All links go to original editions on Google Books or archive.org unless otherwise stated, and are listed in roughly chronological order, instead of the usual alphabetical by author - use search to find authors or keywords. The contents are not necessarily vegan, or any sort of vegetarian, but indicate a movement towards more humane thought and healthy lifestyles.
Starting with Indian texts:
- Outlines of Jainism by Jagmanderlal Jaini M.A., Indore. Pub. Cambridge, 1916. Founded by Mahavira, 599 BC - avoids all harm to animal life.
- The Kalpa sutra, and Nava tatva: two works illustrative of the Jain religion and philosophy trans. & appendix by J. Stevenson, Bombay. Pub. London, 1818
- Jaina Sutras Part I & II trans. Hermann Jacobi, Oxford 1884
- Texts from the Buddhist canon, commonly known as Dhammapada, with accompanying narratives trans. Samuel Beal, Prof. of Chinese, London, 1878. Buddha (?563-483 BC)
- The Lankavatara Sutra; a Mahayana text trans. Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, London, 1932
- Asoka, the Buddhist emperor of India by Vincent A. Smith M.R.A.S., Oxford, 1901. Asoka (273?-232 BC) banned all animal slaughter in India.
- The Laws of Manu trans. George Buhler, Oxford, 1886. Somewhat disputed Hindu texts... does not prohibit meat eating but: p.99, Law 48: "Meat can never be obtained without injury to living creatures, and injury to sentient beings is detrimental to (the attainment of) heavenly bliss; let him therefore shun (the use of) meat."
Greece, Rome and Early Christian
- Hesiod's Works and Days (c.800 BCE) contained in Homer's Batrachomyomachia, hymns and epigrams; Hesiod's Works and days; Musasus' Hero and Leander, trans. George Chapman, London,1858
- Hesiod: Works and Days Trans Hugh G. Evelyn-White, 1914. Describes a mythological 'golden age' of a plant based diet.
- Pagan Regeneration: a study of mystery initiations in the Graeco-Roman world Harold Rideout Willoughby 1929. Includes Orphic Communities. p.129: "The ascetic prescription included an abstinence from meat..."
- Herodotus - trans. Rev. William Beloe 1831. P.236: "The neck of land which stretches from the country of the Gindanes towards the sea is possessed by the Lotophagi who live entirely upon the fruit of the lotos."
- The Fragments of Empedocles (link to Questia.com) trans. W.E. Leonard Ph.D., Chicago, 1908. Part 2 says much about transmigration of souls and the Orphic/Pythagorean traditions.
- The life of Apollonius of Tyana by Philostratus (the Athenian)
- Plato's Republic commentary by Lewis Campbell M.A., Ll.D., London, 1902.
- The Republic of Plato trans. Thomas Taylor c.1800. This edition: London, c.1894. In Books II & III Plato (428-347 BC) develops the dietary ideas of Pythagoras.
- The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers By Diogenes Laertius (?412-?323 BC), includes a section on Pythagoras, trans. C. D. Yonge, 1853
- Ovid's Metamorphoses by Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC - AD 17). This edition pub. London 1822. Book 15, p.516 is a biography of Pythagoras. p.519: "He first forbid animal food to be served up at the tables of men".
- Seneca's Morals - Seneca (c.5 BC - AD 65) - trans Sir Roger L'estrange c.1870 p110: "I gave over eating of flesh".
- Plutarch's Morals Vol.5 by Plutarch (c.AD 46-c.120)- edited by W. W. Goodwin Ph.D, Harvard, 1878. Includes the essay 'Of Eating Flesh'.
- Select Works of Porphyry: Containing His Four Books On Abstinence from Animal Food; etc. - Porphyry (233-304 AD), trans. T. Taylor, London, 1823
- The works of the Emperor Julian... translated from the Greek pub. 1798. p.178: Julian... lived on vegetables (several references to his Pythagorean diet.)
- The Ante-Nicene Fathers Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325 edited by A. Roberts and J. Donaldson, Vol.2 (of 10 vols.) P.137 - 'On Eating', from The Instructor, by Clement of Alexandria.
