried (opera), Richard Wagner — page 148
Adoro Te Devote (hymn), St. Thomas Aquinas — page 149
De ave phoenice (“About the phoenix bird,” poem), Lactantius — page 150
A Valediction: Of my Name in the Window (poem), John Donne — page 154
A Litany (poem), John Donne — page 155
An Hymn Of Heavenly Beauty (poem), Edmund Spenser — page 156
The Retreat (poem), Henry Vaughan — page 156
Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood (poem), William Wordsworth — page 156
The Tempest (play), William Shakespeare — page 158
Sonnet 141 (poem), William Shakespeare — page 162
The Rambler #95 (periodical), Samuel Johnson — page 169
Letter to Robert Southey (personal correspondence), Charles Lamb — page 169
Tamburlaine (play), Christopher Marlowe — page 170
Julius Caesar (play), William Shakespeare — page 170
Much Ado About Nothing (play), William Shakespeare — page 170
Melencolia I (engraving), Albrecht Dürer — page 173
Hyperion (poem), John Keats — page 175
Sermo Lupi ad Anglos (“The Sermon of the Wolf to the English,” homily), Wulfstan II — pages 176, 184
Orlando Furioso (poem), Ludovico Ariosto — page 176
The Brus (poem), John Barbour — page 177
Troy Book (poem), John Lydgate — page 178
Preface to Le Morte d’Arthur (preface), William Caxton — page 179
Tale of Constance (story), Nicholas Trivet — page 180
Smectymnuus (pamphlet), John Milton — page 183
Yvain, the Knight of the Lion (poem), Chrétien de Troyes — page 184
King Estmere (children’s ballad), anonymous — page 187
The Legend of Good Women (poem), Geoffrey Chaucer — page 189, 191
The Siege of Thebes (poem), John Lydgate — page 190
Richard III (play), William Shakespeare — page 192
The Dreme (poem), Sir David Lyndsay — page 198
The Testament of Cresseid (poem), Robert Henryson — pages 198, 201
The Temple of Glass (poem), John Lydgate — page 199
The Trial of the Fox (moral fable), Robert Henryson — page 199
The Court of Sapience (poem), John Lydgate — page 199
Patience (poem), anonymous (14th century) — page 206
The Tale of the Paddock and the Mouse (moral fable), Robert Henryson — page 206
The Ballad of Kynd Kittock (poem), William Dunbar — page 207
Il Filostrato (poem), Giovanni Boccaccio — page 209, 212
Lycidas (poem), John Milton — page 213
Other works cited or alluded to
Before Philosophy, J.A. Wilson (1949) — page 1
Historia Regum Britanniae (“History of the Kings of Britain”), Geoffrey of Monmouth (early 12th century) — page 2
De Generatione Animalium (“The Generation of Animals”), Aristotle — page 3
De Mundo (“On the Cosmos”), Aristotle — page 4
Metaphysics, Aristotle — pages 4, 113
Astronomical Thought in Renaissance England, F.R. Johnson (1937) — page 4 (footnote)
The Scale of Perfection, Walter Hilton (14th century) — page 18
The Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis (14th century) — page 18
South English Legendaries (series), various authors (13th–15th centuries) — pages 20, 98, 129, 135, 204
Almagest (or Mathēmatikḕ Sýntaxis, “The Mathematical Composition”), Ptolemy — page 22
The Republic, Plato — pages 23, 52, 54
Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes — pages 24, 95
Phaedo (“On the Soul”), Plato — pages 25, 69
Metamorphoses, Ovid — page 26
Historia Naturalis (“The Natural History”), Pliny the Elder — pages 26, 147
Eternal Life, Friedrich von Hügel — page 27
A True Discourse, George Best (1578) — page 28
Aethiopica (“Ethiopian Stories,” as used by Robert Burton in his 16th century work, The Anatomy of Melancholy), Heliodorus — page 31
Teseida (an epic poem titled for Theseus), Giovanni Boccaccio — pages 33–34
De Planctu Naturae (“The Complaint of Nature”), Alanus de Insulis — pages 35–36, 58, 153, 167
The Meditations, Marcus Aurelius — pages 38, 203
De Raptu Proserpinae (“The Rape of Proserpine”), Claudian — page 36
De IV Consulatu Honorii (“On the Fourth Consulate of the Emperor Honorius”), Claudian — page 36
De Consulatu Stilichonis (“On the Consulship of Stilicho”), Claudian — pages 36, 80
Genealogia Deorum Gentilium (“On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles”), Boccaccio — page 40
