The first page of the corrected typescript of ‘Political Ideas in the Romantic Age’
(click on image to enlarge)
This catalogue includes items (except for interviews and letters) unpublished by 1990, when full-time work on publication of Berlin’s Nachlaß began. Items published since then are linked to the bibliography; there are also other links, e.g. to the catalogue of broadcasts). Most remaining items will be posted on this site in PDF form: a link to the text is provided when this has been done. Please note that these texts have not all been brought to publishable standard, only tidied up so that they are easy to read. Note also that these texts are in copyright, and must not be published without permission. Items are listed in chronological order within sections, where their date is known; undated items are listed in alphabetical order at the end of the relevant section. All items have been transcribed and edited, unless otherwise stated. A word-count appears at the end of most entries.
Unpublished writings
Lecture series
1‘Political Ideas in the Romantic Age: Their Rise and Influence on Modern Thought’
- Introduction
- Politics as a Descriptive Science
- The Idea of Freedom
- Two Concepts of Freedom: Romantic and Liberal
- The March of History
Typescripts drafted in preparation for the Mary Flexner Lectures, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, 1952; heavily revised thereafter; introduction written subsequently; published 2006. 111,127 words.
2‘Freedom and its Betrayal’
- Helvétius
- Rousseau
- Fichte
- Hegel
- Saint-Simon
- Maistre
Third Programme, 1952; published 2002, the fiftieth anniversary of the delivery of the lectures. 60,642 words.
3‘The Roots of Romanticism’
- In Search of a Definition
- The First Attack on Enlightenment
- The True Fathers of Romanticism
- The Restrained Romantics
- Unbridled Romanticism
- The Lasting Effects
The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts, 1965, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1965; published 1999. 60,812 words.
4‘Three Turning-Points in Political Thought’
Storrs Lectures, Yale, 1962; first lecture published 2002. 35,840 words.
5‘Two Enemies of the Enlightenment’
- The Scientific Ideal of the French Enlightenment: Early Heretics and Doubters [lost]
- The First Onslaught: J. G. Hamann and his Disciples (10,998 words)
- The Second Onslaught: Joseph de Maistre and Open Obscurantism (11,765 words)
- The Aftermath: Political Irrationalism [lost]
Woodbridge Lectures, Columbia University, New York, 25–8 October 1965; listen to recordings of the surviving lectures
6‘The Assault on the French Enlightenment’
John Danz Lectures, University of Washington, 22, 24 and 25 February 1971. 35,554 words.
7‘The Origins of Cultural History’
- Two Notions of the History of Culture: the German versus the French Tradition
- Geisteswissenschaft and the Natural Sciences: Vico versus Descartes
- The Origins of the Conflict: Political Lawyers, Classical Scholars, Narrative Historians
Gauss Seminars, Princeton, 1973. 36,698 words.
8 As yet unidentified BBC lectures
15,851 words.
Individual lectures, talks, addresses etc.
9 ‘Can the divergence of ethical judgements be reconciled with the existence of an absolute standard of morality?’
Undergraduate essay? 2,123 words.
10‘Error’
Talk to a philosophical society – mid-1930s? 8,630 words.
11 ‘The Refutation of Phenomenalism’
A draft of section I of ‘Empirical Propositions and Hypothetical Statements’. 1,898 words.
12‘Matter’
2 lectures in Balliol Hall, 22 and 24 January 1934 16,303 words.
13‘Utilitarianism’
Moral Sciences Club, Cambridge, 28 February 1936 11,345. Cf. L 177/1.
14 ‘Introduction: Induction and Logic’
Lectures in in a mixture of (mainly) prose and full notes, Hilary Term 1940. 32,450 words.
15 ‘Why the Soviet Union Chooses to Insulate Itself’
Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1946. 4,145 words.
16‘Lassalle’
Review of David Footman, The Primrose Path, Third Programme, 1946. 2,967 words.
