Reference

Books by Charles Haanel: An Annotated Reading List

2026-10-10 · About 5 minutes

Charles Haanel (1866 to 1949) wrote a small shelf of books, all built on the same New Thought ideas. This list sets out each title with its date, a short note on what it contains, and any doubts about the record. Dates are the ones most often given in reference sources. Where the evidence is thinner or sources disagree, that is said plainly.

The main books

The Master Key System (course about 1912, book from about 1916)

Haanel's best-known work began as a correspondence course of 24 weekly parts, offered around 1912. Each part had numbered lessons, an exercise for the week and review questions. The earliest known book version is reported to carry a 1916 copyright, and many sources give 1916 or 1917 for the first book edition. A St. Louis edition titled The Master Key System in Twenty-Four Parts with Questionnaire and Glossary carries a 1919 copyright line. A British edition of 1933 was titled The Master Key.

The course teaches that thought shapes circumstance, describes a Universal Mind and the subconscious mind, names the law of attraction, and trains the reader through graded exercises in stillness, visualization and concentration, starting with the sitting exercise. Note that some modern editions add chapters 25 to 28; these are generally reported to come from A Book About You and were not part of the original 24 parts. See our full guide to The Master Key System.

Mental Chemistry (1922)

A book of essays published by Haanel in St. Louis. It compares the working of the mind to chemistry, in which the right combination of elements always gives the same result. Its chapters move from cells and glands through attraction and vibration to economics, medicine, suggestion, psycho-analysis, philosophy and religion. Some passages closely follow earlier Master Key texts. See our guide to Mental Chemistry.

The New Psychology (1924)

Another essay collection, opening with chapters on success, abundance, the "Master Mind" and the law of attraction, then moving into material on causation, physiology and medicine. Several of its chapters share titles and quoted sources with Mental Chemistry. The 1924 date is the one usually given; the earliest printing found in the Open Library catalog is a 1928 edition credited to The Master Key Institute. Modern editions vary between 17 and 25 chapters. See our guide to The New Psychology.

A Book About You (1927)

A later book usually dated 1927, with catalog records also showing a 1928 printing under The Master Key Institute name. It is generally reported to be the source of the extra "lost" chapters that appear at the end of some modern editions of the Master Key course. Readers who find more than 24 parts in their copy of the course are most likely reading material from this book.

The Amazing Secrets of the Yogi (about 1937)

Haanel's last book is usually dated to about 1937. Publisher descriptions present it as a guide to breathing and breath control, the control of thought, and the law of attraction, framed in the language of yoga. Its authorship credits are uncertain. Most modern editions name Haanel alone. The encyclopedia summary of Haanel's life names a co-author, Victor Simon Perera. A separate encyclopedia article on the British yoga writer Victor Dane says Dane's book The Gateway to Prosperity was republished in 1937 together with The Amazing Secrets of the Yogi. No source checked for this list supports a co-author named C. Barnard. Until a first edition's title page is examined, the co-authorship question should be treated as open.

Related printings

Master-Key System booklet (1919)

A short promotional booklet printed for Haanel by the Inland Printery in St. Louis, with a 1919 copyright. It contains a preface, short essays numbered as parts, and letters from satisfied students. One of the letters is signed with Napoleon Hill's name and dated April 1919. Because it appears only in Haanel's own sales material, it should be treated as unverified rather than as independent proof of Hill's views.

Cause and Effect (1923)

A St. Louis book credited "By the Author of The Master Key System," with copyright dates of 1922 and 1923 and five printings listed between December 1922 and November 1923. Most of its chapter headings match Mental Chemistry, and its chapter on attraction opens with nearly the same words. Whether it is a retitled or revised form of that book is not clear from the copy examined.

Where to read the public domain texts

Haanel's books from 1930 and earlier are in the public domain in the United States, and because he died in 1949, his own writing is also out of copyright in countries that protect works for the author's life plus 70 years. Modern introductions, footnotes and annotations added by later publishers are a separate matter and may still be under copyright. The 1937 book should be checked case by case before reuse.

Internet Archive. This is the best free source. It holds scans of the St. Louis edition of The Master Key System in Twenty-Four Parts with Questionnaire and Glossary (a University of Michigan library copy digitized by Google), the 1919 Master-Key booklet (a Brigham Young University copy), the 1923 Cause and Effect (a Unity School Library copy), and text files of Mental Chemistry. Search the site for "Haanel" and check each item's date and source library. Many other uploads are modern reprints, and some are lending copies rather than free downloads.

Wikisource. Wikisource has an author page for Charles Francis Haanel that lists The Master Key System and marks his work as public domain in the United States. At the time of writing, no transcribed text of his books was hosted there.

Project Gutenberg. At the time of writing, a search of the main Project Gutenberg catalog returned no titles by Haanel.

Libraries. Public and university library catalogs list many reprints. For serious study, an edition that reproduces the original 24 parts, the questionnaire and the glossary, without added chapters, is the closest to what Haanel's first students received.

A note on reading order

For a first reading, start with the Master Key course, worked through one part a week. Then read Mental Chemistry, which explains the same ideas at length. The New Psychology comes next, and readers will recognize much of it. A Book About You and the yoga book are best saved for last. Throughout, keep in mind that these books set out a philosophy and a set of beliefs. They are historical documents of the New Thought movement, not works of science or medicine.

References