Al-Ma'rri (Abu 'l-'Ala - 973-1057, Syria/Baghdad)
- The letters of Abu 'l-'Ala of Ma'arrat al-Nu'man - D. S. Margoliouth, M.A. 1898 - biography and letters of Al-Ma'rri
- The quatrains of Abu'l-Ala (Al-ma'arri) - Ameen F. Rihani, 1904
- The Diwan of Abu'l-Ala - Henry Baerlein, 1909
- Abul Ala, The Syrian - Henry Baerlein, 1914
- The Luzumiyat of Abu'l-Ala - Ameen F. Rihani, 1918
- Studies in Islamic poetry - R. Nicholson, 1921 - mostly poetry of Al-Ma'rri
Europe - Middle Ages to 17th Century - The Renaissance
- Leonardo da Vinci, artist, thinker and man of science Vol.1 by Eugène Müntz, 1898. p.17 footnote: "It appears from Corsali's letter that Leonardo ate no meat, but lived entirely on vegetables, thus forestalling our modern vegetarians by several centuries."
- Discourses on the sober life (Discorsi della vita sobria) Being the personal narrative of Luigi Cornaro (1467-1566) New York, 1916 edition
- The Art of Living Long - the treatise by the celebrated Venetian centenarian, Luigi Cornaro (1465-1566), with essays, pub.1903
- Utopia by Sir Thomas Moore (1478-1535) 2008 edition: p.108 "some live unmarried and chaste, and abstain from eating any sort of flesh."
- The Essays of Michael de Montaigne, Vol II (1533-1592) trans. Pierre Coste, this edition London 1811
- Poemata: Latin, Greek and Italian Poems by John Milton 1608-1674 (ivu.org plain text 146k) this edition c.1876. - Elegy VI, line 60: 'Let herbs to them a bloodless banquet give'
- Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained this edition 1854.
- The Works of Abraham Cowley Vol.III (1620-1667), Samuel Johnson, John Aikin, this edition 1806. p.173 The Garden
- Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets (ivu.org plain text 255k) by John Evelyn (1620-1706) First pub. 1699, this edition New York, 1937. From the foreword: 'Evelyn... is probably the first advocate in England of a meatless diet.'
- Tryon's Letters, Domestick and Foreign, to Several Persons of Quality, Occasionally Distributed in Subjects, Viz. Philosophical, Theological, and Moral. by Thomas Tryon (1634-1703), pub.1700 (see eg Letter XIX 'Of Flesh Broths', p.87)
- A Pythagorean of the Seventeenth Century - Alexander Gordon, Liverpool 1871. Commentary on, and extracts from, Tryon's (ovo-lacto) autobiography.
Europe 18th Century - The Age of Enlightenment
- An Essay of Health and Long Life By George Cheyne, M.D. F.R.S., 1724. " Benefit of a low Diet, living altogether on 'vegetable Food and pure Element.' "
- A Treatise on Health and Long Life To which is Added to this Edition, (not in Any Former One) the Life of the Author By George Cheyne, 10th edition, London 1787
- Fables of Mr. John Gay first appeared 1726, this edition London, 1792. John Gay (1685-1732) wrote many references to humane diet.
- The Fable of the Bees by Bernard Mandeville, 1729
- The Seasons by James Thomson, first pub. 1726-30, this ed. London, 1824.
- An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope ((1688-1744), first pub. 1732-5, this edition London 1820. Humane commentary
- Emanuel Swedenborg: a biography by James Wilkinson, Boston, 1849. p.238: He writes on the subject in his Arcana as follows: "Considered apart, eating the flesh of animals is somewhat profane...."
- Works Vol.26 (inc. The Princess of Babylon) by Voltaire. This edition 1769.
- The Philosophical Dictionary by Voltaire, short edition 1802. See Beasts p.31
- A Philosophical Dictionary Vol VI by Voltaire. See Viands p.315
- Memoirs of the Life of Voltaire by Voltaire. This edition London, 1784
- John Wesley (1703-1791) biography by Richard Green, pub. late 19th century. p.35: in the hope of thereby promoting his own piety, he began to use a vegetable diet.
