5. ENCYCLOPAEDIAS 



It is wise to refer to encyclopaedias for first guidance; it is priggish to disregard 

 them; it is foohsh to depend too much on them. Information obtained from encyclo- 

 paedias, even from the best, should always be controlled, and should not be stated 

 as such except when the responsible author of the article referred to can be 

 named. The leading modern encyclopaedias are able to enlist the services of out- 

 standing scholars, but it does not follow that every one of their articles is written by 

 an authority. On the contrary, it must necessarily happen that many articles re- 

 main undistributed and must be composed somehow by the office staff. The very 

 articles written by "authorities" do not escape editorial revision, and that revision 

 is not always skilful; some good articles are shortened and the shortening, however 

 necessary, may be done badly; the proofreading may be insufficient. It would be 

 easy to quote examples of such accidents in the latest editions of the Encyclopaedia 

 Britannica in spite of their relative goodness. 



The student of ancient science should consult first of all Pauly-Wissowa,''' then 

 indices, such as Littre's index to the Hippocratic corpus (1861), the Aristotelian 

 indexes, — Hermann Bonitz' Index aristotelicus (1870), the indices to the Oxford 

 Aristotle in EngUsh, Troy Wilson Organ: Index to Aristotle (Princeton 1949; Isis 

 40, 357), indices to Pliny's Natural History or to other classics. For mediaeval 

 science up to 1400, Sarton's Introduction will probably be the first guide. A 

 number of encyclopaedias or encyclopaedic treatises were published during the 

 Middle Ages and later, but there is no place to enumerate them here. 



Modern encyclopaedias, generally arranged in alphabetical order of topics, may 

 be said to begin in the eighteenth century. At any rate, it is not worthwhile here 

 to mention earlier ones,™ except the two "fin de siecle" ones which follow. 



Before speaking of the main eighteenth century encyclopaedias, it is well to 

 mention two first published in the preceding century but whose influence was 

 great in the eighteenth century and were frequently reprinted with additions and 

 corrections during that century. Both are restricted to history, religion, philosophy 

 and the humanities; they are equally poor on scientific topics, yet the historian of 

 science may find it profitable to consult them. 



Louis Moreri ( 1613-80) compiled the first encyclopaedia of the pure alphabetical 

 type, the Grand dictionnaire historique, ou Melange curieux de rhistoire sacree et 

 profane (1 vol., Lyon 1674). Twentieth and last edition (10 vols., Paris, 1759), 

 Spanish translation (8 vols, in 10, Paris 1753). Moreri's erudition was copious 

 but uncritical; he made many errors, even in his treatment of topics (pagan ones) 

 to which his prejudices did not apply. 



The Dictionnaire historique et critique of Pierre Bayle (1647-1706) appeared 

 when the success of Moreri's Grand dictionnaire was already well established by 

 seven editions; its pubfication (2 vols., Rotterdam 1697) was largely determined by 

 tlie existence of Moreri's work and the need of a reaction against it. Moreri de- 

 fended in everything Catholic orthodoxy, tradition and prejudice; Bayle's point 

 of view was liberal, tolerant, skeptical, sometimes cynical. His Dictionnaire was 

 an anticipation of the eighteenth century rationalism. Its success was even greater 

 than Moreri's, and it lasted much longer. The 11th ed. in 16 vols, appeared in 

 Paris as late as 1820-24. English translations of it were published in 1709, 1710, 



''^ Pauly-Wissowa (1894- ). Paaly's Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertnms- 



wissenschaft. Neue Bearbeitiing herausgegeben von Georg Wissowa. Metzler, Stuttgart. 

 1894-1938. First series, 38 half volumes, Aal to Philon. 1914-39. Second series, 13 half vol- 

 umes, Ra to M. Tullius Cicero. 1903-35. Siipplement 6 vols. Abbr. PW. 



™ A student of, say, the seventeenth century, should establish for himself a list of encyclo- 

 paedias or encyclopaedic treatises published during that century, as well as a list of the works 

 and correspondence of the leading men of science of that period. If possible, he should work in 

 close neighborhood of a collection of these books; or keep always a list of them before his eyes. 



