August Immanuel Bekker
August Immanuel Bekker was a German philologist and critic. Born in Berlin, Bekker completed his classical education at the University of Halle under Friedrich August Wolf, who considered him as his most promising pupil. In 1810 he was appointed professor of philosophy in the University of Berlin. For several years, between 1810 and 1821, he travelled in France, Italy and parts of Germany, examining classical manuscripts and gathering materials for his great editorial labours; some of the fruits of his researches were published in the Anecdota Graeca, but the major results are to be found in the enormous array of classical authors edited by him. Anything like a complete list of his works would occupy too much space, but it may be said that his industry extended to nearly the whole of Greek literature with the exception of the tragedians and lyric poets, his best known editions are those of Plato, Oratores Attici, Aristotle and twenty-five volumes of the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae.
The only Latin authors edited by him were Tacitus. Bekker confined himself to manuscript investigations and textual criticism. Bekker numbers have become the standard way of referring to the works of Aristotle and the Corpus Aristotelicum, he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1861. He died in Berlin aged 86; this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. "Bekker, August Immanuel". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3. Cambridge University Press. P. 661. Endnotes: Sauppe, Zur Erinnerung an Meineke und Bekker. Bekker, “Zur Erinnerung an meinen Vater,” in the Preussisches Jahrbuch, xxix. Apollonii Dyscoli de Pronomine liber, ed. I. Bekker, Berolini 1813. Apollonii Alexandrini de Constructione Orationis libri quatuor ex rec. I. Bekkeri, Berolini 1817. Aristotelis Opera edidit Academia Regia Borussica, Berlin, 1831–1870
Public domain
The public domain consists of all the creative works to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable; the works of William Shakespeare and Beethoven, most early silent films, are in the public domain either by virtue of their having been created before copyright existed, or by their copyright term having expired. Some works are not covered by copyright, are therefore in the public domain—among them the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes, all computer software created prior to 1974. Other works are dedicated by their authors to the public domain; the term public domain is not applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, in which case use of the work is referred to as "under license" or "with permission". As rights vary by country and jurisdiction, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another; some rights depend on registrations on a country-by-country basis, the absence of registration in a particular country, if required, gives rise to public-domain status for a work in that country.
The term public domain may be interchangeably used with other imprecise or undefined terms such as the "public sphere" or "commons", including concepts such as the "commons of the mind", the "intellectual commons", the "information commons". Although the term "domain" did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the concept "can be traced back to the ancient Roman Law, as a preset system included in the property right system." The Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined "many things that cannot be owned" as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as things not yet appropriated; the term res communes was defined as "things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air and ocean." The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, the term res universitatis meant things that were owned by the municipalities of Rome. When looking at it from a historical perspective, one could say the construction of the idea of "public domain" sprouted from the concepts of res communes, res publicae, res universitatis in early Roman law.
When the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by French jurists in the 18th century. Instead of "public domain", they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law; the phrase "fall in the public domain" can be traced to mid-19th century France to describe the end of copyright term. The French poet Alfred de Vigny equated the expiration of copyright with a work falling "into the sink hole of public domain" and if the public domain receives any attention from intellectual property lawyers it is still treated as little more than that, left when intellectual property rights, such as copyright and trademarks, expire or are abandoned. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a, "little coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain." Copyright law differs by country, the American legal scholar Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being "different sizes at different times in different countries".
Definitions of the boundaries of the public domain in relation to copyright, or intellectual property more regard the public domain as a negative space. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the term public domain and equates the public domain to public property and works in copyright to private property. However, the usage of the term public domain can be more granular, including for example uses of works in copyright permitted by copyright exceptions; such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair-use rights and limitation on ownership. A conceptual definition comes from Lange, who focused on what the public domain should be: "it should be a place of sanctuary for individual creative expression, a sanctuary conferring affirmative protection against the forces of private appropriation that threatened such expression". Patterson and Lindberg described the public domain not as a "territory", but rather as a concept: "here are certain materials – the air we breathe, rain, life, thoughts, ideas, numbers – not subject to private ownership.
The materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival." The term public domain may be interchangeably used with other imprecise or undefined terms such as the "public sphere" or "commons", including concepts such as the "commons of the mind", the "intellectual commons", the "information commons". A public-domain book is a book with no copyright, a book, created without a license, or a book where its copyrights expired or have been forfeited. In most countries the term of protection of copyright lasts until January first, 70 years after the death of the latest living author; the longest copyright term is in Mexico, which has life plus 100 years for all deaths since July 1928. A notable exception is the United States, where every book and tale published prior to 1924 is in the public domain.
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a six-volume work by the English historian Edward Gibbon. It traces Western civilization from the height of the Roman Empire to the fall of Byzantium. Volume I went through six printings. Volumes II and III were published in 1781; the six volumes cover the history, from 98 to 1590, of the Roman Empire, the history of early Christianity and of the Roman State Church, the history of Europe, discusses the decline of the Roman Empire among other things. Gibbon’s work remains a great literary achievement and a readable introduction to the period, but considerable progress has since been made in history and archaeology, his interpretations no longer represent current academic knowledge or thought. Gibbon offers an explanation for the fall of the Roman Empire, a task made difficult by a lack of comprehensive written sources, though he was not the only historian to attempt it. According to Gibbon, the Roman Empire succumbed to barbarian invasions in large part due to the gradual loss of civic virtue among its citizens.
He began an ongoing controversy about the role of Christianity, but he gave great weight to other causes of internal decline and to attacks from outside the Empire. The story of its ruin is obvious; the victorious legions, who, in distant wars, acquired the vices of strangers and mercenaries, first oppressed the freedom of the republic, afterwards violated the majesty of the purple. The emperors, anxious for their personal safety and the public peace, were reduced to the base expedient of corrupting the discipline which rendered them alike formidable to their sovereign and to the enemy. Like other Enlightenment thinkers and British citizens of the age steeped in institutional anti-Catholicism, Gibbon held in contempt the Middle Ages as a priest-ridden, superstitious Dark Age, it was not until his own era, the "Age of Reason", with its emphasis on rational thought, it was believed, that human history could resume its progress. Gibbon's tone was detached and yet critical, he can lapse into moralisation and aphorism: s long as mankind shall continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than on their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will be the vice of the most exalted characters.
The influence of the clergy, in an age of superstition, might be usefully employed to assert the rights of mankind. Istory is, little more than the register of the crimes and misfortunes of mankind. If we contrast the rapid progress of this mischievous discovery with the slow and laborious advances of reason and the arts of peace, a philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind. Gibbon provides the reader with a glimpse of his thought process with extensive notes along the body of the text, a precursor to the modern use of footnotes. Gibbon's footnotes are famous for their idiosyncratic and humorous style, have been called "Gibbon's table talk." They provide an entertaining moral commentary on both ancient Rome and 18th century Great Britain. This technique enabled Gibbon to compare ancient Rome to his own contemporary world. Gibbon's work advocates a progressive view of history. Gibbon's citations provide in-depth detail regarding his use of sources for his work, which included documents dating back to ancient Rome.
The detail within his asides and his care in noting the importance of each document is a precursor to modern-day historical footnoting methodology. The work is notable for research. John Bury, following him 113 years with his own History of the Later Roman Empire, commended the depth and accuracy of Gibbon's work. Unusually for 18th century historians, Gibbon was not content with second-hand accounts when primary sources were accessible. "I have always endeavoured", Gibbon wrote, "to draw from the fountain-head. The Decline and Fall is a massive step forward in historical method. Numerous tracts were published criticising his work. In response, Gibbon defended his work with the 1779 publication of A Vindication... of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. His remarks on Christianity aroused vigorous attacks, but in the mid-twentieth century, at least one author claimed that "church historians allow the substantial justness of main positions." Gibbon's comments on the Quran and Muhammad reflected his view of the secular origin of the text.
He outlined in chapter 33 the widespread tale of the Seven Sleepers, remarked "This popular tale, which Mahomet might learn when he drove his camels to the fairs of Syria, is introduced, as a divine revelation, into the Quran." His presentation of Muhammad's life again reflected his secular approach: "in his private conduct, Mahomet indulged the appetites of a man, abused the claims of a prophet. A special revelation dispensed him from the laws which he had imposed on his nation: the female sex, w
Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition
The Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication; some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time. This edition of the encyclopedia, containing 40,000 entries, is now in the public domain, many of its articles have been used as a basis for articles in Wikipedia. However, the outdated nature of some of its content makes its use as a source for modern scholarship problematic; some articles have special value and interest to modern scholars as cultural artifacts of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The 1911 eleventh edition was assembled with the management of American publisher Horace Everett Hooper. Hugh Chisholm, who had edited the previous edition, was appointed editor in chief, with Walter Alison Phillips as his principal assistant editor. Hooper bought the rights to the 25-volume 9th edition and persuaded the British newspaper The Times to issue its reprint, with eleven additional volumes as the tenth edition, published in 1902.
