Catholic Encyclopedia

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Cover page of 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu
Cover page of 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1

The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, [1] also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, [2] is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States and designed to serve the Roman Catholic Church. 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". [3] [4]

Catholic Church Largest Christian church, led by the Bishop of Rome

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with approximately 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide as of 2017. As the world's oldest and largest continuously functioning international institution, it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation. The church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the pope. Its central administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican City, an enclave within the city of Rome in Italy.

Contents

The Catholic Encyclopedia was published by the Robert Appleton Company (RAC), a publishing company incorporated at New York 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. [5]

Publishing Process of production and dissemination of literature, music, or information

Publishing is the dissemination of literature, music, or information. It is the activity of making information available to the general public. In some cases, authors may be their own publishers, meaning originators and developers of content also provide media to deliver and display their content. Also, the word "publisher" can refer both to an individual who leads a publishing company or an imprint and to an individual who owns/heads a magazine.

New York (state) American state

New York is a state in the Northeastern United States. New York was one of the original thirteen colonies that formed the United States. With an estimated 19.54 million residents in 2018, it is the fourth most populous state. In order to distinguish the state from the city with the same name, it is sometimes referred to as New York State.

Purpose

The encyclopedia was designed to serve the Roman Catholic Church, 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 covered 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 Protestantism and other faith communities. Since the encyclopedia was first published starting in 1907 and has never been updated (versus the New Catholic Encyclopedia ), 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 Council (1962–1965), which introduced many significant changes in Catholic practice: For example, the online version of the entries on Judaism and Islam at newadvent.org states in an editorial note: "To complement this article, which was taken from the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent recommends a prayerful reading of 'Nostra Aetate' from the Second Vatican Council." [6]

Protestantism Division within Christianity, originating with the 16th century Reformation, a movement against what its followers perceived to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church

Protestantism is the second largest form of Christianity with collectively between 800 million and more than 900 million adherents worldwide or nearly 40% of all Christians. It originated with the 16th century Reformation, a movement against what its followers perceived to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. Protestants reject the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy and sacraments, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They emphasize the priesthood of all believers, justification by faith alone rather than also by good works, and the highest authority of the Bible alone in faith and morals. The "five solae" summarise basic theological differences in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia (NCE) is a multi-volume reference work on Roman Catholic history and belief edited by the faculty of The Catholic University of America. It was intended by the faculty to become, like its predecessor the 1914 Catholic Encyclopedia, a standard reference work for students, teachers, librarians, journalists, and general readers interested in the history, doctrine, practices, and people of the Catholic faith. However, unlike its predecessor, its first edition also contained more general articles on science, education, and the liberal arts. The NCE was originally published by McGraw-Hill in 1967. A second edition, which gave up the articles more reminiscent of a general encyclopedia, was published in 2002 and was listed as one of Library Journal's "Best Reference Sources" for 2003.

In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Christian Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its destiny, and its leadership.

History

The writing of the encyclopedia began on January 11, 1905, under the supervision of five editors:

Charles George Herbermann American academic

Charles George Herbermann was born in Saerbeck near Münster, Westphalia, Prussia, the son of George Herbermann and Elizabeth Stipp. He arrived in the United States in 1851, and seven years later graduated at College of St. Francis Xavier, New York City. He was appointed professor of Latin language and Literature (1869-1914) and librarian (1873-1914) at the College of the City of New York. For more than 50 years, he was immersed amidst various issues involved with Catholicism. He was president of the Catholic Club (1874–75) and of the United States Catholic Historical Society (1898-13). He became editor in chief of the Catholic Encyclopedia in 1905. He translated Torfason's History of Vinland and wrote Business Life in Ancient Rome (1880).

Latin Indo-European language of the Italic family

Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets and ultimately from the Phoenician alphabet.

City College of New York senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY) in New York City

The City College of the City University of New York is a public senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY) in New York City. Founded in 1847, City College was the first free public institution of higher education in the United States. It is the oldest of CUNY's 24 institutions of higher learning, and is considered its flagship college.

The first edition was initially printed by Robert Appleton Company. The volumes came out sequentially, the first two in 1907 and the last three in 1912: [7]

VolumeEntriesYear first pub.Chief editor
1 Aachen–Assize 1907 Charles George Herbermann
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 City. The text received a nihil obstat from an official censor, Remy Lafort, on November 1, 1908, and an imprimatur 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. [8]

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 state, including a successful appeal in Belleville, New Jersey. [9]

The encyclopedia was later updated under the auspices of The Catholic University of America and a 17-volume New Catholic Encyclopedia 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 Batiffol (French) and Johann Peter Kirsch (German) had previously been published in whole or in part in Europe and were translated and edited for the Encyclopedia. [10] Those who wrote new articles in English include Anthony Maas and Herbert Thurston.

