Portrait of Jacques-Paul Migne (1800-1875)

Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the

Church Father The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical pe ...

s, with the goal of providing a universal library for the

Catholic priesthood The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned (" ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers onl ...

. The '' Patrologia Latina'' and the ''

Patrologia Graeca The ''Patrologia Graeca'' (or ''Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca'') is an edited collection of writings by the Christian Church Fathers and various secular writers, in the Greek language. It consists of 161 volumes produced in 1857– ...

'' (along with the '' Monumenta Germaniae Historica'') are among the great 19th century contributions to the scholarship of patristics and the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. Within the Roman Catholic Church, Migne's editions put many original texts for the first time into the hands of the priesthood.

Biography

Migne was born in Saint-Flour,

Cantal Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, with its prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour (the episcopal see) and Mauriac; its residents are known as Cantalians (fren ...

and studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

at the University of 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, and on 3 November started a journal, ''L'Univers religieux'', which he intended to keep free of political influence. It quickly gained 1,800 subscribers and he edited it for three years. (It afterwards became his co-editor

Louis Veuillot Louis Veuillot (11 October 1813 – 7 March 1883) was a French journalist, author and anti-Semite who helped to popularize ultramontanism (a philosophy favoring Papal supremacy). Career overview Veuillot was born of humble parents in Boyne ...

ultramontane Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by th ...

organ, ''

L'Univers ''L'Univers'' was a nineteenth-century French Roman Catholic daily newspaper that took a strongly ultramontane position. It was edited by Louis Veuillot Louis Veuillot (11 October 1813 – 7 March 1883) was a French journalist, author and ...

''.) Migne was, until June 1856, owner of the daily ''Vérité'' (formerly the ''Journal des faits''), which, being limited to reproducing other newspapers, described itself as the impartial echo of all opinions. Migne believed in the power of the press and the value of information widely distributed. In 1836 he opened his great publishing house, the ''Ateliers catholiques'', at

Petit-Montrouge The quartier du Petit-Montrouge is number 55 of the 80 ''quartiers administratifs'' (administrative districts) in Paris. It lies in the 14th Arrondissement, in the south of the capital. It owes its name to the adjacent commune of Montrouge, of whi ...

, in Paris's outlying 14th arrondissement. He published numerous religious works in rapid succession meant for lesser clergy at prices that ensured wide circulation, and bypassed the bookselling establishment with direct subscriptions. These works were reproduced from the best available texts, generally without requesting permission. His publishing house was complemented during the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

by painter artists' workhalls for the decoration of churches: three of their main works, in the style of

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

, still remain in the choir of the church of Saint

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

of Audresselles in

Pas de Calais The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...

, France. The ''Ateliers'' also produced and sold a variety of religious items. In time, the ''Ateliers catholiques'' became the largest privately 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. "Five hundred thousand plates, stacked in piles, melted in an instant; they are now enormous blocks on the most bizarre forms," reported ''Le Monde illustré''. Despite his insurance contracts, Migne was only able to retrieve a pittance. Shortly afterwards Mgr

Georges Darboy Georges Darboy (16 January 181324 May 1871) was a French Catholic priest, later bishop of Nancy then archbishop of Paris. He was among a group of prominent hostages executed as the Paris Commune of 1871 was about to be overthrown. Biography Dar ...

, Archbishop of Paris, forbade the continuance of the business and even suspended him from his priestly functions. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 inflicted further losses. Then from the

curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

of Pope Pius IX came a decree condemning the use of Mass stipends to purchase books, which specifically called out Migne and his publications. Migne died in Paris. He died without ever regaining his former success and his ''Imprimerie Catholique'' passed in 1876 into the hands of Garnier Frères.

A complete edition of patrology

The best known of his publications are: ''Scripturae sacrae cursus completus'' ("complete course in sacred scripture") which assembled a wide repertory of commentaries on each of the books of the Bible, and ''Theologiae cursus'', each of them in 28 vols, 1840–45; ''Collection des auteurs sacrés'' (100 vols., 1846–48); ''Encyclopédie théologique'' (171 vols., 1844–46). However, the three great series that have made his reputation were ''Patrologiae cursus completus'', Latin series ('' Patrologia Latina'') in 221 vols. (1844–55); Greek series (''

''), first published in Latin (85 vols., 1856–57); then published with Greek text and Latin translation (165 vols., 1857–58). Though scholars have always criticised them, these hastily edited, inexpensive, and widely distributed texts have only slowly 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 later literature than anything that has appeared subsequently or is likely to. To create so much so quickly, Migne reprinted the best or latest earlier editions available to him. In the ''PG'' the Latin translations were often made in the renaissance before any Greek text had been printed, and so do not necessarily match the Greek text very accurately. The indexes themselves are useful for locating references in the patristic writings. The collection is available through

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

and archive.org.

Summary of publications

Migne's ''Ateliers catholiques'' employed 5 steam-powered presses, and by 1854 some 596 workers. On average, it published a book every ten days for thirty years. In summary these were:Bloch, pages 1–2. * ''Patrologia Latina'', 217 tomes in 218 volumes * ''Patrologia Graeca'', 161 tomes in 166 volumes * Greek Fathers in Latin, 81 tomes in 85 volumes * ''Scripturae sacrae cursus completus'', 25 volumes * ''Theologia cursus completus'', 25 volumes * ''Démonstration évangeliques des plus célèbres défenseurs du Christianisme'', 18 volumes * ''Orateurs sacrés'' in two series, 66 and 33 volumes * ''Première encyclopédie théologique ou série de dictionnaires sur toutes les parties de la science religieuse'', 50 volumes * ''Nouvelle encyclopédie théologique'', 53 volumes * ''Troisième et dernière encylopédie ecclésiastique'', 66 volumes * ''Summa aurea de laudibus B. Mariae virginis'', 13 volumes

References

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', 7 January 1975
L'abbé Jacques-Paul Migne
- website on life and works of Migne {{DEFAULTSORT:Migne, Jacques Paul 1800 births 1875 deaths People from Cantal Catholic education Christian scholars Hellenists French Latinists Patristic scholars French editors 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests French male non-fiction writers

Biography

A complete edition of patrology

Summary of publications

References

External links