Hooper's association with The Times ceased in 1909, he negotiated with the Cambridge University Press to publish the 29-volume eleventh edition. Though it is perceived as a quintessentially British work, the eleventh edition had substantial American influences, not only in the increased amount of American and Canadian content, but in the efforts made to make it more popular. American marketing methods assisted sales; some 14% of the contributors were from North America, a New York office was established to coordinate their work. The initials of the encyclopedia's contributors appear at the end of selected articles or at the end of a section in the case of longer articles, such as that on China, a key is given in each volume to these initials; some articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time, such as Edmund Gosse, J. B. Bury, Algernon Charles Swinburne, John Muir, Peter Kropotkin, T. H. Huxley, James Hopwood Jeans and William Michael Rossetti. Among the lesser-known contributors were some who would become distinguished, such as Ernest Rutherford and Bertrand Russell.
Many articles were carried over from some with minimal updating. Some of the book-length articles were divided into smaller parts for easier reference, yet others much abridged; the best-known authors contributed only a single article or part of an article. Most of the work was done by British Museum scholars and other scholars; the 1911 edition was the first edition of the encyclopædia to include more than just a handful of female contributors, with 34 women contributing articles to the edition. The eleventh edition introduced a number of changes of the format of the Britannica, it was the first to be published complete, instead of the previous method of volumes being released as they were ready. The print type was subject to continual updating until publication, it was the first edition of Britannica to be issued with a comprehensive index volume in, added a categorical index, where like topics were listed. It was the first not to include long treatise-length articles. Though the overall length of the work was about the same as that of its predecessor, the number of articles had increased from 17,000 to 40,000.
It was the first edition of Britannica to include biographies of living people. Sixteen maps of the famous 9th edition of Stielers Handatlas were translated to English, converted to Imperial units, printed in Gotha, Germany by Justus Perthes and became part this edition. Editions only included Perthes' great maps as low quality reproductions. According to Coleman and Simmons, the content of the encyclopedia was distributed as follows: Hooper sold the rights to Sears Roebuck of Chicago in 1920, completing the Britannica's transition to becoming a American publication. In 1922, an additional three volumes, were published, covering the events of the intervening years, including World War I. These, together with a reprint of the eleventh edition, formed the twelfth edition of the work. A similar thirteenth edition, consisting of three volumes plus a reprint of the twelfth edition, was published in 1926, so the twelfth and thirteenth editions were related to the eleventh edition and shared much of the same content.
However, it became apparent that a more thorough update of the work was required. The fourteenth edition, published in 1929, was revised, with much text eliminated or abridged to make room for new topics; the eleventh edition was the basis of every version of the Encyclopædia Britannica until the new fifteenth edition was published in 1974, using modern information presentation. The eleventh edition's articles are still of value and interest to modern readers and scholars as a cultural artifact: the British Empire was at its maximum, imperialism was unchallenged, much of the world was still ruled by monarchs, the tragedy of the modern world wars was still in the future, they are an invaluable resource for topics omitted from modern encyclopedias for biography and the history of science and technology. As a literary text, the encyclopedia has value as an example of early 20th-century prose. For example, it employs literary devices, such as pathetic fallacy, which are not as common in modern reference texts.
In 1917, using the pseudonym of S. S. Van Dine, the US art critic and author Willard Huntington Wright published Misinforming a Nation, a 200+
Jacques Paul Migne
Jacques Paul Migne was a French priest who published inexpensive and distributed editions of theological works and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a universal library for the Catholic priesthood. He was born at Saint-Flour and studied theology at Orléans, he was ordained in 1824 and placed in charge of the parish of Puiseaux, in the diocese of Orléans, where his uncompromisingly Catholic and royalist sympathies did not coincide with local patriotism and the new regime of the Citizen-King. In 1833, after falling out with his bishop over a pamphlet he had published, he went to Paris, on 3 November started a journal, L'Univers religieux, which he intended to keep free of political influence, it gained 1,800 subscribers and he edited it for three years. Migne believed in the power of the press and the value of information distributed. In 1836 he opened his great publishing house, Imprimerie Catholique, at Petit-Montrouge, in Paris's outlying 14th arrondissement, he published numerous religious works in rapid succession meant for lesser clergy at prices that ensured wide circulation.
