Order of Book Series
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Umberto Eco Books in Order

53 books are credited to Umberto Eco, published between 1959 and 2023; 4 of them appeared after Umberto Eco's death in 2016. The first book is Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages (1959) and the newest is Le Nom de la rose - Livre premier (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Umberto Eco also publishes as Dedalus.

Books
53
Published
1959–2023
Confirmed
1 of 53 titles
Pages on record
14,168 in 49 of 53 books
Reading time
236–354 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 14,168 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 49 of 53 titles with a page count on record.

See all 53 books in order Printable Umberto Eco checklist
Photo of Umberto Eco, author of the Le Nom de la Rose series

Umberto Eco, who lived from 5 January 1932 to 19 February 2016, was an Italian novelist, philosopher, medievalist, semiotician and cultural critic. In English, Eco is best known for two novels. The Name of the Rose is a historical mystery that folds semiotics, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory into its plot. Foucault's Pendulum (1988) takes up the history of occultism and how the new age movement reinterprets it. The catalogue lists 53 books, opening with Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages (1959) and including The Open Work (1962), A Theory of Semiotics (1978) and The Role of the Reader (1979). Subjects include semiotics, aesthetics, philosophy of language and Italian essays.

How many Umberto Eco books are there?

Umberto Eco has 53 books, released between 1959 and 2023. 4 of them were published after Umberto Eco's death in 2016. 1 of them belong to the Le Nom de la Rose series.

Umberto Eco Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 53 Umberto Eco books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages by Umberto Eco (1959)
  2. Cover of The Open Work by Umberto Eco (1962)
  3. Cover of The Three Astronauts by Umberto Eco, book 1 of the Chap series (1966)
  4. Cover of How to Write a Thesis by Umberto Eco (1977)
  5. Cover of A Theory of Semiotics by Umberto Eco (1978)
  6. Cover of The Role of the Reader by Umberto Eco (1979)
  7. Cover of The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (1983)
  8. Cover of Postscript to the Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (1983)
  9. Cover of The Sign of Three by Umberto Eco (1983)
  10. Cover of Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language by Umberto Eco (1984)
  11. Cover of The Aesthetics of Thomas Aquinas by Umberto Eco (1984)
  12. Cover of Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco (1988)
  13. Cover of On The Medieval Theory Of Signs by Umberto Eco (1989)
  14. Cover of The Limits of Interpretation by Umberto Eco (1990)
  15. Cover of From the Tree to the Labyrinth by Umberto Eco (1990)
  16. Cover of Interpretation and Overinterpretation by Umberto Eco (1992)
  17. Cover of How to Travel with a Salmon & Other Essays by Umberto Eco (1992)
  18. Cover of The Gnomes of Gnu by Umberto Eco (1992)
  19. Cover of The Search for the Perfect Language by Umberto Eco (1993)
  20. Cover of The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco (1994)
  21. Cover of Six Walks in the Fictional Woods by Umberto Eco, book 7 of the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures series (1994)
  22. Cover of Faith in Fakes by Umberto Eco (1995)
  23. Cover of Belief or Non-Belief? by Umberto Eco (1996)
  24. Cover of Incontro by Umberto Eco (1996)
  1. 1
    Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages1959 · 144 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1959144
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Open Work1962 · 285 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1962285
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Misreadings1963 · confirmed 1/4
    1963–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Three AstronautsChap #11966 · 40 pages · confirmed 1/4
    196640
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Travels in Hyperreality1973 · confirmed 1/4
    1973–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    How to Write a Thesis1977 · 229 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1977229
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    A Theory of Semiotics1978 · 354 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1978354
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Role of the Reader1979 · 284 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1979284
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Name of the Rose1983 · 512 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1983512
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Postscript to the Name of the Rose1983 · 84 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Sign of Three1983 · 236 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1983236
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language1984 · 242 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1984242
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Aesthetics of Thomas Aquinas1984 · 248 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1984248
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Foucault's Pendulum1988 · 623 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1988623
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    On The Medieval Theory Of Signs1989 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1989224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Limits of Interpretation1990 · 308 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1990308
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    From the Tree to the Labyrinth1990 · 633 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1990633
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Interpretation and Overinterpretation1992 · 151 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1992151
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    How to Travel with a Salmon & Other Essays1992 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1992256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The Gnomes of Gnu1992 · 44 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199244
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    The Search for the Perfect Language1993 · 400 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1993400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Island of the Day Before1994 · 513 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1994513
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Six Walks in the Fictional WoodsCharles Eliot Norton Lectures #71994 · 160 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1994160
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    Apocalypse Postponed1994 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1994240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    Faith in Fakes1995 · 306 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1995306
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    Belief or Non-Belief?1996 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1996112
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    Incontro1996 · 60 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199660
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    Kant and the Platypus1997 · 480 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1997480
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    Five Moral Pieces1997 · 111 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1997111
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    Serendipities1998 · 129 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1998129
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Umberto Eco books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Chap in order

1 book
  1. 1. The Three Astronauts

Le Nom de la Rose in order

1 book
  1. 1. Le Nom de la rose - Livre premier

Save the Story in order

1 book
  1. 2. The Story of the Betrothed

Charles Eliot Norton Lectures in order

1 book
  1. 7. Six Walks in the Fictional Woods

Standalone books

49 books

49 Umberto Eco titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Umberto Eco books in order?

You only need to read Umberto Eco books in order within the Le Nom de la Rose series, which holds 1 of the 53 Umberto Eco books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Umberto Eco

Start with Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages (1959), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Umberto Eco book?

Le Nom de la rose - Livre premier (2023) is the newest Umberto Eco book released so far.

Is there a new Umberto Eco book coming?

No next Umberto Eco book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Umberto Eco has won

Wikidata records 5 awards for Umberto Eco. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Umberto Eco at a glance

Died
Umberto Eco died in 2016, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Umberto Eco are still being published after Umberto Eco's death in 2016; the newest appeared in 2023.
Release pace
Umberto Eco books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
14,168 pages across the 49 of 53 books with a recorded length, a median of 271 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Umberto Eco books, 16 of 53, were published in the 1990s.

What the Umberto Eco books are about

49 of the 53 Umberto Eco books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: semiotics is tagged on 10 of 49. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • Semiotics 10 of 49 books
  • Philosophy 9 of 49 books
  • Aesthetics 8 of 49 books
  • History 8 of 49 books
  • Art 6 of 49 books
  • Eco, umberto, 1932-2016 5 of 49 books
  • Essays 4 of 49 books
  • Italian essays 4 of 49 books
  • Language and languages 4 of 49 books
  • History and criticism 3 of 49 books
  • Language and languages, philosophy 3 of 49 books
  • Mass media 3 of 49 books