'THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA'

New Zealand Tablet, 5 November 1908, Page 13

'THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA'

ANOTHER SCHOLARLY VOLUME

Our copy of the thinly volume of the Catholic Encyclopedia has reached us after a long- delay. Despatched from New York in June, it went to tha bottom of the Pacific in the ill-fated -steamer Aeon, remained there for some time, was . fished up again, and was despatched to- us by the New Zealand postal authorities after they had, -with much care agd thought, dried out of it as much of the briny ocean as left it, considering its adventures, a fairly presentable volume. The third volume covers the ground from ( *Brow ' to ' Clancy.' It is uniform in size and appearance with the handsome, well-printed, and- well-bound volumes that preceded it. Great as was the success, from the. standpoint of scholarship and literary merit, of the first two volumes, it sterns to us that in this third volume the editors have won,- thus-" far, "their best laurels. They have amply justified the prediction that we made when this great Catholic undertaking first entered the world of books— namely, that, as the literary staff ' found itself ' (like Kipling's ship), and the work of organisation and co-ordination was got into a smooth and easy swing, the^ quality of the product, high as it was at the beginning, would steadily improve. Incidentally, the completion of the work of organisation has also resulted in the faster production of the volumes — vol. IV. will (it is announced) soon be ready. The present volume is a triumph of scholarship and research. As'many as 245 writers have contributed signed articles— all of 7 them experts, each in his own particular branch of knowledge, and representing all the principal civilised countries of East and West.. To select at random, we find in vol. 111. extended articles on such subjects as Bruno (St., and Giordano), Papal Bulls, Buddhism, Bulgaria (now so much in evidence in the world's politics), Byzantine art and civilisation, Calendar, California," Calvin, .Canada, Candles (in ritual, etc.), Canon, Canticle, Capuchixj, , Cardinal, Carmelite, •Catacombs, Cathari, Cathedra, Catholic, Celibacy;^ Celtic, Cemetery, Censorship, Censures, Charity, Charlemagne, Chile, China, Christendom, Christian, Chronology, Church, Cid, Circumcision, .Cistercians. We purpose to return again to the contents of this valuable and well-illustrated volume. We may here remark that the Catholic Encyclopedia will, when -completed, consist of -fifteen volumes, embracing thirty-two distinct departments of -knowledge, and will contain thirty thousand articles, two thousand illustrations, and seventy-five magnificent ' maps,, which will prove of inestimable value to those -interested in the work of Foreign Mis-

sions. To every article of importance there is added a full list of the writer's sources of information ; in these little bibliographies the student will find a valuable account of the most authoritative works in all languages on the subjects he is interested in. The publishers are the Robert Appleton Company, 1 Union Square, New York, and the Australasian agent is Henry Ridhalgh, 156 Edward street, Brisbane.