17 ‘Berkeley’s Theory of the External World’
Lectures in a mixture of (mainly) prose and full notes, Hilary Term 1947. 21,405 words.
18‘Karl Marx’s Philosophy’
Late 1940s? 8,705 words.
19 ‘Democracy, Communism and the Individual’
Summary by IB of his talk at Mount Holyoke College, 1949. 2,227 words.
20 ‘Summary of Mr Berlin’s Speech’
Summary by an unknown hand of an unidentified speech, ?1949. 1,073 words.
21‘ “Don Giovanni” at Aix-en-Provence’
Third Programme, 1950. 2,565 words.
22‘Synthetic A Priori Propositions’
Reply to Sellars, APA, Bryn Mawr, 1951. 3,228 words.
23‘Marxist versus Non-Marxist Ideas in Soviet Policy’
Haverford College, Pennsylvania, 1952; includes question period. 11,993 (lecture 6,057).
24‘The Sense of Reality’
Basis for the first Elizabeth Cutter Morrow Lecture, Smith College, USA, 1953. 16,913 words.
25‘Philosophy and Government Repression’
Scheduled for 1954; not delivered. 9,514.
26‘The Impact of Israel’
Lecture to COJO, June 1955 (see Jewish Chronicle, 24 June 1955, 5, 13–14, 22). 3,258 words.
27‘Political Judgement’
Third Programme, 1957. 5,526 words.
28‘National Superiority and Inferiority’
Talk and discussion, Home Service, 1958. 8,060 words.
29‘The Search for Status’
Last of four talks based on ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’. BBC European Service, 1959. 1,770 words.
30‘Tolstoy on the Relation of Educated Men to the Masses’
Largely an early draft of ‘Tolstoy and Enlightenment’, so 1960? 5,192 words.
31‘The Philosophy of History’
BBC All India Radio, 1961. 2,882 words.
32‘Rabindranath Tagore and the Consciousness of Nationality’
India, 1961. 7,264.
33‘Tagore’
Short radio talk for India, 1961. 722 words.
34‘The Addiction of Russian Intellectuals to Historicism’
Talk and discussion, Russian Research Center, Harvard, 1962. 20,597 words. (In Chinese, in part) trans. and ed. Li Xue, Russian Literature and Arts 2024 no. 3, 4–20.
35‘Artistic Commitment: A Russian Legacy’
Revised version (occasion and date of use unknown) of talk first given before President Kennedy on 12 December 1962. 16,595 words.
36‘Romanticism, Politics and Ethics’
Keller Lecture, West Hartford, Connecticut, 1963. 11,134 words. (In Chinese) trans. Bi Xiao, Modern Foreign Philosophy no. 24 (2024 no. 1), 197–215.
37‘Marxism and the International in the Nineteenth Century’
Typescript drafted in preparation for lecture at Stanford, 1964; heavily revised thereafter. 21,446 words.
38‘The Impact of Marxism in the Nineteenth Century’
The previous item as delivered. 12,564 words.
39‘The Lessons of History’
Summary by IB of talk on unknown occasion, c.1965. 6,109 words.
40‘The Morality of Scholarship’
Reply to Northrop Frye, Modern Language Association, 1966. 2,351 words.
41‘The Romantic Movement in Europe’
For schools, Home Service, 1967. 3,319 words.
42‘Turgenev and the Liberal Predicament’
Lecture at the at the Cambridge Union, 1969; only partly a precursor of the Romanes Lecture. 16,239 words.
43‘Vico’
Italian Institute, 1969. 10,147 words.
44‘The Origins of Modern Irrationalism in the Last Two Centuries’
Benjamin Rush Lecture, American Psychiatric Association, 4 May 1971, Washington, DC. 13,575 words. Published online as ‘The Origins of Modern Irrationalism’.
45‘Roots of Romanticism’
Interview with Graham Martin, Radio 4 (Open University), 1972. 3,515 words.
46‘Tolstoy’s View of Art and Morality’
Open University, Radio 4, 1973. 5,712 words.
