Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography is a six-volume collection of biographies of notable people involved in the history of the New World. Published between 1887 and 1889, its unsigned articles were widely accepted as authoritative for several decades. Later the encyclopedia became notorious for including dozens of biographies of people who had never existed. In nearly all articles about the Cyclopædia various authors have erroneously spelled the title as 'Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography', placing the apostrophe in the wrong place.[1]
The Cyclopædia included the names of over 20,000 native and adopted citizens of the United States, including living persons. Also included were the names of several thousand citizens of all the other countries of North and South America. The aim was to embrace all noteworthy persons of the New World. The work also contained the names of nearly 1,000 people of foreign birth who were closely identified with American history. The Cyclopædia was illustrated with about sixty full-page portraits supplemented by some 1,500 smaller vignette portraits accompanied by facsimile autographs, and also several hundred views of birthplaces, residences, monuments, and tombs famous in history.[2]
None of the articles are signed either with names or with initials. The clue to authorship is obtained, when obtained at all, through a list of contributors and their contributions arranged alphabetically as to contributors. One reviewer found this a rather inconvenient method, complaining that the finding of the author of a particular sketch often involved a voyage of discovery through the entire list. These lists are searched in vain, however, for the authors of many sketches, including the one of President Grover Cleveland.[3]
Fictitious biographies
Appletons' Cyclopædia is notorious for including an unknown number of biographies of fictitious persons. The first to discover these fictions was John Hendley Barnhart in 1919[4][a] when he identified and reprinted, with commentary, 14 biographical sketches of supposed European botanists who had come to the New World to study in Latin America. By 1939, 47 fictitious biographies had been discovered, though only the letters H and V had been systematically investigated.[5] The status of fictions in Appletons' Cyclopædia was assessed by Margaret Castle Schindler of Goucher College in 1937.[6] According to Schindler,
The writer (or writers) of these articles must have had some scientific training, for most of the creations were scientists, and sufficient linguistic knowledge to have invented or adapted titles in six languages. He was certainly familiar with the history and geography of South America. Most of the places visited by his characters are real places, and most of the historical events in which they participated are genuine. However, he sometimes made mistakes by which his fraudulent work can be detected.[7]
Some, such as Huet de Navarre, were about a real person but in most details were fictional.[6] Joseph Cantillion identifies the author of "phantom Jesuit" articles as William Christian Tenner, and identifies 43 wholly fictitious subjects of this genre, along with a much fictionalised biography of Rafael Ferrer.[8] Dobson suggests Hermann Ritter, who appears as the source of "Articles on South and Central Americans" beginning with volume III, as a likely author of the fictitious articles. Dobson notes that the first two volumes, where Juan G. Puron appears in this role, are practically free of problem articles, although Barnhart identifies the article on "Dávila, Nepomuceno" as suspicious, but not fictitious beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Contributors to Appletons' Cyclopædia were free to suggest new subjects and were paid according to the length of the article. Articles were only checked for form by the editorial staff.[9] While conceding that Appletons' Cyclopædia was a "valuable and authoritative work", and that her results should not reflect on the many authentic articles, Schindler noted that articles on Latin American subjects should be used cautiously until verified against other sources.[10]
Precedents
Appletons' Cyclopædia incorporated Francis S. Drake's Dictionary of American Biography (not to be confused with the more comprehensive 20th century Dictionary of American Biography). Drake's Dictionary was published in 1872 with 10,000 biographies.[11] He worked on a second edition but died in 1885 without completing it. His first edition, original material, latest corrections, and all material he had gathered for the new edition were used in Appletons'.[12]
Editions
The first edition of the Cyclopædia was published between 1887 and 1889 by D. Appleton and Company of New York City. The general editors were James Grant Wilson and John Fiske; the managing editor from 1886 to 1888 was Rossiter Johnson.[13][14] A seventh volume, containing an appendix and supplementary lists, and thematic indexes to the whole work, was issued in 1901.
^ The event was amusing and momentous enough to be mentioned in the obituary written at Dr. Barnhart's death, Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society7.19 (November 1950: 35–61) p. 52.
References
^Schlesinger, Arthur (1929). "Dictionary of American Biography by Allen Johnson (Review)" (PDF). The American Historical Review. 35: 124. doi:10.2307/1838499. JSTOR 1838499. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
^Barnhart, John Hendley (1919). "Some fictitious botanists". Journal of the New York Botanical Garden. 20 (237): 171–181.