- Free Thoughts Upon the Brute-creation By John Hildrop, London, 1742
- Observations on man, his frame, his duty, and his expectations Vol.2 by David Hartley (1705-1757), first pub. 1749. This edition 1801. Much concerned with animals as food eg: 'With respect to animal diet, let it be considered, that taking away the lives of animals, in order to convert them into food, does great violence to the principles of benevolence and compassion.' p.222.
- A Dissertation on the Duty of Mercy and Sin of Cruelty to Brute Animals By Humphrey Primatt, London 1776
- An Introduction To The Principles Of Morals And Legislation by Jeremy Bentham, first pub.1780. This edition 1823. ("can they suffer?")
- Disquisitions on Several Subjects by Soame Jenyns, first pub. London 1782; this edition 1822. p.19: Disquisition II - On Cruelty to Inferior Animals
- Rousseau's Emile; or, Treatise on education this edition New York, c.1892
- John Howard (1726-1790) Biography of the prison reformer by Edgar C. S. Gibson, London, 1901. p.180: "has been accustomed for years to exist on vegetables and water, a little bread, and a little tea."
- Letters from a citizen of the world to his friends in the East by Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774), this ed.1840 'I have seen the very men who thus boasted of their tenderness, at the same time devour the flesh of six different animals tossed up in a fricasee.' p.32.
- The Task by William Cowper, first pub.1782; this edition London, 1817
- The Cry of Nature (html page on ivu.org) by John Oswald - full text from 1791
- Paul and Virginia By Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, this edition, London 1898
- Studies of Nature Vol. IV By Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, this edition 1796
- Paley's Moral and Political Philosophy this edition 1835
- Schiller's "The song of the bell"; and other poems Trans. Thomas C. Zimmerman, pub. Pennsylvania, 1896 - see Der Alpenjäger (The Hunter of the Alps) in both German and English
North America - 18th century
- The Ephrata community 120 years ago The Ephrata 'vegan' community was founded by German settlers in Pennsylvania in 1721, this account pub.1905
- Souvenir book of the Ephrata cloister complete history, pub.1921
- Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin edited by John Bigelow, 1868 edition
- The Dorrellites 'vegan' community in 1790s New England. See pp.82-89 of this extremely hostile volume of 'History and proceedings of the Pocumtuck Valley memorial association' pub.1905.
- Johnny Appleseed: a pioneer hero by W. D. Haley, 1871. This edition 1955. Johnny (1774-1846) was based in Western Pennsylvania. p.8: 'He believed it to be a sin to kill any creature for food'.
England: early 19th Century
- An Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food by Joseph Ritson, published 1802
- Joseph Ritson, A Critical Biography by Henry Alfred Burd, 1916
- Joseph Ritson, Percy Shelley and the making of romantic vegetarianism (link to ucdavis) - essay by Timothy Morton from 'Romanticism 2006
- The Code of Health and Longevity Or a Concise View of the Principles Calculated for the Preservation of Health and the Attainment of Long Life. Vol III: by John Sinclair, pub 1807.
- The Surgical Works Vol.2 by John Abernethy, pub, London 1811. 'Of Tumours' p.93: '...the power of the regimen recommend by Dr. Lambe should be fairly tried.'
- Facts authentic, in science and religion: designed to illustrate a new tr. of the Bible by William Cowherd, 1818
- Water and Vegetable Diet in Consumption, Scrofula, Cancer, Asthma, and Other Chronic Diseases by Dr. William Lambe, First Pub. London 1815 as 'Additional reports on the effects of a peculiar regimen in the cases of cancer, scrofula, consumption, asthma and other chronic diseases.' This edition 1850 New York with intro by Joel Shew M.D. - p.90/91: "My reason for objecting to every species of matter to be used as food, except the direct produce of the earth, is founded as may be seen in my last publication on the broad ground that no other matter is suited to the organs of man, as indicated by his structure. This applies then with the same force to eggs, milk, cheese, and fish, as to flesh meat."