47‘The Russian Preoccupation with History’
Radio 3, 1974. 8,034 words.
48‘Some Opponents of the Enlightenment’
Wolfson College, Oxford, 11 February 1975, in the series ‘The Enlightenment and Its Critics’ (The Wolfson College Lectures for 1975). 10,657 words.
49 ‘The Achievement of Zionism’
Institute of Jewish Affairs, 1975. 3,764 words.
50‘The End of the Ideal of the Perfect Society’
University of New South Wales, 1975. 11,071 words.
50a‘Nationalism: Its Rise and Unforeseen Career’
Lionel Trilling Seminar, Columbia University, 7 April 1977; published 1978.
51‘Vico, Voltaire and the Beginnings of Cultural History’
University of Adelaide, 1975. 10,967 words.
52‘The Reputation of Vico’
Review of Peter Burke’s Vico in the OUP Past Masters series (1985). Date unknown. Published 1999. 1,607 words.
53‘Recollections of Yitzhak Sadeh’
Israel Radio, 1986. 2,483. Incorporated in bibliography item 214.
54‘Yitzhak Sadeh’
HH’s combined version of preceding two items.
55‘A Philosophical Source of the Idea of National Freedom’
1st Humayun Kabir Memorial Lecture, 1972. 8,081 words.
56‘Yitzhak Sadeh’
Date unknown. Incorporated in bibliography item 214. 3,937 words.
57‘The Romantic Revolution: A Crisis in the History of Modern Thought?’
Delivered in Rome in Italian in March 1960. 10,538 words.
58Acceptance Speech at Degree Ceremony in Toronto, 24 November 1994
1,507 words.
59‘The Social Responsibility of the Artist’
Modern Language Association, date unknown. 5,234 words.
60‘Vissarion Belinsky’
Lecture at Cambridge[?], date unknown. 16,051 words.
Discussions/interviews
61‘The Brains Trust’
BBC TV, 1958. 6,797 words.
62‘Equality’
- 1 In Search of a Definition
- 3 Culture, Education and Equality
- 5 Equality between People and Nations
Discussions chaired by Stuart Hampshire, Third Programme, 1961–2. 28,268 words.
63‘Freedom’
Interview with Bamber Gascoigne, ATV, 1962. 493 words.
64‘Conversations for Tomorrow’
‘After-dinner talk’ with J B Priestley and A J Ayer, BBC TV, 1964. 5,876 words.
65‘John F. Kennedy’
Interview with Arthur M Schlesinger, Jr, Washington, 1965. 12,520 words.
66‘ “I’m going to tamper with your beliefs a little” ’
Filmed dialogue with Stuart Hampshire on J. L. Austin and Oxford Philosophy, 1972. 10,344 words.
67‘The Problem of Nationalism’
Interview with Bryan Magee and Stuart Hampshire, ITV, 1972. 9,286 words.
68‘Equality, Liberty and Variety’
Interview with John Vaizey, Radio 3, 1974. 6,296 words.
69‘Romanticism, Liberation and Social Change’
Conversations with Roy Pascal, 1974. 7,881 words.
70‘Politics’
TV interview with Peter Jay, LWT, 1975. 10,521 words.
71‘Mill: The Manifold’
Discussion with Alan Ryan, Radio 3, 1976. 3,208 words.
72Review of V. S. Pritchett, The Gentle Barbarian
Kaleidoscope interview, Radio 4, 1977. 915 words.
73Interview on Russian Thinkers and Concepts and Categories
Belgian radio, February 1979. Published 1980. 10,032 words.
74‘Personal Impressions’
Kaleidoscope interview, Radio 4, 1980. 1,042 words.
75‘The Levin Interview’
BBC2 Television, 1981. 5,613 words.
76‘Not a Place for Happiness at All: A Portrait of Lewis Namier’
Interview, Radio 3, 1982. 1,064 words.
77‘Stravinsky: Man of Masks’
Interview with Michael Berkeley, Radio 3, 1982. 1,307 words.
