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This section includes a brief annotated bibliography of some of the more important books by and about Dr. Schweitzer, available in English. A more extensive listing prepared by Jack N. Fenner, with his own personal annotations, can be found at The Schweitzer Page.
Books by Albert Schweitzer
Out of My Life and Thought
Johns Hopkins University Press (Albert Schweitzer Library)
Dr. Schweitzer’s classic autobiography, completed in 1931, covers his life through the age of 55. Translated by Antje Bultmann Lemke, Director Emeritus of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. Preface by Rhena Schweitzer Miller and Antje Bultmann Lemke. Foreword by Jimmy Carter.
The Primeval Forest
Johns Hopkins University Press (Albert Schweitzer Library)
Dr.Schweitzer’s stories and reflections about his early years in Lambaréné. Dr. Schweitzer’s descriptions of his patients and their symptoms are sometimes extraordinarily similar to the experiences doctors find in caring for patients at the Schweitzer Hospital today.
The Mystery of the Kingdom of God: The Secret of Jesus' Messiahship and Passion
In the words of Schweitzer biographer James Brabazon, “The place… where [Schweitzer’s] thoughts about Jesus are most explicit is in his seminal book The Mystery of the Kingdom of God. Here we see most clearly his extraordinary combination of deep research, cold, ruthless analysis, and passionate personal dedication.
The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of Its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede
Johns Hopkins University Press (Albert Schweitzer Library)
Dr. Schweitzer’s radical critique of efforts to understand Jesus as an historical figure continues to shape New Testament scholarship today.
The Philosophy of Civilization Part I, the Decay and the Restoration of Civilization : Part II, Civilization and Ethics
Dr. Schweitzer’s magnum opus, intended as three volumes but never completed.
A Psychiatric Study of Jesus (paperback, out of print)
Dr. Schweitzer’s dissertation for his medical degree, in which he takes seriously(though ultimately rejects) suggestions at the time that Jesus was mentally ill: “Should it really turn out that Jesus' object world must be considered by the doctor as in some degree the world of a sick man, still this conclusion, regardless of the consequences that follow from it and the shock to many that would result from it, must not remain unuttered, since reverence for truth must be exalted above everything else.”
J. S. Bach
Volume I and Volume II
Translated by Ernest Newman from the 1908 German version of Dr. Schweitzer’s book on Bach, itself a greatly expanded version of the original 1905 French edition. Still cited by Bach scholars today.
Memoirs of Childhood and Youth
Translated by Kurt Bergel and Alice R. Bergel
This autobiographical essay, published in 1924, contains many of Dr. Schweitzer’s most inspiring reflections on idealism and youth.
Sermons
A Place for Revelation: Sermons on Reverence for Life (hardcover, out of print)
Translated by David Larrimore Holland
Twelve sermons preached by Dr. Schweitzer at Saint Nicolai Church in Strasbourg in 1918-19, on topics ranging from Reverence for Life to Gratitude.
The African Sermons
Edited and Translated from the French by Steven E. G. Melamed, Sr.
Syracuse University Press (The Albert Schweitzer Library)
This volume, published in 2003, contains 70 sermons preached by Dr. Schweitzer in Lambaréné between 1913 and 1935, published for the first time in English, with an insightful introduction and footnote annotations.
Letters
Schweitzer-Bresslau Letters
Translated by Antje Bultmann Lemke; Edited and Introduction by Rhena Schweitzer Miller
An extraordinary collection of personal letters written between Albert Schweitzer and Helene Bresslau before they were married. Thought to have been destroyed, they were found by Rhena Schweitzer Miller only long after her parents’ deaths. They provide important insights into the period of Schweitzer’s life leading up to his decision to devote himself to service through medicine, and into the closeness and intensity of his relationship with the woman he would later wed.
Brothers in Spirit: The Correspondence of Albert Schweitzer and William Larimer Mellon, Jr. Translated by Jeannette Q. Byers
Foreword by Gwen Grant Mellon and Rhena Schweitzer Miller
Syracuse University Press (The Albert Schweitzer Library)
Anthologies
Albert Schweitzer: Essential Writings
Selected with an Introduction by James Brabazon
Orbis Books
An invaluable new anthology of extended excerpts of Dr. Schweitzer’s most important writings on four subjects: Jesus and the Kingdom of God; Music and Its Meaning; Africa; and Reverence for Life. Arguably the best English-language gateway into Dr. Schweitzer’s thought on these topics.
The Spiritual Life: Selected Writings of Albert Schweitzer
The best one-volume collection of brief excerpts of Dr. Schweitzer’s essential thoughts on a wide variety of topics, originally collected and edited by Charles Joy, now republished with an introduction by Robert Coles and Senator Bob Kerrey.