- The Life of William Lambe M.D. (PDF 500k on ivu.org) - by E. Hare, 1873, complete text of the 1897 reprint.
- The Return to Nature: or, A defence of the vegetable regimen; - John Frank Newton, the original 1811 edition.
- Early days of the Right Honorable George Canning - by John Frank Newton, 1828, giving more details about himself.
Byron and Shelley
- Life of Lord Byron: with his letters and journals (Vol.1 - to 1811) pub. London, 1839, this edition 1854. p.356 - 1811, June 25: "... an entire vegetable diet, neither fish nor flesh coming within my regimen."
- Life of Lord Byron: with his letters and journals (Vol.2 - 1811-13) pub. London, 1839, this edition 1854.
- Life of Lord Byron: with his letters and journals (Vol.3 1814-17) pub. London, 1839, this edition 1854. p.337: abstinence.... like some years ago,...of diet, and, with the exception of some convivial weeks and days, (it might be months, now and then,) have kept to Pythagoras ever since.
- Lord Byron's Don Juan first two Cantos pub.1819, unfinished at Canto 16 on Byron's death in 1824. This complete edition from Philadelphia, 1859. Overall it reflects Byron's inconsistency about his diet.
- Shelley at Oxford (1810/11) - by Thomas Jefferson Hogg, Shelley's friend at Oxford. This edition from 1904.
- Letters from Shelley to Thomas Jefferson Hogg (1810/11) - with notes by W. M. Rossetti and H. Buxton Forman, 1897
- Letters from Shelley to Elizabeth Hitchener - Vol.1, 1811 - privately printed 1890
- Letters from Shelley (& some by Harriet) to Elizabeth Hitchener - Vol.2, 1812 - privately printed 1890
- A Vindication of Natural Diet (original 1813) - new edition from 1884, with a preface by Henry S. Salt and W.E.A. Axon.
- The life of Percy Bysshe Shelley Vol.2 by Jefferson Hogg, pub. 1858 (in 4 volumes but only 2 finished). This is a much critcised biography, more about Hogg than Shelley.
- Letters from Shelley to William Godwin Vol.1 - 1816 to 1820 - both vols. privately printed 1891
- Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus 1823 edition, by Mary W. Shelley. Written 1816-17, first pub.1818. (later revised 1831)
- Letters from Shelley to Jane Clairmont (1816-1822) - privately printed 1889
- The Shelley Society's papers. 1886-1888 - 20 articles by various authors
- A Shelley Primer - by Henry S. Salt 1887
- Percy Bysshe Shelley: A Monograph - Henry Stephens Salt, 1888
- An Examination of Hogg's "Life of Shelley" - Henry Stephens Salt, 1889
- Shelley's Vegetarianism - by W.E.A.Axon, 1890
- Shelley's principles; has time refuted or confirmed them? by Henry S. Salt, 1892
- Percy Bysshe Shelley, poet and pioneer; a biographical study - by Henry S. Salt, 1896
- Peacock's memoir of Shelley, with Shelley's letters to Peacock - Thomas Love Peacock 1785-1866 - edited by H.F.B. Brett-Smith, 1909
- The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley - ed by George Woodberry, 1901
- Selected prose works of Shelley - edited by Henry S. Salt, 1915 - The necessity of atheism -- A letter to Lord Ellenborough -- A refutation of deism -- A defence of poetry - Essay on the literature, the arts, and the manners of the Athenians -- On life -- On a future state -- Essay on Christianity
USA - Early 19th century - Graham and Alcott
- History of the Philadelphia Bible Christian Church, 1817-1917 - centenary book
- Letters of Pestalozzi on the Education of Infancy - published Boston 1830. Written by Pestalozzi to J. P. Greaves, and this book read by Bronson Alcott.