^Editorial note by "G.S." in Dobell (1939). The 47 are listed in Schindler (1937) – see below – which is cited on p. 272 of the note by "G.S." Dr. Uplavici was another fictitious person similar to the Cyclopædia's fictitious entries. Dobell's article revealed the spectral "Dr. O. Uplavici" to have his origin in non-Czech-literate writers' mistaking an article on amoebic dysentery by Dr. Jaroslav Hlava, which was titled "O úplavici" ("On dysentery").
^ abSchindler, Margaret Castle (1937). "Fictitious Biography". The American Historical Review. 42 (4): 680–690. doi:10.1086/ahr/42.4.680. JSTOR 1839450.
O'Brien, Frank M. (May 2, 1936). "The Wayward Encyclopedias". New Yorker. Vol. XII. pp. 71–74. (This is a summary of Barnhart's article.)
Dobson, John Blythe (1993). "The Spurious Articles in Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography — Some New Discoveries and Considerations" (PDF). Biography. 16 (4): 388–408. doi:10.1353/bio.2010.0511. S2CID 162057750.
External links
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography
Appletons' Cyclopædia at Internet Archive – full views of 4 volumes
Volume I. AARON–CRANDALL (1887) - facsimile
Volume II. CRANE–GRIMSHAW (1887) - facsimile
Volume III. GRINNELL–LOCKWOOD (1887) - facsimile
Volume IV. LODGE–PICKENS (1887) – facsimile
Volume V. PICKERING–SUMTER (Revised Edition, 1900)
Volume VI. SUNDERLAND–ZURITA with Supplement and Analytical Index (1889) – 1968 facsimile
Appletons' Cyclopædia as 7 volumes at HathiTrust Digital Library – "Note: Vol. 7, a supplementary volume, edited by J.G. Wilson, is the same as v. 7 of the 1898–1900 Revised Edition"
March 18, 2023
appletons, cyclopædia, american, biography, volume, collection, biographies, notable, people, involved, history, world, published, between, 1887, 1889, unsigned, articles, were, widely, accepted, authoritative, several, decades, later, encyclopedia, became, no. Appletons Cyclopaedia of American Biography is a six volume collection of biographies of notable people involved in the history of the New World Published between 1887 and 1889 its unsigned articles were widely accepted as authoritative for several decades Later the encyclopedia became notorious for including dozens of biographies of people who had never existed In nearly all articles about the Cyclopaedia various authors have erroneously spelled the title as Appleton s Cyclopaedia of American Biography placing the apostrophe in the wrong place 1 Volume V of a Revised Edition 1900 Contents 1 Overview 2 Fictitious biographies 3 Precedents 4 Editions 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksOverview EditThe Cyclopaedia included the names of over 20 000 native and adopted citizens of the United States including living persons Also included were the names of several thousand citizens of all the other countries of North and South America The aim was to embrace all noteworthy persons of the New World The work also contained the names of nearly 1 000 people of foreign birth who were closely identified with American history The Cyclopaedia was illustrated with about sixty full page portraits supplemented by some 1 500 smaller vignette portraits accompanied by facsimile autographs and also several hundred views of birthplaces residences monuments and tombs famous in history 2 None of the articles are signed either with names or with initials The clue to authorship is obtained when obtained at all through a list of contributors and their contributions arranged alphabetically as to contributors One reviewer found this a rather inconvenient method complaining that the finding of the author of a particular sketch often involved a voyage of discovery through the entire list These lists are searched in vain however for the authors of many sketches including the one of President Grover Cleveland 3 Fictitious biographies EditAppletons Cyclopaedia is notorious for including an unknown number of biographies of fictitious persons The first to discover these fictions was John Hendley Barnhart in 1919 4 a when he identified and reprinted with commentary 14 biographical sketches of supposed European botanists who had come to the New World to study in Latin America By 1939 47 fictitious biographies had been discovered though only the letters H and V had been systematically investigated 5 The status of fictions in Appletons Cyclopaedia was assessed by Margaret Castle Schindler of Goucher College in 1937 6 According to Schindler The writer or writers of these articles must have had some scientific training for most of the creations were scientists and sufficient linguistic knowledge to have invented or adapted titles in six languages He was certainly familiar with the history and geography of South America Most of the places visited by his characters are real places and most of the historical events in which they participated are genuine However he sometimes made mistakes by which his fraudulent work can be detected 7 Some such as Huet de Navarre were about a real person but in most details were fictional 6 Joseph Cantillion