The best known of these are: Scripturae sacrae cursus completus which assembled a wide repertory of commentaries on each of the books of the Bible, Theologiae cursus, each of them in 28 vols, 1840–45. The three great series that have made his reputation were Patrologiae cursus completus, Latin series in 221 vols.. Though scholars have always criticised them, these hastily edited and distributed texts have only been replaced during a century and a half with more critically edited modern editions. Though the cheap paper of the originals has made them fragile today, the scope of the Patrologia still makes it unique and valuable, when modern editions do not yet exist, it is a far more complete collection of Patristic and literature than anything that has appeared subsequently or is to. To create so much so Migne reprinted the best or latest earlier editions available to him. In the PG the Latin translations were made in the renaissance before any Greek text had been printed, so do not match the Greek text accurately.
The indexes themselves are useful for locating references in the patristic writings. The collection is available through archive.org. His publishing house was complemented during the Second Empire by painter artists' workhalls for the decoration of churches: three of their main works, in the style of Eugène Delacroix, still remain in the choir of the church of Saint John the Baptist of Audresselles in Pas de Calais, France. Migne bypassed the bookselling establishment with direct subscriptions, his Imprimerie Catholique developed into the largest held press in France. However, on the night of 12–13 February 1868, a devastating fire, which began in the printing plant, destroyed Migne's establishment, producing religious objects. Despite his insurance contracts, Migne was only able to retrieve a pittance. Shortly afterwards Mgr Georges Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, forbade the continuance of the business and suspended him from his priestly functions; the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 inflicted further losses.
From the curia of Pope Pius IX came a decree condemning the use of Mass stipends to purchase books, which called out Migne and his publications. Migne died without having regained his former prosperity and his Imprimerie Catholique passed in 1876 into the hands of Garnier Frères; the Patrologia Latina and the Patrologia Graeca, are among the great 19th century contributions to the scholarship of patristics and the Middle Ages. Within the Roman Catholic Church, Migne's editions put many original texts for the first time into the hands of the priesthood. Works written by or about Jacques Paul Migne at Wikisource Brief biography independent research Migne Patrologia Graeca Index of Authors / Download links Faulkner University Patristics Project A growing collection of English translations of patristic texts and high-resolution scans from the comprehensive Patrologia compiled by J. P. Migne. Documenta Catholica Omnia PDF's of much of the Patrologia Latina PL at Google Book Search Polytonic Greek OCR of PG from the Lace repository at Mount Allison University: vol.
45, vol. 46 Works by Jacques-Paul Migne at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Jacques Paul Migne at Internet Archive
Nikephoros I of Constantinople
St. Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I was a Christian Byzantine writer and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from April 12, 806, to March 13, 815, he was born in Constantinople as the son of Theodore and Eudokia, of a orthodox family, which had suffered from the earlier Iconoclasm. His father Theodore, one of the secretaries of Emperor Constantine V, had been scourged and banished to Nicaea for his zealous support of Iconodules, the son inherited the religious convictions of the father, he entered the service of the Empire, became cabinet secretary, under Irene took part in the synod of 787 as imperial commissioner. He withdrew to one of the cloisters that he had founded on the eastern shore of the Bosporus, until he was appointed director of the largest home for the destitute in Constantinople c. 802. After the death of the Patriarch Tarasios of Constantinople, although still a layman, he was chosen patriarch by the wish of the emperor; the uncanonical choice met with opposition from the clerical party of the Stoudites, this opposition intensified into an open break when Nikephoros, in other respects a rigid moralist, showed himself compliant to the will of the emperor by reinstating the excommunicated priest Joseph.
