Introduction and Bibliography
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff was born in Alexandropol, now Gyumri, in 1866 to a Greek father and Armenian mother. His father was an Ashokh, or bard, and sung epic poetry in an oral tradition that was thousands of years old, including the story of Gilgamesh. With fellow Seekers of Truth, as they called themselves, Gurdjieff spent twenty years of his early adult life travelling in the East searching for real knowledge, driven by the question of the sense and significance of life. He eventually set up his "Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man" at the Château du Prieuré near Fontainebleau-Avon in France in 1922. He died in 1949 and left an allegorical magnum opus, entitled All and Everything, the first series of which has the title An Objectively Impartial Criticism of the Life of Man or Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, as well as a large collection of sacred dances and music. One may say that his teaching is first of all how to become a real human being.
Journal of Gurdjieff Studies is a newsletter exploring Gurdjieff's writings and talks, and those of his immediate pupils.
Generally, the articles in this journal newsletter assume background knowledge, including a familiarity with Gurdjieff’s writings and other teaching, and the secondary literature. This is particularly so in members’ posts.
For those new to this field, recommended reading includes the following:
Ouspensky, P.D. – In Search of the Miraculous, Penguin Arkana (London), 1987. [Amazon Kindle or Hardback] [ISM]
Nott, C.S. – Teachings of Gurdjieff, Arkana (London), 1990. [Amazon Kindle; or Paperback] [TG]
The following books of Gurdjieff comprise the three series of his All and Everything. It is good to take note of his injunction:
“No one interested in my writings should ever attempt to read them in any other than the indicated order; in other words, he should never read anything written by me before he is already well acquainted with the earlier works.” [L (p.vi)]
First Series:
Gurdjieff, G.I. – An Objectively Impartial Criticism of the Life of Man or, Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson, Harcourt, Brace and Co. (New York), 1950 [republication of the 1950 edition published by Two Rivers Press (Oregon), 1993] [Amazon Kindle (print replica); Hardcover: see Two Rivers Farm book list] [BT]
Second Series:
Gurdjieff, G.I. – Meetings with Remarkable Men, Penguin Arkana (London), 1988 [Orig. Dutton & Co. (New York), 1963] [Amazon Kindle; or Paperback; or Hardback] [M]
Third Series:
Gurdjieff, G.I. – Life is real only then, when “I am,” Viking Penguin (New York), 1991 [Orig. Triangle Editions (New York) 1975] [Amazon Kindle; or Paperback; or Hardback] [L]
Further bibliography
Anderson, Margaret - The Unknowable Gurdjieff, Penguin Arkana (London) 1991. [First edition: Routledge and Kegan Paul (London), 1962.] [Amazon Paperback; or Hardcover]
Bennett, John Godolphin – Creative Thinking, Bennett Books (Santa Fe), 1998 [Originally published by Coombe Springs Press in 1964]. [Amazon Paperback]
Bennett, Elizabeth and Bennett, J. G. – Idiots in Paris, Coombe Springs Press (Daglingworth, Gloucestershire), 1980. [Amazon Kindle; or Paperback]
Bennett, J.G. - Talks on Beelzebub's Tales, Samuel Weiser Inc (York Beach), 1993.
Bennett, J.G. - Witness: The Story of a Search, Bennett Books, 2007. First published in 1962 by Hodder & Stoughton (London). [Amazon Paperback; or Hardcover]
Copley, Samuel - Portrait of a Vertical Man: An Appreciation of Maurice Nicoll and his work, Swayne Publications (London), 1989.
Daly King, C. – The Oragean Version, Privately printed (New York), 1951. [OV]
Gurdjieff, G.I. – Gurdjieff's Early Talks, Book Studio (n.p.), 2014. [Amazon Kindle; or Hardback]
Gurdjieff, G.I. – G.I. Gurdjieff Paris Meetings 1943, Dolmen Meadow Editions (Toronto), 2017. [Amazon Hardcover] [PM43]
Gurdjieff, G.I. – Groupes de Paris, Tome 1 : 1943, Éditions Éoliennes (Bastia), 2020.
Gurdjieff, G.I. – Groupes de Paris, Tome 2 : 1944, Éditions Éoliennes (Bastia), 2020.
Gurdjieff, G.I. – Transcripts of Gurdjieff’s Wartime Meetings 1941-46, Book Studio (n.p.), 3rd edition 2024. [Some articles cite the 2nd edition of 2009.]