Thoughts for Our Times
A small volume of Erica Anderson’s favorite quotations of Dr. Schweitzer’s, with a very brief (3 page) biography. Available only from The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship.
Faith
A brief (32 pp.) volume of quotations by Dr. Schweitzer about faith, Jesus, and Christianity selected by Pastor Richard Brullman, former President of the International Schweitzer Association (AISL: www.schweitzer.org). Translated into English by Percy Mark. Available only from The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship.
Works by Erica Anderson
In addition to her Academy Award-winning documentary film Schweitzer, in collaboration with producer Jerome Hill, Erica Anderson took literally tens of thousands of photographs of Dr. Schweitzer over the last fifteen years of his life, and served as a frequent assistant and interpreter for him. Three books in hardcover include many of her best photos, as well as personal reflections. They are all out of print, but copies are sometimes available from Amazon or other on-line used book vendors.
The World of Albert Schweitzer
This 144-page black-and-white album published in 1955 contains the best photographs from 1951-55, together with explanatory captions and text by Eugene Exman.
Albert Schweitzer’s Gift of Friendship
This 1964 volume describes her initial correspondence with Dr. Schweitzer in 1949, her first visit to Lambaréné in 1951, and the evolution of their extraordinary friendship. A few dozen photographs of Dr. Schweitzer are included.
The Schweitzer Album
This 176-page “Portrait in Words and Pictures” published in 1965 includes archival photographs of Dr. Schweitzer’s childhood and family, as well as Erica Anderson’s later photos, including many in color. Her photographs are complemented by her own reflections about Dr. Schweitzer and his hospital, as well as numerous Schweitzer quotations.
Books About Albert Schweitzer and Related Publications
Albert Schweitzer: A biography
by James Brabazon
Syracuse University Press (The Albert Schweitzer Library)
The second edition of what is widely viewed as the best biography available in English. Originally published in 1975, but substantially updated in 2000, including especially important new material related to Schweitzer’s relationship with his soulmate and later wife Helene Bresslau.
Schweitzer: A Biography
by George Marshall & David Poling
The first major English-language biography of Dr. Schweitzer, originally published in 1970. George Marshall, a longtime Board member of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship and Unitarian minister and theologian, knew Dr. Schweitzer personally.
On Nuclear War and Peace (paperback, out of print)
Edited by Homer A. Jack
The most complete collection of Dr. Schweitzer’s writings about nuclear weapons and peace, including correspondence with Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy,Albert Einstein, Norman Cousins, and others. Edited by Homer Jack, longtime Board member of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship and Secretary-General for many years (1970-1983) of the World Conference on Religion and Peace. Available from The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship.
Animals, Nature & Albert Schweitzer (paperback, out of print)
by Ann Cottrell Free
The most accessible brief (80 pp.) book about Dr. Schweitzer’s ethic of Reverence for Life applied to animals and nature, interspersing quotes from Dr. Schweitzer with annotations and comments by Ann Cottrell Free, a renowned newspaper reporter and longtime Board member of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. Available from The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship
The Animal World of Albert Schweitzer: Jungle Insights into Reverence for Life (paperback, out of print) Edited with an introduction by Charles Joy
Originally published in 1950, this is the most extensive English-language collection of Dr. Schweitzer’s writings about animals, including stories of animals he encountered and cared for in Lambaréné.
Albert Schweitzer, Musician
by Michael Murray
This 1994 volume is the most extensive and scholarly English-language study of Dr. Schweitzer’s musical training, writings, and performances, by an internationally-acclaimed organist.
Music in the Life of Albert Schweitzer; With Selections from His Writings (paperback, out of print)
Charles R. Joy
The most extensive English-language collection of excerpts from Dr. Schweitzer’s own writings about music, published in 1951 with a foreword and commentary by Charles Joy, and an introductory tribute by Charles Munch, Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Reverence for Life: The Ethics of Albert Schweitzer for the Twenty-First Century
Edited by Marvin Meyer and Kurt Bergel
Syracuse University Press (The Albert Schweitzer Library)
A contemporary (2002) review and assessment of Dr. Schweitzer’s ethic of Reverence for Life, with introductory essays by renowned New Testament scholar Marvin Meyer and by acclaimed Schweitzer biographer James Brabazon. It includes lengthy (100 pages) selections from Dr. Schweitzer’s writings about Reverence for Life, followed by 13 reflective essays.
Prepared by Lachlan Forrow, MD
LAST UPDATED: June 2008
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