The
Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the
Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the
Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an
English-languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
encyclopediaAn encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
published in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index volume in 1914 and later supplementary volumes. It was designed "to give its readers full and authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine."
The
Catholic Encyclopedia was published by Robert Appleton Company, a publishing company incorporated at
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in February 1905 for the express purpose of publishing the encyclopedia. The five members of the encyclopedia's Editorial Board also served as the directors of the company. In 1912 the company's name was changed to The Encyclopedia Press. Publication of the encyclopedia's volumes was the sole business conducted by the company during the project's lifetime.
Purpose
The encyclopedia was designed to serve the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, concentrating on information related to the Church and explaining matters from the Catholic point of view. It records the accomplishments of Catholics and others in nearly all intellectual and professional pursuits, including artists, educators, poets and scientists. While more limited in focus than other general encyclopedias, it was far broader in scope than previous efforts at comprehensive Catholic encyclopedias, which had studied only internal Church affairs.
It offers in-depth portrayals of historical and philosophical ideas, persons and events, from a Catholic perspective, including issues that divide Catholicism from
ProtestantismProtestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
and other faith communities. Since the encyclopedia was first published starting in 1907 and has never been updated, many of its entries may be out of date either with respect to the wider culture or to the Catholic ecclesiastical world. In particular it predates the creation of the Vatican City State (1929) and the
Second Vatican CouncilThe Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
(1962–1965) which introduced many significant changes in Catholic practice.
History
The writing of the encyclopedia began on January 11, 1905 under the supervision of five editors:
- Charles G. Herbermann
Charles George Herbermann was born in Saerbeck near Münster, Westphalia, Prussia, the son of George Herbermann andElizabeth Stipp. He arrived in the United States in 1851, and seven years later graduated at College of St. Francis Xavier, New York City...
, Professor of LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and Librarian of the College of the City of New YorkThe City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
- Edward A. Pace
Monsignor Edward A. Pace was a Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of St. Augustine, Florida. He was the first native Floridian to be ordained a diocesan priest....
, Professor of PhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at The Catholic University of AmericaThe Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
, at Washington D.C.
- Condé B. Pallen
Condé Benoist Pallen, Ph.D., LL.D. was an American Catholic editor and author, born in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Georgetown in 1880, and from Saint Louis University in 1885. He was editor of Church Progress and the Catholic World...
, Editor
- Rev. Thomas J. Shahan
Thomas Joseph Shahan was an American Roman Catholic theologian and educator, born at Manchester, New Hampshire, educated at Montreal College at the Pontifical North American College, and at the Propaganda in Rome....
, Professor of Church History at the Catholic University.
- Rev. John J. Wynne, S.J., Editor of Messenger of the Sacred Heart
The Messenger of the Sacred Heart is an Irish Roman Catholic periodical. It was founded by an Irish priest, Fr. Paul Cullen SJ in 1888. It is printed in Dublin. It is generally known simply as The Messenger. For much of its history it was one of the most read Irish devotional...
The first edition was initially printed by Robert Appleton Company (RAC), a company created for that purpose. The volumes came out sequentially the first two in 1907 and the last three in 1912:
{
align="center" class="wikitable" |
| Volume |
Names |
Year first pub. |
Chief editor |
| 1 |
Aachen — Assize |
1907 |
Charles George Herbermann Charles George Herbermann was born in Saerbeck near Münster, Westphalia, Prussia, the son of George Herbermann andElizabeth Stipp. He arrived in the United States in 1851, and seven years later graduated at College of St. Francis Xavier, New York City...
|
| 2 |
Assize — Brownr |
| 3 |
Brow — Clancy |
1908 |
| 4 |
Cland — Diocesan |
| 5 |
Diocese — Fathers |
1909 |
| 6 |
Fathers — Gregory |
| 7 |
Gregory — Infallibility |
1910 |
| 8 |
Infamy — Lapparent |
| 9 |
Laprade — Mass |
| 10 |
Mass — Newman |
1911 |
| 11 |
New Mexico — Philip |
| 12 |
Philip — Revalidation |
| 13 |
Revelation — Simon Stock |
1912 |
| 14 |
Simony — Tournely |
| 15 |
Tournon — Zwirner |
The editors had their first editorial meeting at the office of
The Messenger, on West 16th Street,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The text received a
nihil obstatNihil obstat is a declaration of no objection to an initiative or an appointment....
from an official censor, Remy Lafort, on November 1, 1908 and an
imprimaturAn imprimatur is, in the proper sense, a declaration authorizing publication of a book. The term is also applied loosely to any mark of approval or endorsement.-Catholic Church:...
from John Murphy Farley, Archbishop of New York. This review process was presumably accelerated by the reuse of older authorized publications. In addition to frequent informal conferences and constant communication by letters, the editors subsequently held 134 formal meetings to consider the plan, scope and progress of the work, culminating in publication on April 19, 1913. A first supplement was published in 1922; a second supplement in nine loose-leaf sections was published by The Gilmary Society between 1950 and 1958.
