History
The writing of the encyclopedia began on January 11, 1905, under the supervision of five editors:
- Charles G. Herbermann, Professor of Latin and Librarian of the College of the City of New York
- Edward A. Pace, Professor of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America, at Washington D.C.
- Condé B. Pallen, Editor
- Rev. Thomas J. Shahan, Professor of Church History at the Catholic University.
- Rev. John J. Wynne, S.J., Editor of Messenger of the Sacred Heart
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:
| Volume | Names | Year 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.
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.
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.
Read more about this topic: Catholic Encyclopedia
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