- Record of a School by Elizabeth Peabody 1835, about Bronson Alcott's school
- Conversations with Children on the Gospels by Bronson Alcott, 1836
- Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men, and by Experience in All Ages by William Andrus Alcott, 1838
- Discourses on a Sober and Temperate Life - original by Luigi Cornaro, 16th century Italy. The edition with intro and notes by Sylvester Graham, New York, 1833
- A Defence of the Graham System of Living: Or, Remarks on Diet and Regimen. Dedicated to the Rising Generation by Sylvester Graham, New York, 1835
- Nature's own book by Asenath Nicholson, 1835 - a not-very-strict Grahamite
- A treatise on bread, and bread-making by Sylvester Graham, Boston 1837
- Lectures on the Science of Human Life by Sylvester Graham, first pub. Boston 1839. this edition pub. by William Horsell, London 1849
- The philosophy of sacred history considered in relation to human aliment and the wines of Scripture - by Sylvester Graham, edited by Henry S. Clubb, pub. W. Horsell, London, 1859
- Lectures to ladies on anatomy and physiology by Mary Gove Nichols, Boston, 1842 - many references to the vegetable diet.
- Bronson Alcott at Alcott House, England, and Fruitlands, New England (1842-1844) by F. B. Sanborn, 1908
- Bronson Alcott's Fruitlands (1843) by Clara Endicott Sears with Transcendental Wild Oats (1876) by Louisa May Alcott, 1915 edition
- The Dial (Vol.3 - 1842-3) - the Transcendentalist journal, articles on Greaves and Alcott.
- Pedlar's Progress The Life Of Bronson Alcott by Odell Shepard, Boston, 1937
England - mid 19th century
- The Healthian - April and part of May 1842 (PDF 2.5mb, ivu.org, courtesy of Bill Shurtleff and University of California at Berkeley,)
- The law and method in spirit-culture: an interpretation of A. Bronson Alcott by Charles Lane, 1843, includes the full text of the letter from Greaves to Alcott.
- A brief account of the First Concordium, or Harmonious Industrial College published at the Concordium, 1843 (PDF 419k ivu.org courtesy of Maynard Clark and Harvard University).
- The New Age - Concordium Gazette - from Alcott House, Ham Common, Surrey. Complete issues - May 1843 to December 1844
- Fruits and farinacea the proper food of man by John Smith, (1798-1888) London 1845
- Hydropathy for the People by William Horsell, written in England in 1845, with notes by Russell Trall M.D. for this New York, 1850 edition.
- Punch magazine, 1848, Vol.XIV - includes a sarcastic piece about The Vegetarian Society which was founded in September 1847.
- Vegetarian messenger Vol.1 - Vegetarian Society UK, 1849/50
- The penny vegetarian cookery - by the Vegetarian Messenger, 1850 - mostly ovo-lacto, but much is vegan, even a vegan omelet.
- Vegetarian messenger Vol.2 - Vegetarian Society UK, 1850/51
- Vegetarian messenger Vol.3 - Vegetarian Society UK, 1851/52
- Vegetarian messenger Vol.4 - Vegetarian Society UK, 1852/53
- Vegetarian messenger Vol.5 - Vegetarian Society UK, 1853/54
- Vegetarian messenger Vol.6 - Vegetarian Society UK, 1854/55
- Vegetarian messenger Vol.7 - Vegetarian Society UK, 1855/56
- On the mode of communication of cholera by John Snow, 1855 - expanded from the 1849 pamphlet.
- On chloroform and other anaesthetics: their action and administration by John Snow - published shortly after his death in 1858, and including a brief 'Life of John Snow' by Benjamin W. Richardson M.D. who knew him, but was very hostile to his vegetarianism.
USA later 19th century
- Religion, Natural and Revealed by Orson S. Fowler, New York, 1st pib. 1844, 10th edition 1848 p.136: Were a flesh diet productive of no other evil consequence than lowering... benevolence that alone should forever annihilate so barbarous a practice'.
- Physiology, animal and mental by Orson S. Fowler, New York, 1847, 5th edition 1851 (half of Fowler & Wells, NY, which published many of the veg-related books on this page).
- Hydrotherapy or The Water-Cure by Joel Shew, New York 1851.