The Apology of Socrates, Plato — page 40
The Symposium, Plato — page 40
Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire, Samuel Dill (1898) — page 46, footnote
Confessions, Augustine — page 49
The First Apology, Justin Martyr — page 49
De Civitate Dei (“The City of God”), Augustine — pages 50, 107, 121, 175
An Experiment with Time, J.W. Dunne (1927) — page 64
Distychs, Dionysius Cato — page 64
The Cloud of Unknowing, anonymous (late 14th century) — page 70
Urn Burial, Sir Thomas Browne (1658) — page 72
Paradise Regained, John Milton — pages 80, 118, 123, 134
Beowulf, anonymous — pages 81, 124, 148
The Agricola (“The Farmer”), Tacitus — page 83
Speculum Naturale (“The Mirror of Nature”), Vincent de Beauvais (13th century) — pages 84, 141
De Monarchia (“On Monarchy”), Dante (1312) — pages 84, 175
The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, Milton — pages 86, 173
The Survival of the Pagan Gods, Jean Seznec (1953) — page 87
Speculum Majus (“The Great Mirror”), Vincent of Beauvais — page 91
The Advancement of Learning, Francis Bacon (1605) — pages 93, 152
Moralia in Job, St. Gregory the Great (6th century) — pages 93, 153
De Caelo (“On the Heavens”), Aristotle — page 96
Possible Worlds, J.B.S. Haldane (1930) — page 97
Pensees, Blaise Pascal (17th century) — page 100
Art and Illusion, Ernst Gombrich (1960) — page 101
Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift (1726) — pages 102, 127
A History of Astronomy, Anton Pannekoek (1961) — page 103
Speculum Astronomiae (“The Mirror of Astronomy”), Albertus Magnus (13th century) — page 104
De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii (“The Marriage of Philology and Mercury”), Martianus Capella (5th century) — pages 107, 122
Comus, John Milton (1634) — pages 112, 118, 123, 129, 146
Fables, Robert Henryson (15th century) — page 112
Summa de Creaturis (“Sum of Creatures”), Albertus Magnus (13th century) — page 115
De harmonia mundi totius cantica tria (“Three songs about the harmony of the whole world”), Francesco Giorgio (16th century) — page 117
Hermetica, Hermes Trismegistus — page 117
The Uses of Diversity, G.K. Chesterton — page 122
The Elizabethan Fairies, M.W. Latham (1940) — pages 124, 137
Catholicon Anglicum (English-to-Latin dictionary, 15th century) — page 124
Vulgaria, William Horman (1519) — page 124
Mortimeriados, Michael Drayton (1596) — page 124
Iter Extaticum II qui et Mundi Subterranei Prodromos dicitur, Athanasius Kircher (1656) — pages 125, 151
The Discoverie of Witchcraft, Reginald Scot (1584) — page 125, 129, 135
Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, Raphael Holinshed (1577) — page 125
Historia Gentis Scotorum (“History of the Scottish Nation”), Hector Boece (1527) — page 125
Speculum Ecclesiae (“Mirror of the Church”), Giraldus Cambrensis (12th century) — page 126
Pandaemonium, Richard Bovet (1684) — page 127
The Anatomy of Melancholy, Robert Burton (1621) — pages 127, 138, 164, 172
The Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson (13th century) — pages 127–128, 141
Nymphidia, Michael Drayton (1627) — page 128
Le Morte d’Arthur (“The Death of Arthur”), Sir Thomas Malory (1485) — pages 130, 176, 184, 206
Huon of Bordeaux, Charles de Grandmaison (13th century) — pages 130, 206
The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies, Robert Kirk (1691) — page 133, 135
Eneados (a translation into Middle Scots of Virgil’s Aeneid), Gavin Douglas (1513) — page 134
Theologia Platonica de Immortalitate (“The Platonic Theology”), Marsilio Ficino (1474) — pages 134, 156
De Nymphis (“On Nymphs”), Paracelsus (1566) — page 135
A History of the Crusades, Steven Runciman (1951) — page 135
De Nugis Curialium (“Of the Trifles of Courtiers”), Walter Map (12th century) — page 136
Daemonologie, James VI and I (1597) — page 137
Religio Medici (“The Religion of a Doctor”), Sir Thomas Browne (1643) — page 140
History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, William Edward Hartpole Lecky (1887) — page 140
The Voiage and Travayle of Sir John Mandeville (14th century) — pages 141, 144