77aNahum Goldmann Cultural Medal Acceptance Speech
World Jewish Congress, Jerusalem, 28 January 1986. 2,427 words.
78‘In conversation with John Drummond’
Radio 3, 1991. 8,134 words.
79‘The Late Show’
Interview with Michael Ignatieff, BBC2 Television, 1992. 6,022 words.
80‘Nationalism: The Melting-Pot Myth’
Interview with Bryan Magee, Radio 3, 1992. 3,189 words.
81‘Desert Island Discs’
Interview with Sue Lawley, Radio 4, 1992. 5,159 words.
82Out-takes from previous item
7,992 words.
83Classic FM interview with Susannah Simons
1993. 1,730 words.
84‘Isaiah Berlin: A Portrait’
Interview for Swiss radio, 1993. 908 words.
85‘The Third Programme’
Interview with Humphrey Carpenter. 9,542 words.
86‘The Kreutzer Sonata’
Interview with Humphrey Carpenter, Radio 3, 1996 (broadcast extracts from previous item). 1,132 words.
87‘Private Passions’
Interview with Michael Berkeley, Radio 3, 1996. 2,973 words.
88‘Joseph Brodsky’
Contribution to documentary, 1996. 84 words.
Other items
89‘The Purpose Justifies the Ways’
Childhood story, 1922. 1,750 words.
Poem, 1928. 151.
90‘Literature and the Crisis’
Rejected by London Mercury, 1930s. 3,380 words.
91 ‘The State of Psychology in 1936’
Report for All Souls College, Oxford, on the possible appointment of a psychologist. Published 2001. 3,924 words.
92Unpublished portions of the original text of Karl Marx (1939)
Now transcribed and posted.
93‘A Note on Literature and the Arts in the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic in the Closing Months of 1945’
Foreign Office despatch, 1945. Published in full 2004. 9,708 words.
94‘Some Political Events of 1951’
Unpublished contribution to Britannica Book of the Year 1952. 3,735 words.
95‘Note on Subjective versus Objective Ethics’
Appendix to what? Date unknown – 1950s? Published in PIRA 2006. 2,201 words.
96 ‘Four Weeks in the Soviet Union’
Account of visit in 1956; corrected by IB 1991. Published 2004. 3,837 words.
97 ‘Boris Pasternak’
Occasion unknown, but perhaps at the time Dr Zhivago appeared in English (1957); at any rate before Pasternak’s death in 1960. Published 2004. 1,674 words.
98‘President Wilson on Education’
1959; written for, but not published in, a book – Education in the Nation’s Service. Published 2004. 5,673 words.
99Foreword to Andrey Bely, St Petersburg
1959; written for, but not published in, the edition of the novel translated by John Cournos (London, 1960: Weidenfeld); the introduction commissioned from George Adamovich, to which the Foreword refers, was dropped. 231 words.
100 ‘Bernard Berenson’
Letter intended for publication, not sent, 1961. Published 2004. 752 words.
101‘Liberty’
Draft for 1962 ATV interview on freedom; revised as entry in Oxford Companion to Philosophy, and included in L. 1,559 words.
102The Magus of the North: J. G. Hamann and the Origins of Modern Irrationalism
Book reconstructed from 1960s material, published 1993. 44,378 words.
103‘Russian “Philosophy” ’, review of Russian Philosophy, ed. James M. Edie and others
Uncorrected transcript – 1965. 2,506 words.
104‘Man of Action’
Choice of records, Radio 3, 1974. 1,808 words.
105‘Notes on Liberty and Democracy’
Occasion unknown – 1981? 1,361 words.
106Foreword to Alexander Herzen, Who Is to Blame?, trans. Michael R. Katz (Ithaca, 1984: Cornell University Press)
Not included in published volume.
107‘Dodds and his Autobiography’
Speech for prize presentation? Date unknown. 772 words.
108Entry on his work for Penguin dictionary of philosophy
749 words.