identifies the author of phantom Jesuit articles as William Christian Tenner and identifies 43 wholly fictitious subjects of this genre along with a much fictionalised biography of Rafael Ferrer 8 Dobson suggests Hermann Ritter who appears as the source of Articles on South and Central Americans beginning with volume III as a likely author of the fictitious articles Dobson notes that the first two volumes where Juan G Puron appears in this role are practically free of problem articles although Barnhart identifies the article on Davila Nepomuceno as suspicious but not fictitious beyond a shadow of a doubt Contributors to Appletons Cyclopaedia were free to suggest new subjects and were paid according to the length of the article Articles were only checked for form by the editorial staff 9 While conceding that Appletons Cyclopaedia was a valuable and authoritative work and that her results should not reflect on the many authentic articles Schindler noted that articles on Latin American subjects should be used cautiously until verified against other sources 10 Precedents EditAppletons Cyclopaedia incorporated Francis S Drake s Dictionary of American Biography not to be confused with the more comprehensive 20th century Dictionary of American Biography Drake s Dictionary was published in 1872 with 10 000 biographies 11 He worked on a second edition but died in 1885 without completing it His first edition original material latest corrections and all material he had gathered for the new edition were used in Appletons 12 Editions EditThe first edition of the Cyclopaedia was published between 1887 and 1889 by D Appleton and Company of New York City The general editors were James Grant Wilson and John Fiske the managing editor from 1886 to 1888 was Rossiter Johnson 13 14 A seventh volume containing an appendix and supplementary lists and thematic indexes to the whole work was issued in 1901 The Cyclopaedia was republished uncorrected by the Gale Research Company in 1968 See also EditThe National Cyclopaedia of American Biography Universal CyclopaediaNotes Edit The event was amusing and momentous enough to be mentioned in the obituary written at Dr Barnhart s death Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 7 19 November 1950 35 61 p 52 References Edit Schlesinger Arthur 1929 Dictionary of American Biography by Allen Johnson Review PDF The American Historical Review 35 124 doi 10 2307 1838499 JSTOR 1838499 Retrieved 3 October 2020 Wilson J G Fiske J eds 1900 Preface Appletons Cyclopaedia of American Biography New York D Appleton Our Men of Note The New York Times April 3 1887 p 4 Barnhart John Hendley 1919 Some fictitious botanists Journal of the New York Botanical Garden 20 237 171 181 Editorial note by G S in Dobell 1939 The 47 are listed in Schindler 1937 see below which is cited on p 272 of the note by G S Dr Uplavici was another fictitious person similar to the Cyclopaedia s fictitious entries Dobell s article revealed the spectral Dr O Uplavici to have his origin in non Czech literate writers mistaking an article on amoebic dysentery by Dr Jaroslav Hlava which was titled O uplavici On dysentery a b Schindler Margaret Castle 1937 Fictitious Biography The American Historical Review 42 4 680 690 doi 10 1086 ahr 42 4 680 JSTOR 1839450 Schindler 1937 p 683 Cantillon Joseph F 1938 Some Phantom Jesuits Woodstock Letters Woodstock College Press LXVII 2 163 203 Schindler 1937 p 687 Schindler 1937 p 689 Gilman D C Peck H T Colby F M eds 1905 Drake Francis Samuel New International Encyclopedia 1st ed New York Dodd Mead Wilson J G Fiske J eds 1900 Drake Samuel Gardner Appletons Cyclopaedia of American Biography New York D Appleton Editorial note by G S i e George Sarton in Clifford Dobell Dr O Uplavici 1887 1938 Isis 30 2 May 1939 268 72 Gilman D C Peck H T Colby F M eds 1905 Johnson Rossiter New International Encyclopedia 1st ed New York Dodd Mead Further reading EditO Brien Frank M May 2 1936 The Wayward Encyclopedias New Yorker Vol XII pp 71 74 This is a summary of Barnhart s article Dobson John Blythe 1993 The Spurious Articles in Appletons Cyclopaedia of American Biography Some New Discoveries and Considerations PDF Biography 16 4 388 408 doi 10 1353 bio 2010 0511 S2CID 162057750 External links Edit Wikisource has original text related to this article Appletons Cyclopaedia of American Biography Appletons Cyclopaedia at Internet Archive full views of 4 volumes Volume I AARON CRANDALL 1887 facsimile Volume II CRANE GRIMSHAW 1887 facsimile Volume III GRINNELL LOCKWOOD 1887 facsimile Volume IV LODGE PICKENS 1887 facsimile Volume V PICKERING SUMTER Revised Edition 1900 Volume VI SUNDERLAND ZURITA with Supplement and Analytical Index 1889 1968 facsimile Appletons Cyclopaedia as 7 volumes at HathiTrust Digital Library Note Vol 7 a supplementary volume edited by J G Wilson is the same as v 7 of the 1898 1900 Revised Edition Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Appletons 27 Cyclopaedia of American Biography amp oldid 1130260336, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