Gurdjieff, G. – The Herald of Coming Good: First Appeal to Contemporary Humanity, privately published (Paris) 1933. [Amazon Kindle; or Hardcover] [H]
Gurdjieff, G.I. – The Struggle of the Magicians, [ballet scenario] Ten copies privately printed at The Stourton Press, South Africa, 1957. [Also available from Book Studio, 2014]
Gurdjieff, G.I. – Views from the Real World, Arkana (London), 1984 [Orig. Triangle Editions (New York), 1973]. [Amazon Kindle; or Paperback; or Hardcover] [V]
Hands, Rina - Diary of Madame Egout pour Sweet, Two Rivers Press (Aurora, Oregon), 1991.
de Hartmann, Thomas and Olga – Our Life With Mr Gurdjieff, Penguin Arkana (London), (Definitive edition) 1992. [Amazon Paperback] [OLWMG]
Hulme, Kathryn – Undiscovered Country, Little, Brown & Company (Boston), 1966. [Amazon Kindle; or Paperback; or Hardcover.] [UC]
Leblanc, Georgette – The Courage Machine: A New Life in a New World (Tr. Margaret Anderson and Solita Solano), Book Studio (London), 2012 [Original French: La Machine à Courage: Souvenirs, J.B. Janin (Paris), 1947]. [Amazon Kindle; or Hardcover] [TCM]
[LM] - Katherine Mansfield: The Memories of LM, Michael Joseph Ltd. (London), 1971.
McCorkle, Annabeth – The Gurdjieff Years, 1929-1949: Recollections of Louise March, Eureka Editions (Utrecht), 2012. [First ed. The Work Study Association (New York), 1990.] [Amazon Kindle; or Paperback]
Nicoll, Maurice – Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, Volumes I to VI, Vincent Stuart Ltd. (London), 1952-56. [Amazon Paperbacks: 6 volume set]
Nicoll, Maurice – Living Time and the Integration of the Life, Eureka Editions (Utrecht), 1998. [First published by Vincent Stuart Ltd. (London), 1952.]
Nott, C.S. - Teachings of Gurdjieff: A Pupil’s Journal. An Account of Some Years With G.I. Gurdjieff and A.R. Orage in New York and Fontainebleau-Avon, Arkana (London), 1990. [First edition: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. (London), 1961.]
Nott, C.S. - Further Teachings of Gurdjieff: Journey Through this World, Samuel Weiser Inc (New York), 1969. [Amazon Paperback; or Kindle] [TG]
Orage, A.R. – Orage’s Commentary on Gurdjieff’s “Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson”: New York Talks 1926-1930 [Notes taken by Morris, L.S., and Manchester, S.], Book Studio (London), 2013. [Amazon Kindle; or Hardcover]
Orage, A.R. – Gurdjieff’s Emissary in New York: Talks and Lectures with A.R. Orage 1924-1931, Book Studio (London), 2016. [Amazon Kindle; or Paperback; or Hardcover]
Ouspensky, P.D. – A Record of Meetings, Arkana (London), 1992. [First edition: Stourton Press (Cape Town) 1951.]
Ouspensky, P.D. – Conscience: The Search for Truth, Routledge & Kegan Paul (London), 1979. [Amazon Paperback]
Ouspensky, P.D. – In Search of the Miraculous, Penguin Arkana (London), 1987 [Orig. Harcourt, Brace (New York), 1949.]
Ouspensky, P.D. – The Fourth Way: A Record of Talks And Answers to Questions based on the Teaching of G. I. Gurdjieff, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. (London), 1957.
Ouspensky, P. D. - The Psychology of Man’s Possible Evolution, Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd (London), 1978. [First American edition: The Hedgehog Press, New York., 1950. First English edition: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, (London), 1951.]
Ouspensky, P. D. – Tertium Organum (the third organ of thought): A Key to the Enigmas of the World, translated from the Russian by Nicholas Bessaraboff and Claude Bragdon, Manas Press (Rochester, N.Y.), 1920. [Originally published in 1911 in St. Petersburg, and a second revised Russian edition in 1916. St. Petersburg Printing House “Trud.”]
Pentland, John - Exchanges Within: Questions from Everyday Life. Selected from Gurdjieff Group Meetings with John Pentland in California 1955-1984, Continuum Publishing Company (New York), 1997. Penguin edition (New York), 2004.
Peters, Fritz – Boyhood With Gurdjieff, Victor Gollancz (London), 1964. [Amazon Paperback; or Hardcover
Pogson, Beryl - Maurice Nicoll: A Portrait, Eureka Editions (Utrecht), 2000, p.104. [1st edition Vincent Stuart (London), 1961.]
Salzmann, Jeanne de – The Reality of Being: The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff, Shambhala Publications Inc (Boston & London), 2010. [Amazon Kindle; or Paperback; or Hardback]
Solano, Solita and Hulme, Kathryn – Gurdjieff and the Women of the Rope, Book Studio (London), 2012. [Containing edited diary notes of Solita Solano and Kathryn Hulme.] [Amazon Kindle; or Paperback; or Hardback; or Audiobook] [GWR]
Tchekhovitch, Tscheslaw – Gurdjieff: A Master in Life, Dolmen Meadow Editions (Toronto), 2006. [Amazon Paperback]
Welch, Louise – Orage with Gurdjieff in America, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. (Boston, Mass.), 1982.
Zuber, René – Who are you, Monsieur Gurdjieff?, , tr. Jenny Koralek, with a Foreword by P. L. Travers, Arkana (London), 1980. [Orig. French: Qui êtes-vous Monsieur Gurdjieff? Le Courrier du livre (Paris), 1977.] [Amazon Paperback (English); French edition]