Online versions

Under copyright law of the United States, all works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain. In 1993, Kevin Knight, then a 26-year-old resident of Denver, Colorado, decided, 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 Internet. Knight founded the Web site New Advent to host the undertaking. Volunteers from the United States, Canada, France, and Brazil helped in the transcription of the original material. The site went online in 1995, and transcription work ended in 1997. [Volumes 1]

In 2007, Catholic Answers published a watermarked version derived from page scans. This version has since been replaced with a transcription of the Encyclopedia similar to that found at the New Advent site. [Volumes 2] The Catholic Answers transcription, however, is an exact transcription of the original text, whereas the New Advent version at times modernizes certain words (e.g., using the names of Old Testament books found in modern Bibles, such as "1 & 2 Chronicles" and "Obadiah", in place of the Vulgate/Douay–Rheims titles, such as "1 & 2 Paralipomenon" and "Abdias") and Biblical citation formatting (i.e., the Catholic Answers version retains the original's usage of Roman numerals for chapter numbers [e.g., Genesis I,1], while the New Advent version uses Arabic numerals throughout [e.g., Genesis 1:1]).

Other scanned copies of the 1913 Encyclopedia are available on Google Books, at the Internet Archive, and at Wikimedia Commons. Wikisource also hosts a transcription project backed by the scans hosted at Commons. [Volumes 3]

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

Notes

  1. ↑ "The Catholic Encyclopedia". New Advent . Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Catholic Encyclopedia". Catholic Answers.
  3. ↑
    VolumeNamesYear first pub. Wikisource
    (Incomplete)    		 Internet Archive Google Books Chief editor
    1Aachen–Assize1907 Wikisource 1 Internet Archive 1 Google Books 1 Charles George Herbermann
    2Assize–Brownr Wikisource 2 Internet Archive 2 Google Books 2
    3Brow–Clancy1908 Wikisource 3 Internet Archive 3 Google Books 3
    4Cland–Diocesan Wikisource 4 Internet Archive 4 Google Books 4
    5Diocese–Fathers1909 Wikisource 5 Internet Archive 5 Google Books 5
    6Fathers–Gregory Wikisource 6 Internet Archive 6 Google Books 6
    7Gregory–Infallibility1910 Wikisource7 Internet Archive 7 Google Books 7
    8Infamy–Lapparent Wikisource 8 Internet Archive 8 Google Books 8
    9Laprade–Mass Wikisource 9 Internet Archive 9 Google Books 9
    10Mass–Newman1911 Wikisource 10 Internet Archive 10 Google Books 10
    11New Mexico–Philip Wikisource 11 Internet Archive 11 Google Books 11
    12Philip–Revalidation Wikisource 12 Internet Archive 12 Google Books 12
    13Revelation–Simon Stock1912 Wikisource 13 Internet Archive 13 Google Books 13
    14Simony–Tournely Wikisource 14 Internet Archive 14 Google Books 14
    15Tournon–Zwirner Wikisource 15 Internet Archive 15 Google Books 15
    16Index1914 Wikisource 16 Internet Archive 16 Google Books 16
    17Supplement I (1922) Internet Archive 17 Google Books 17
    18Supplement II Google Books 18
    19Supplemental Year Books Supplemental Year Books 1912–1922

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References

Citations
  1. ↑ Herberman, Charles G.; et al., eds. (1907). The Catholic Encyclopedia. Volume 1: Aachen–Assize. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Title page https://books.google.com/books?id=HSWpSJINLRwC&pg=PR3#v=onepage&q&f=false.Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ "The Original Catholic Encyclopedia". El Cajon, California: Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2011-07-21.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ Preface to the Catholic Encyclopedia
  4. ↑ "Scan of 'Preface'". El Cajon, California: Catholic Answers. Archived from the original on May 22, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  5. ↑ "The Making of the Catholic Encyclopedia". The Catholic Encyclopedia and its Makers. New York: The Encyclopedia Press. 1917. pp. iii–viii. OCLC   748253.
  6. ↑ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Mohammed and Mohammedanism (Islam)". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "About". El Cajon, California: Catholic Answers. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Celledoor Miscellany: Selected Illustrations from the Catholic Encyclopedia". Celledoor.blogspot.com. June 7, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
  9. ↑ Separation of Church and State, Hamburger, Philip, Harvard University Press (2002), p. 412.
  10. ↑ The Catholic encyclopedia and its makers 1917

Bibliography

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