
The Richest Man in Babylon
Clason's best-known and most representative work: a standalone collection of financial parables.
Author guide
George Samuel Clason (1874–1957) was an American author, businessman, publisher, and Spanish-American War veteran. He founded the Clason Map Company and Clason Publishing Company, and his map company published an early road atlas of the United States and Canada. He became best known for a series of financial parables set in ancient Babylon, first issued as pamphlets and collected in The Richest Man in Babylon (1926). His other books addressed settlement, furniture, financial self-help, and popular science.
Catalog record updated .
Not sure where to begin?

Clason's best-known and most representative work: a standalone collection of financial parables.
Outside the series
nonfiction · 1915
nonfiction · 1926
To bring your dreams and desires to fulfillment, you must be successful with money. This book shows you how to amass personal wealth by sharing the secrets of the ancient Babylonians, who were the first to discover the universal laws of…
nonfiction · 1937
George Samuel Clason was an American author, businessman, publisher, and former U.S. Army serviceman best known for The Richest Man in Babylon.
He was born on November 7, 1874, in Louisiana, Missouri.
He attended the University of Nebraska, served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War, and founded the Clason Map Company in Denver. The company published the first road atlas of the United States and Canada.
Beginning in 1926, he issued pamphlets about thrift and financial success, using parables set in ancient Babylon. Banks and insurance companies distributed them widely, helping the stories reach millions of readers.
His Babylonian parables became a modern inspirational classic and helped establish his lasting reputation in personal-finance literature. Publishers continue to describe his work as influential and widely read.
Sources: penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)academic.macmillan.com (opens in a new tab)