This list contains not only works that have been completely lost to time and carelessness, but also those which have been left unfinished by their authors, leaving readers to wonder how they might have ended. These are ordered chronologically.
10 Works by Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. He was the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics. Aristotle’s views on the physical sciences profoundly shaped medieval scholarship, and their influence extended well into the Renaissance, although they were ultimately replaced by modern physics. Only about one third of Aristotle’s work survives today.
9 Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer
The tales in this book, some of which are originals and others not, are contained inside a frame tale and told by a collection of pilgrims on a pilgrimage from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Canterbury Tales is one of the most celebrated works of Middle English literature, despite the fact that Chaucer only 24 of the originally planned 124 tales were written before Chaucer’s death in 1400.
8 Love’s Labour’s Won
William Shakespeare
This is a somewhat controversial entry. Some people believe that “Love’s Labour’s Won” is the original title of some surviving Shakespeare play; however, consensus seems to be that this is a separate play which has been lost. For many years, it was assumed that Love’s Labour’s Won was an alternative name for The Taming of the Shrew but in 1953 the title was found listing it as part of a group of “already published” plays which included both the Shrew and Love’s Labour’s Won.
In Sanditon, Austen explored her interest in the verbal construction of a society by means of a town – and a set of families – that is still in the process of being formed. The manuscript for Sanditon was originally titled “The Brothers,” likely after the Parker brothers in the story. After her death, her family renamed it “Sanditon.” Austen died in 1817 before finishing the novel. A shame, as the small fragment that remains shows that the novel is extremely innovative while keeping all of Austen’s celebrated wit.
6 The Magic Harp
Wolfgang von Goethe
Written as a sequel to Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” (Die Zauberflöte), Goethe worked on this from 1794 to 1796, before abandoning the idea. It would surely have been as great as “Faust.” There is no Wikipedia mention of it, but the Stuart Kelly book states: “Goethe seemed to want to outdo Mozart’s spectacular stage effects: the Queen of the Night enters accompanied by ball lightning and St. Elmo’s fire.”
On 17 May 1824 (after Byron’s death), publisher John Murray participated in one of the most notorious acts in the annals of literature. Lord Byron had given him the manuscript of his personal memoirs to publish later on. Together with five of Byron’s friends and executors, he decided to destroy Byron’s manuscripts because he though the scandalous details would damage Byron’s reputation. Opposed only by Thomas Moore, the two volumes of memoirs were dismembered and burnt in the fireplace at Murray’s office. Unfortunately we do not know what was contained in the memoirs. They would have provided valuable information on how the poet thought and on his poetry in addition to his life.
4 The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Charles Dickens
This work filled with murder, mystery and shady characters was left unfinished upon Dickens’ death in 1870. Ironically, Dickens had given Queen Victoria a sneak peak a few months before his death, and offered to let the queen know of the ending in advance, but she declined, not wanting to be spoiled.
3 The Mysterious Stranger
Mark Twain
As one of the most celebrated American Authors, Mark Twain worked on three very different versions of “The Mysterious Stranger” and finished none of them. The central figure in all three was to be Satan. The first substantial version is commonly referred to as The Chronicle of Young Satan and tells of the adventures of Satan, the sinless nephew of the biblical Satan, in an Austrian village in the Middle Ages. The story ends abruptly in the middle of a scene involving Satan entertaining a prince in India, suggesting Twain abandoned this piece before he finished writing it.
2 Works before 1922
Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway had been a big writer all of his life, but had not published much before 1926. In 1922, Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley, was traveling through Europe. In one the trunks was everything Hemingway had written up to that point, and the luggage was unfortunately stolen. Among the manuscripts was a novel about Hemingway’s experiences in the First World War.
1 Double Exposure
Sylvia Plath
After Plath’s suicide in 1963, her widower, Ted Hughes, from whom Plath was separated, took over her estate and the unpublished writings that were left. Hughes burned much of the journals and letters Sylvia wrote in the final months of her life. A nearly finished novel, “Double Exposure” or “Double Take,” featured a wife, husband and mistress; it was probably a semi-autobiographical account of Plath’s relationship with Hughes. According to Hughes, the manuscript “disappeared” before 1970.