After vain theological disputes, in December 814, there followed personal insults. Nikephoros at first replied to his removal from his office by excommunication, but was at last obliged to yield to force, was taken to one of the cloisters he had founded, Tou Agathou, to that called Tou Hagiou Theodorou. From there he carried on a literary polemic for the cause of the iconodules against the synod of 815. On the occasion of the change of emperors, in 820, he was put forward as a candidate for the patriarchate and at least obtained the promise of toleration, he died at the monastery of Saint Theodore, revered as a confessor. His remains were solemnly brought back to Constantinople by Methodios I of Constantinople on March 13, 847, interred in the Church of the Holy Apostles, where they were annually the object of imperial devotion, his feast is celebrated on this day both in Roman Churches. Compared with Theodore of Stoudios, Nikephoros appears as a friend of conciliation, learned in patristics, more inclined to take the defensive than the offensive, possessed of a comparatively chaste, simple style.
He was mild in his ecclesiastical and monastical rules and non-partisan in his historical treatment of the period from 602 to 769. He used the chronicle of Trajan the Patrician, his tables of universal history, in passages extended and continued, were in great favor with the Byzantines, were circulated outside the Empire in the Latin version of Anastasius Bibliothecarius, in Slavonic translation. The Chronography offered a universal history from the time of Eve to his own time. To it he appended a canon catalog; the catalog of the accepted books of the Old and New Testaments is followed by the antilegomena and the apocrypha. Next to each book is the count of its lines, his stichometry, to which we can compare our accepted texts and judge how much has been added or omitted; this is useful for apocrypha for which only fragmentary texts have survived. The principal works of Nikephorus are three writings referring to iconoclasm: Apologeticus minor composed before 814, an explanatory work for laymen concerning the tradition and the first phase of the iconoclastic movement.
Nikephoros follows in the path of John of Damascus. His merit is the thoroughness with which he traced the literary and traditional proofs, his detailed refutations are serviceable for the knowledge they afford of important texts adduced by his opponents and in part drawn from the older church literature. List of Catholic saints Development of the Canon of the New Testament: the Stichometry of Nicephorus St. Nicephorus
Eunapius
Eunapius was a Greek sophist and historian of the 4th century AD. His principal surviving work is the Lives of Philosophers and Sophists, a collection of the biographies of 23 philosophers and sophists, he was born at Sardis, AD 346. In his native city he studied under his relative, the sophist Chrysanthius, while still a youth went to Athens, where he became a favourite pupil of Prohaeresius the rhetorician, he possessed considerable knowledge of medicine. Eunapius was the author of two works, one entitled Lives of Philosophers and Sophists, Universal History consisting of a continuation of the history of Dexippus; the former work is still extant. It embraced the history of events from AD 270–404; the Lives of Philosophers and Sophists, a collection of the biographies of 23 older and contemporary philosophers and sophists, is valuable as the only source for the history of the Neoplatonism of that period. The style of both works is marked by a spirit of bitter hostility to Christianity. Photius had before him a "new edition" of the history in which the passages most offensive to Christians were omitted.
The Lives of Philosophers and Sophists consists of the biographies of the following philosophers and sophists: Plotinus, Iamblichus, Sosipatra, Aedesius the Cappadocian, Ablabius, Maximus, Julian of Cappadocia, Epiphanius, Sopolis, Parnacius, Acacius, Zeno of Cyprus, Oribasius and Chrysanthius. In his years he seems to have lived at Athens, teaching rhetoric. Initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, he was admitted into the college of the Eumolpidae and became hierophant. There is evidence. Edition of the Lives by JF Boissonade, with notes by D Wyttenbach History fragments in C. W. Müller, Fragmenta Hist. Graecorum, iv. V. Cousin, Fragments philosophiques, translation: W. C. Wright in the Loeb Classical Library edition of Philostratus's Lives of the Sophists; this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. "Eunapius". Encyclopædia Britannica. 9. Cambridge University Press. P. 890. Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists. Eunapius, Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists.
Translated by Wilmer C. Wright. 1921. Loeb Classical Library. ISBN 978-0-674-99149-1 1568 editio princeps of the Vitae sophistarum English translation of the Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists and Introduction by Wilmer Cave Wright from the Tertullian Project. Greek Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with Analytical Indexes Βίοι Φιλοσόφων καὶ Σοφιστῶν Philostratorum et Callistrati opera, Eunapii vitae sophistarum, Himerii sophistae declamationes, A. Westermann, Jo. Fr. Boissoade, Fr. Dübner, editore Ambrosio Firmin Didot, 1849, pp. 453-505
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Mershman, Francis (1912). . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 14. New York: Robert Appleton.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
