07/11/2017 Appletons' Cyclopdia of American Biography - Wikipedia

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' Cyclopdia 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]

George Zorn identifies the author of "phantom Jesuit" articles as William Christian Tenner, and identifies 42 fictitious
subjects of this genre.[8] Dobson suggests Hermann Ritter, who appears as the source of Articles on South and Central
Americans beginning with volume 3, 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 Dvila, Nepomuceno as suspicious, but not fictitious beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Contributors to Appletons' Cyclopdia 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' Cyclopdia 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' Cyclopdia incorporated an earlier work by Francis Samuel Drake called Dictionary of American
Biography (not to be confused with a more modern and comprehensive work of the same name). The original of this
work was issued in 1872, and along with the original material, Drake's latest corrections, and all the materials that he
had gathered for a new edition, were used in the Cyclopdia.[11] The original work had 10,000 biographies.[12]

Editions
The first edition of the Cyclopdia 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 Cyclopdia was republished, uncorrected, by the Gale Research Company in 1968.[15]

See also
Jacques Reich
The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography
Universal Cyclopaedia

Further reading
O'Brien, Frank M. "The Wayward Encyclopedias", New Yorker, XII (May 2, 1936), pp. 7174. (This is a summary
of Barnhart's article.)
Dobson, John Blythe. "The Spurious Articles in Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography Some New
Discoveries and Considerations (http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/biography/summary/v016/16.4.dobson.html)."
Biography 16(4) 1993: 388-408.

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