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Contributor: The Anachronism
译文:
10份散迭的文学巨著
这份名单不仅仅包括因时间流逝和粗心大意而导致完全散失的作品，还包括了因作者还未完成而使读者们臆测结局的谜作。以下按年代顺序排列。
10 亚里士多德的著作
亚里士多德（Aristotle）
亚里士多德是西方哲学最重要的奠基人之一。他首次开创了复杂的西方哲学系统，其中包括道德、美学、逻辑、科学、政治以及宇宙哲学。亚里士多德对自然科学的观点深深地植入于中世纪学术界，并且影响一直延伸到了文艺复兴时期，尽管最终这些观点被现代物理学所替代。现今存有亚里士多德的作品仅剩三分之一。
9 《坎特伯雷故事集》（Canterbury Tales）①
杰弗里·乔叟（Geoffrey Chaucer）
书中的故事有些是原创的，有些却不然。一群朝圣者前往坎特伯雷大教堂朝拜圣·托马斯·贝克特（saint Thomas Becket）②，他们在从邵斯沃克（Southwark）到坎特伯雷的一路上讲述了一系列故事，书中的所有故事就囊括在这个大的故事框架中。坎特伯雷故事集是中古英语中最富盛名的作品之一，然而，事实是乔叟在1400年去世前，只完成了原计划中124个故事中的24个。
8 《爱的徒劳》（Love’s Labour’s Won）③
莎士比亚（William Shakespeare）
这部作品的入选有些争议。一些人认为“爱的徒劳”是莎士比亚某个现存剧作的原标题，然而多数人观点认为这是一部遗失的独立剧作。曾经在很长一段时间里，人们都假设《爱的徒劳》是《驯悍记》④的别名，但是在1953年，这个名字被列在莎士比亚“已出版”的剧作名单中，而该名单中既有《驯悍记》也有《爱的徒劳》。
7 《桑底顿》（Sanditon）
简·奥斯汀（Jane Austen）
在《桑底顿》中，奥斯汀通过对一个正在形成的城镇与几个家庭的描写，展现了其对口述构建一个社会的浓厚兴趣⑤。《桑底顿》手稿的原标题是《兄弟》，这也许是根据故事中的帕克兄弟而命名的。作者逝世后，她的家属将其重命名为《桑底顿》。奥斯汀未完成该小说便去世了，遗憾的是，就仅从所剩的只字片语中，我们也能看到小说有极大的创新，并且维持了奥斯汀闻名于世的才智。
6 《魔幻竖琴》（The Magic Harp）
沃尔夫冈·冯·歌德（Wolfgang von Goethe）
歌德从1794年到1796年一直在写着这部剧作，打算以此作为莫扎特的歌剧《魔笛》（The Magic Flute，德语Die Zauberflöte)的结局，但最终放弃了这个念头。它也许本可以与《浮士德》（Faust）⑥相提并论的。在维奇百科中对此从未一提，但是史都华·凯利（Stuart Kelly）⑦的书中曾言：“歌德似乎想要超越莫扎特的华丽舞台效果:在电光闪烁⑧的烘托下，月之女神出场了。”
5 《回忆录》（Memoirs）
拜伦（Lord Byron）
1824年5月17日（拜伦逝世后），出版者约翰·莫里（John Murray）参与了文学史上最为恶名昭彰的活动。拜伦将他个人回忆录的手稿交给莫里，请他在自己死后出版。莫里连同拜伦的5个好友以及遗嘱执行者决定销毁拜伦的手稿，因为他认为其中丑闻性的细节会有损拜伦声誉。除了托马斯·莫尔（Thomas Moore）一个人反对，其余人在莫里的办公室壁炉里烧毁了回忆录中的两卷。不幸的是，我们已无从知道回忆录中有些什么。它们本可以提供给我们许多有价值的信息，让我们了解这个诗人的思想，以及诗人在诗歌之外的生活。
4 《爱德温·德伍德之谜》（The Mystery of Edwin Drood）
查尔斯·狄更斯（Charles Dickens）
这个在狄更斯1870年逝世前未完的故事充满了谋杀、神秘、和阴暗的人物。讽刺的是，狄更斯曾在死前几个月偷偷给维多利亚女王一个特权，想让她预先知道故事结局，但是女王拒绝了，因为她不想被“宠坏”。
3 《神秘的陌生人》（The Mysterious Stranger）
马克·吐温（Mark Twain）
作为最富盛名的美国作家之一，马克·吐温着手写了三种不同版本的《神秘的陌生人》，但未完成其中任何一部。三部中的中心人物都是撒旦。 第一个实体版本被认为是年轻撒旦的历史经历，并且讲述了撒旦（圣经里那个撒旦的无辜侄子）在中世纪澳大利亚村庄中的冒险故事。故事讲到撒旦在印度款待一个王子的一幕时突然结束了，人们猜想马克·吐温可能放弃了这部作品的完结。
2 1922年之前的作品
欧内斯特·海明威（Ernest Hemingway）
海明威一生都是一个伟大的作家，但是在1926年之前并未出版多少作品。1922年，海明威的第一任妻子哈德利旅游于欧洲各地，很不幸，存有海明威到那年为止所有作品的行李箱被偷了。在这些手稿中有一部关于海明威在一战前的经历的小说。
1 《两次曝光》（Double Exposure）
西尔维娅·普拉斯（Sylvia Plath）⑨
1063年普拉斯自杀后，早已离开她的鳏夫泰德·休斯接收了她的财产与遗留未出版的作品。休斯烧毁了西尔维娅在其余生最后几个月所写的大量日记与信件。 其中包括一部几近完成的小说《双重曝光》或者名为《恍然大悟》，讲述了一个妻子、丈夫和丈夫的情人之间的故事；它或许是映射普拉斯与休斯夫妻关系的半自传体小说。就休斯所称，这份手稿在1970年之前就“消失”了。
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