The work opens with an exhaustive examination of the origin of letters, tracing alphabetic writing from early picture systems like Egyptian hieroglyphs through Phoenician inscriptions to the Greek alphabet and mediaeval scripts. Following this introduction, the text classifies human languages into three distinct groups: monosyllabic, agglutinated, and inflected. Each subsequent chapter is dedicated to the literary heritage of a specific civilization, detailing its language structure, religion, philosophy, poetry, history, and education.
Chinese literature is explored through its monosyllabic language, ideographic writing, the Five Classics and Four Books, and the philosophical contributions of Lao-tsé and Confucius, alongside the historical and geographical records of the empire. The survey of Japanese literature highlights the unique role of women in shaping the literary idiom, alongside the development of the national drama, history, and poetry. Sanskrit literature is analyzed through the Vedas, the great epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata, the drama of Kalidasa, and the philosophical systems that seek release from the cycle of transmigration.
The volume continues with the cuneiform remains of Babylonian and Assyrian civilization, the remnants of Phoenician inscriptions, and the historical path of Syriac literature. Persian literature is traced from the Zendavesta and the ancient religion of Zoroaster to the lyrical and romantic poetry of Ferdusi, Sadi, and Hafiz. Hebrew literature is presented through the monotheistic worldview of the Old Testament, the lyricism of the Psalms, and the development of rabbinical commentary. Egyptian literature is unveiled via its monumental inscriptions, historical papyri, and the decipherment achieved through the Rosetta stone.
The final portions of the work survey the literary evolution of Europe, beginning with the classical grandeur of Greek literature, divided into its epic, Athenian, and Alexandrian periods. The analysis proceeds through Roman literature, the medieval schools of Arabian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, Slavic, and Scandinavian traditions, down to German and English literature. A dedicated section on American literature traces both its colonial beginnings and its later developments up to the close of the nineteenth century.
