In book publishing, an anthology is a group of written works selected by an editor. These works can include plays, poems, short stories, songs, or parts of fiction and non-fiction books. Some anthologies are organized around specific themes or types of writing. A full collection of all a person's works is called "complete works" or "opera omnia" in Latin.

Etymology

The word "anthology" entered the English language in the 17th century. It comes from the Greek word ἀνθολογία (anthologic), which means "a collection of blossoms," derived from ἄνθος (ánthos), meaning "flower." This refers to an early collection of poems called the Garland (Στέφανος, stéphanos), where each poet is compared to a flower. The Garland, created by Meléagros of Gadara, became the starting point for what is now known as the Greek Anthology. The Latin word "florilegium," meaning "a collection of flowers," was used in medieval Europe to describe anthologies of Latin proverbs and text excerpts. Just before "anthology" entered English, the word "florilegium" was already being used in English for similar collections.

History

The Palatine Anthology, found in the Bibliotheca Palatina in Heidelberg in 1606, is a collection of Greek poems and short writings. It was based on a lost 10th-century Byzantine collection by Constantine Kephalas, which itself was based on older collections. During the Middle Ages, European collections called florilegia became popular. These gathered parts of Christian and pagan philosophical writings. Over time, these collections evolved into books called commonplace books and miscellanies, which included proverbs, quotes, letters, poems, and prayers.

A book called Songes and Sonettes, often named Tottel's Miscellany, was the first printed collection of English poetry. Richard Tottel published it in London in 1557, and it was reprinted many times during the 16th century. A series of political poetry collections called Poems on Affairs of State began being published in 1689 and ended in 1707.

In Britain, one of the earliest national poetry collections was The British Muse (1738), compiled by William Oldys. Thomas Percy’s influential book Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765) was the first major collection of ballads, helping to revive interest in ballads during the Romantic movement. William Enfield’s The Speaker; Or, Miscellaneous Pieces was published in 1774 and was widely used in 18th-century schools. Important 19th-century poetry collections included Palgrave's Golden Treasury (1861), Edward Arber’s Shakespeare Anthology (1899), and the first edition of Arthur Quiller-Couch’s Oxford Book of English Verse (1900).

In East Asian traditions, anthologies were a recognized way to compile poems of a specific type. It was believed that each poetic form, such as the tanka in Japan, followed a repeating pattern: it was first introduced, then explored by skilled poets, and later became popular but less refined. This idea, based on Chinese traditions, aimed to preserve the best examples of a form and exclude weaker ones.

In Malaysia, an anthology (called antologi in Malay) includes collections of syair, sajak (or modern prose), proses, drama scripts, and pantuns. Notable anthologies used in secondary schools include Sehijau Warna Daun, Seuntai Kata Untuk Dirasa, Anak Bumi Tercinta, Anak Laut, and Kerusi.

In the 20th century, anthologies became an important part of poetry publishing. For English poetry, the Georgian Poetry series helped set trends by showing the success of publishing a group of young poets identified as a "generation." This was followed by many collections from literary editors or compiled from specific publications. Academic publishers also continued this trend, inspired by the success of the Quiller-Couch Oxford Book of English Verse. Not everyone supported this, as Robert Graves and Laura Riding published Pamphlet Against Anthologies in 1928, arguing that anthologies focused more on commercial interests than artistic value.

The idea of "modern verse" was promoted by titles like the Faber & Faber anthology by Michael Roberts (1936) and William Butler Yeats Oxford Book of Modern Verse (1936). In the 1960s, The Mersey Sound anthology of Liverpool poets became a bestseller, connecting with the opposing views of teenagers.

Because publishing anthologies was more flexible than publishing collections of a single poet’s work, being included in an anthology (with notable poets) became a way for poets to gain recognition. Movements, such as Imagism led by Ezra Pound, often used anthologies to highlight shared ideas.

Publishers also created anthologies of fiction and nonfiction, using the term to describe collections of works by multiple authors. Examples include Erotica edited by Mitzi Szereto and American Gothic Tales edited by Joyce Carol Oates. The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists (2000) collected diary entries from four centuries into 365 "days."