- Philosophy of Health: Natural Principles of Health and Cure by Larkin Baker Coles M.D. Boston, first pub. 1848 - 26th revised edition 1851 (claims 28,000 sold) p.51 The Quality of Foods (promotes lacto-vegetable diet)
Russell Trall
- The hydropathic encyclopedia Vol.1 by Russell Trall, 1855 (orig.1851) -includes ovo-lacto-dietetics
- The Hydropathic Encyclopedia Vol.2 by Russell Trall, New York, 1854 (orig.1851) - appears to be vegan, but see below...
- The New Hydropathic Cook-book: With Recipes for Cooking on Hygienic Principles - by Russell Trall, 1854, includes the use of milk and eggs, but see below:
- The hygeian home cook-book; or, Healthful and palatable food without condiments - by Russell Trall, 1874 - the first vegan cookbook, see Preface.
Thoreau
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), first pub.1854. This edition with intro by Will H. Dircks, 1886.
- Life and writings of Henry David Thoreau by Henry S. Salt, witten 1890 -1896 edition
- Anti-slavery and reform papers - Thoreau, Henry David, ed. H. Salt,1890
- Selections from Thoreau - Thoreau, Henry David, 1895, ed H. Salt 1895
- Health: Its Friends and Foes by Reuben D. Mussey M.D., LL.D, Boston, 1862. p.169: Chapter VIII - Man by nature a vegetable eater - vegetarianism
- Recollections of a busy life by Horace Greeley (1811-1872) pub.1868 - editor of the NY Tribune p.98: Chapter VIII - Temperance in all things
- Horace Greeley Voice Of The People by William Harlan Hale, 1950.
- Health in the Household, Or, Hygienic Cookery by Susanna Way Dodds, 1883 - argues strongly for plant-foods only, but then includes meat...
- The stomach: its disorders and how to cure them by J.H. Kellogg, Battle Creek, 1896
- Figs or pigs? Fruit or brute? Shall we eat flesh?: a comprehensive statement of the principal reasons for entertaining the vegetarian or fruitarian principle - James Madison Allen, 1896 - promotes veganism
- Food, Home and Garden - Journal of the Vegetarian Society of America Vols I-III, 1897-99; edited by Henry Clubb
- The Golden Age Cook Book by Henrietta Latham Dwight, New York, 1898
- Every living creature; or, Heart-training through the animal world by Ralph Waldo Trine, 1899
- The Vivisection Question articles from 1880 to 1900 compiled by Albert Leffingwell M.D, 1901
Europe - late 19th century
- Les Confidences: Confidential Disclosures by Alphonse de Lamartine (17901869) 1857 edition. p.60: 'to kill animals for the purpose of feeding on their flesh is one of the most deplorable and shameful infirmities of the human state'.
- The Descent of man - Charles Darwin, 1871
- Fruit and bread: a scientific diet by Gustav Schlickeysen, translated from the German by M. L. Holbrook, New York,1877 - original German edition appears to have been 1875. Strongly Darwinian, the earliest known vegan (frugivorous + grains) book from Germany.
- The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger, August, 1884 - The Vegetarian Society (Manchester), one complete issue - the first section of a large book of other misc. articles.
- Sir Isaac Pitman, his life and labors by Benn Pitman (brother) 1902
- The life of Sir Isaac Pitman by Alfred Baker, 1908
- Essays on Diet - Prof. Francis W. Newman, 1883
- Memoir and letters of Francis W. Newman - Isobel Giberne, 1909
- Fifty Years of Food Reform by Charles Forward, London 1897 (ivu.org 20mb PDF)
- Tolstoy biography by Romain Rolland, 1911
- Musicians of Today - by Romain Rolland, includes Wagner and Hugo Wolf, 1915
Henry Salt (also much by Salt on Shelley and Thoreau above)
- Literary Sketches - Henry Stephens Salt, 1888
- Godwin's "Political justice"; a reprint of the essay on "Property", from the original edition; - Godwin, William, 1756-1836, ed. Salt 1890
- Songs of freedom - Salt, Henry Stephens, 1893
- Animals' Rights, considered in Relation to Social Progress by Henry S. Salt 1894
- Pamphlets V, 1836-1895 - includes 'On Certain Fallacies' by Henry Salt
- Humanitarian Essays: Being Volume III. of "Cruelties of Civilization." -Henry Stephens Salt, Humanitarian League, London, 1897
- The logic of vegetarianism; essays and dialogues - Henry Salt, 1906
- The Humanities of Diet (PDF 42k on ivu.org) - by Henry Salt, 1914
- Killing for sport: essays by various writers - Salt, Henry Stephens, 1915
- Seventy years among savages by Henry S. Salt, 1921 - autobiographical essays
Asia and the Pacific - 19th and 20th centuries
- Thoreau's philosophy of life, with special consideration of the influence of Hindoo philosophy by Helena A. Snyder, Dissertation, Heidelberg University, 1902. p.20 Abstinence from meat eating
- The Hindoos as they are: a description of the manners, customs, and inner life of Hindoo society in Bengal by Shib Chunder Bose, first pub.1881. This edition Calcutta, 1883. 'The writer has exposed the... evils to India of English dietetic habits' (Howard Williams in Ethics of Diet).
