Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography

"Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography" is a six-volume collection of biographies of famous Americans, published between 1887 and 1889, edited by James Grant Wilson (1832-1914) and John Fiske (1842-1901); published by D. Appleton and Company, New York. A seventh volume, containing an appendix and supplementary lists, and thematic indexes to the whole work, was issued in 1901.

Although a major reference for Americana, it is also notorious for including some 200 biographies of fictitious persons. The first to discover these fictions was John Hendley Barnhart, in 1919, [Barnhart, "Some fictitious botanists", "Journal of the New York Botanical Garden" 20 (1919:171-81; 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. ] who identified and reprinted, with commentary, fourteen biographical sketches of supposed European botanists who had come to the New World to study in Latin America. By 1939 [Editorial note by "G.S." (i.e. George Sarton) following Clifford Dobell, "Dr O. Uplavici (1887-1938)", "Isis" 30.2 (May 1939:268-272); Dobell revealed the spectral "Dr.O. Uplavici" to have his origin in non-Czech-literate writers' mistaking an article on amoebic dysentery by Dr. Jaroslav Hlva, which was titled "O úplavici" ("On dysentery").] forty-seven fictitious biographies had been discovered, though only the letters H and V had been systematically investigated. The status of fictitions in "Appleton's Cyclopedia" was assessed by Margaret Castle Schindler, of Goucher College, in 1937. [Schindler, "Fictitious biography", "American Historical Review" 42 (1937:680-90), noted by "G.S." 1939:272.] According to Ms 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. [Quoted by Sarton in Schindler 1937:272.]

The writers for "Appleton's Cyclopedia" were paid by the word, and insufficient editorial control was exerted. The "Cyclopedia" was republished, uncorrected, by the Gale Research Company in 1968 and remains on many American public library shelves, in spite of Dr. George Sarton's warning in 1937: "Beware of the "Appleton's Cyclopedia"!"

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External links

* [http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/cyclopedia.html Museum of Hoaxes]