New Dictionary of the History of Ideas (6 Volume Set) [Hardcover]

Maryanne Cline Horowitz (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* This long-awaited update to the original Dictionary of the History of Ideas (see p.1700 for an excerpted version of our review, which was published October 1, 1974) is "designed to introduce a general audience to the main ideas and movements of global cultural history from antiquity to the twenty-first century." This is an entirely new work rather than a mere revision, featuring more than twice as many articles as the original (well over 700 as compared to just over 300) as well as a more definite global view of the topics covered when compared to the Eurocentric nature of the older set. There are more than 550 contributors, including such well-known writers as Peter Burke, Nathan Glazer, Arthur Hertzberg, Moshe Idel, Margaret L. King, and Martin E. Marty. Entries include those on the same topics but entirely rewritten from the original (City, Nationalism, Time) along with those that could barely have been thought of in the mid-1970s (Computer science, Sexual harassment, Visual culture). Just as telling, reflecting the scholarly shift over the past 30 years, are entries that no longer exist, such as Baconianism; Faith, hope, and charity; and Uniformitarianism and catastrophism.

Although the original edition was not entirely bereft of illustrations, they were sparse. Not so with this edition: black-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout, most notably in entries such as Architecture, Humanity in the arts, Iconography, and Maps and the ideas they express.

Each volume opens with a "Reader's Guide" that provides a general outline of the articles in the set, divided into four main sections: "Communication of Ideas," "Geographical Areas," "Chronological Periods," and "Liberal Arts Disciplines and Professions." The detailed "Reader's Guide" is a good companion to the index, which occupies more than 200 pages of volume 6. Main entries in the set are often divided by separately authored subentries; examples include gender (divided into overview and Gender in the Middle East) and motif (Motif in literature and Motif in music. The longest main entry of the set, the 30-page Communication of ideas, is divided into seven parts. Articles conclude with up-to-date bibliographies (often divided into primary and secondary sources) and see also references. The casual reader will likely miss an entry often referred to in various cross-references: the 54-page essay Historiography, which is placed just after the preface in volume 1 rather than in the main alphabetic arrangement. It would have been helpful to mention this placement in the see also references.

The casual reader may also be caught off guard by the fact that many entries presume that the reader is acquainted with the older edition--or at the very least has some background in the topic. Law, for example, begins, "The development of law and jurisprudential ideas since the 1970s" and continues to concentrate on events of the recent past rather than providing the historical concentration seen in the previous edition. The preface affirms that this title "focuses on topics of interest today and features developments in scholarship since 1970." Does this mean libraries must retain the older set? Fortunately, the answer is no. Scribner allowed the first set to be released free of charge online courtesy of a grant authorized by the Journal of the History of Ideas for digitization through the University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center. It is accessible at http://www.historyofideas.org.

This well-written set will appeal to anyone interested in the topic and is highly recommended for large public and academic libraries. In all, worth the 30-year wait. Ken Black
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 3600 pages
• Publisher: Charles Scribners & Sons; 1 edition (December 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684313774
• ISBN-13: 978-0684313771
• Product Dimensions: 18.3 x 14 x 5.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 24.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #743,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 10 For Content, 2 for Despicable Pricing, November 26, 2007

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: New Dictionary of the History of Ideas (6 Volume Set) (Hardcover)

I own the 1974 five-volume set, and I am quite sure that this new six-volume set is priceless in terms of content and organization. A week does not go by but that I refer to both this set, and the Syntopicon volume of the Great Books.

The pricing, however, is despicable. It costs one penny a page to produce a book. This set should be on sale in hard-copy to libraries for $250 and in soft-copy to individuals for $190.

This kind of unjustified pricing is killing education and reflection, one reason why I am starting to offer all of my books free online, and encouraging Amazon to bypass publishers entirely. This book could and should be available as a digital file that can be sent to the FedExKinko's nearest the buyer, and produced locally.

Publishers are going to get killed by Google, or by Amazon, in part because this kind of pricing is their death song.