Thanks for the very interesting list.

I was expecting Euclid's Elements to be up there. Perhaps the filter "literary work" disqualified it.

If you all pardon an off topic digression, the nebulosity of the definition of a straight line in elements has always bothered me. I wanted something free of reference to a physical artifact (straight edge, taught rope etc) and free of algebra. Its sometimes defined in terms of reflections or rotations or translations, but then that begs the question what is a straight axis (or direction of translation). Playfair's version is almost satisfactory. The standard I guess is Hilbert's.