The Medieval Alexander, George Cary (1956) — page 144
Alexandri Magni Iter ad Paradisum (“Alexander the Great’s Journey to Paradise”), anonymous (13th century) — page 144
Cosmography in Four Books, Peter Heylyn (1652) — page 145
The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, Samuel Johnson (1759) — page 145
Il Milione (“The Travels of Marco Polo”), Marco Polo (1300) — page 145
Land to the West, Geoffrey Ashe (1962) — page 146
De Natura Animalium (“On the Characteristics of Animals”), Claudius Aelianus (2nd century B.C.) — page 147
Phisiologus de Naturis Duodecim Animalum (“Physiologist on the Natures of the Twelve Animals”), Theobaldus (11th century) — pages 150–151
Codex Exoniensis (“The Exeter Book”), anonymous (10th century) — page 150
Pseudodoxia Epidemica (“Vulgar Errors”), Sir Thomas Browne (1646) — page 152
De Proprietatibus Rerum (“On the Properties of Things”), Bartholomaeus Anglicus, translated by John Trevisa (1398) — pages 153, 167–169
Christian Morals, Sir Thomas Browne (1716) — page 156
A Dictionary of the English Language, Samuel Johnson (1755) — pages 158–159
Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel, Joseph Butler (1726) — page 159
The Man of Feeling, Henry Mackenzie (1771) — page 159
De Animalibus (“On Animals”), Albertus Magnus (13th century) — pages 162–164
Froissart’s Chronicles, Jean Froissart, translated by Lord Berners (14th century) — pages 164, 178, 182
The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia, Philip Sidney (1580) — pages 165, 206
The Frame of Order, James Winny (1957) — page 166
A treatise of melancholy, Timothie Bright (1586) — page 168
The Castel of Helth, Thomas Elyot (1534) — page 171–173
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (1813) — page 173
Christianity or Europe, Novalis (1802) — page 175
Historiarum adversus paganos libri septem (“The Seven Books of History Against the Pagans”), Orosius (418 A.D.) — page 175
The Medieval World, Friedrich Heer (1961) — page 176
The Dark Ages, William Paton Ker (1904) — page 177
Life of St. Louis, Jean de Joinville (1309) — page 177
The Gest Hystoriale of the Destruction of Troy, Guido Colonne (14th century) — page 178
The Histories, Herodotus (430 B.C.) — page 179
The History of Britain, John Milton (1670) — page 180
The Waverly Novels, Sir Walter Scott (19th century) — page 183
The Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole (1764) — page 183
The Evolution of Medieval Thought, David Knowles (1962) — page 185
Isagoge (“Introduction” to Aristotle’s Categories), Porphyry of Tyre (third century A.D.) — page 188
Poetria nova, Geoffrey of Vinsauf (13th century) — pages 191–194
The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Gentleman, Laurence Sterne (1759) — page 193
The Mirror of Love, Alan Gunn (1952) — page 194
Ars Versificatoria (“The Art of the Versemaker”), Matthew of Vendôme (1175) — page 195
The Pastime of Pleasure, Stephen Hawes (1509) — page 195
The Palice of Honour, Gavin Douglas (1501) — page 199
Trionfi (“Triumphs”), Petrarch (1351) — page 199
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien (1954) — page 200
European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, Ernst Robert Curtius (1953) — page 200
Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance, Edgar Wind (1958) — page 202
Medieval Technology and Social Change, Lynn Townsend White Jr. (1962) — page 200
Ormulum, Orrm (12th century) — page 204
Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray (1848) — page 210
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe (1719) — page 211
Sturlunga Saga, anonymous (12th and 13th centuries) — page 213
The Temple of Fame, Alexander Pope (1715) — page 214
Closing observations, numbers and notes
The total number of sources in this list is 241.
There is one concise bibliography embedded in the text, at the end of chapter 7, where Lewis cites five scholarly works on medieval music that were contemporary to him.
I was tempted to provide these sources in alphabetical form, too, but given that this is a digital document, just use your search bar.