The Isaiah Berlin Catalogue

Affirming: Letters 1975–1997, ed. Henry Hardy and Mark Pottle (London, 2015: Chatto and Windus; London, 2017, Pimlico)

• Extracts in The Times Literary Supplement (‘Among Important Persons: Isaiah Berlin Looks Back’, 21 & 28 August 2015, 14–16) and the New York Review of Books (‘The Unique Qualities of Joe Alsop’, 8 October 2015, 38, 40)
• excerpts trans. Spanish

Affirming

Spanish

• (in part) ‘Precisiones y desacuerdos’, trans. Daniel Gascón, Letras libres 15 no. 174 (March 2016), 26–31

More Affirming - supplementary letters 1975-1997

An online selection of the more significant letters to have emerged since the publication of Affirming: Letters 1975–1997 (London, 2015: Chatto and Windus; London, 2017, Pimlico)

• First posted 18 January 2019
• Last updated (i.e. this edition) 27 July 2025

The four published volumes of Berlin's letters focus on the outgoing letters, i.e. those written by him. Where we have the other side of the correspondence, and have been able to secure the necessary copyright permission, the online supplements will now also include a selection of the more important letters written to Berlin, and where possible those about him:

• Included in this supplement are 3 letters from IB to his friend and colleague, the philosopher A. J. 'Freddie' Ayer: they include letters of condolence on the death of Ayer's daughter Valerie (in 1981), and his wife Vanessa (in 1985).  Also included here are letters to IB from the Riga-born Harvard philosopher Judith Shklar; the US diplomat and historian George Kennan; and the Israeli historian and politician Gavriel ('Gaby') Cohen.

To see this Supplement click 'View Document' below

Supplement to Affirming: 'More Explaining: Isaiah Berlin on his own ideas'

• Letters and other writings with specific relevance to the understanding of Berlin's thought, which were not included in Affirming
• First posted in Isaiah Berlin Online 18 January 2019
• Last revised (i.e. this edition) 16 October 2021