In 1912, a special completely illustrated commemorative volume was awarded to those patrons who contributed to the start of the enterprise by buying multiple encyclopedia sets early on.
There was controversy over the presence of the
Catholic Encyclopedia in public libraries in the United States with nativist protests that this violated the
separation of church and stateThe concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
, including a successful appeal in
Belleville, New JerseyBelleville is a Township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 35,926.-History:...
.
The encyclopedia was later updated under the auspices of
The Catholic University of AmericaThe Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
and a 17-volume
New Catholic EncyclopediaThe New Catholic Encyclopedia is a multi-volume reference work on Roman Catholic history and belief edited by the faculty of The Catholic University of America and originally published by McGraw-Hill in 1967...
was first published in 1967, and then in 2002.
Authors and sources
The Catholic Encyclopedia and its makers states that:
The work is entirely new, and not merely a translation or a compilation from other encyclopedic sources. The editors have insisted that the articles should contain the latest and most accurate information to be obtained from the standard works on each subject.
However, "from standard works" allows that some of the articles from European contributors such as
Pierre BatiffolPierre Batiffol was a prominent French catholic priest and Church historian, known particularly as a historian of dogma....
(French), Johann Peter Kirsch (German) had previously been published in whole or in part in Europe and were translated and edited for the Encyclopedia. Those who wrote new articles in English include
Anthony MaasAnthony John Maas was a noted catholic exegete, or writer of critical interpretation of scripture. He was born in Bainkhausen, Province of Westphalia, Prussia and died in Saint Andrew's-on-the-Hudson, Poughkeepsie, New York, 1927....
and
Herbert ThurstonFr. Herbert Henry Charles Thurston, S.J. was an English priest of the Roman Catholic Church, a member of the Jesuit order, and a prolific scholar on liturgical, literary, historical, and spiritual matters....
.
Online versions
Under
United States copyright lawThe copyright law of the United States governs the legally enforceable rights of creative and artistic works under the laws of the United States.Copyright law in the United States is part of federal law, and is authorized by the U.S. Constitution...
all works published in the United States before 1923 are in the
public domainWorks are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
. In 1993 Kevin Knight, then a 26-year-old resident of
Denver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, decided during the visit of
Pope John Paul IIBlessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
to that city for
World Youth DayWorld Youth Day is a youth-oriented Catholic Church event. While the event itself celebrates the Catholic faith, the invitation to attend extends to all youth, regardless of religious convictions....
to launch a project to publish the 1913 edition of the encyclopedia on the Internet. Knight founded the website
New AdventNew Advent is an online version of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.In 1993, Kevin Knight, then a 26-year-old resident of Denver, Colorado, was inspired, during the visit of Pope John Paul II to that city for World Youth Day, to launch a project to publish the 1913 edition of the encyclopedia on the...
to house the undertaking. Volunteers from the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
,
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
helped in the transcription of the original material. The site went online in 1995 and transcription work ended in 1997.
In 2007
Catholic AnswersCatholic Answers, based in El Cajon, California, is one of the largest lay-run apostolates of Catholic apologetics and evangelization in the United States. It publishes This Rock, a bimonthly magazine focusing on Catholic evangelism and apologetics...
published a watermarked version derived from page scans.
Other scanned copies of the 1913 Encyclopedia are available on Google Books, at the
Internet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
and at
Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons is an online repository of free-use images, sound and other media files. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation....
.
WikisourceWikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, it has...
also hosts a transcription project backed by the scans hosted at Commons.
The 1922 supplement to the Encyclopedia is also in the public domain and is available online. The
New Catholic Encyclopedia also is available online at some libraries.
See also
- Encyclopædia Biblica
- Jewish Encyclopedia
The Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
- List of encyclopedias
- New Catholic Encyclopedia
The New Catholic Encyclopedia is a multi-volume reference work on Roman Catholic history and belief edited by the faculty of The Catholic University of America and originally published by McGraw-Hill in 1967...
External links