- Poetical works of Edwin Arnold: containing The light of Asia 1883. p.95: 'henceforth none Shall spill the blood of life nor taste of flesh' (in 1891 Arnold was Vice-President of the Bayswater Vegetarian Club, of which Gandhi was Secretary)
- A guide to health - Mohandas K. Gandhi, 1921
- An Autobiography or The story of my experiments with truth - M.K. Gandhi, 1925
- A Quest For Gandhi by Reginald Reynolds, 1952. Personal account of Ghandi at the ashrams.
Europe and USA - 20th century
- Romain Rolland; the man and his work by Stefan Zweig, New York, 1921
- Thirty-nine reasons why I am a vegetarian Henry Stephen Clubb, published by the Vegetarian Society of America, Philadelphia, 1903
- Unpolished rice, the staple food of the Orient Henry Clubb, 1905
- The Universal Kinship by J. Howard Moore (1862-1916), pub. Chicago, 1906. "kinship of all the inhabitants of the planet Earth"
- No Animal Food and Nutrition and Diet with Vegetable Recipes - Rupert H. Wheldon, England, 1910. This ed. New York. - the first British vegan cookbook
- Humanitarian Philosophy by Emil Edward Kusel, Los Angeles, 1912
- A great Russian tone-poet, Scriabin by A.E. Hull, London 1918. Refers to Scriabins theosophy, from about 1904, which led to his vegetarianism.
- The Natural Diet of Man by John Harvey Kellogg 1923
- The Vegan - the magazine of the Vegan Society UK, all issues from 1944, link to vegansociety.com
- Vegetarian Times - US bi-monthly magazine, the link goes to January 1980. See 'Browse all issues' for the complete subsequent issues, currently up to 2004.
- Vegan Views - UK magazine, some items from 1975 onwards, online version free to download.
General histories on ivu.org:
- The Ethics of Diet - A Catena (HTML pages, full text) by Howard Williams, 1st published 1883, text from the 2nd edition, 1896.
- Souvenir Book of the 15th World Vegetarian Congress - India, 1957 -(HTML pages) - huge collection of articles by various worldwide authors.
- The Vegetarian Movement in England, 1847-1981: A Study in the Structure of its Ideology - (HTML pages) PhD Thesis by Julia Twigg, 1981.
- Vegetarianism in Australia, A History (PDF 8mb) by Edgar Crook, 2008
Most recent books are still subject to copyright, so not available for free online. Links below are to some recommended books via amazon.com: - Animal Liberation: Peter Singer, 1975, revised 1990, chap.5, on history, is still good, and way ahead of anything else written at that time.
- Search for a New Eden: James Pierrepont Greaves (1777-1842): The Sacred Socialist and His Followers by J. E. M. Latham, 1999 - the story behind Alcott House. This takes a rather condescending view of their diet, and has some mistakes, but much valuable research.
- Vegetarian America: A History by Karen and Michael Iacobbo, 2004
- Of Victorians and Vegetarians: The Vegetarian Movement in Nineteenth-Century Britain by James Gregory, 2007. A non-vegan perspective, but more useful history.