Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia is a reference work devoted to world literature. The first volume appeared in 1948, edited by Pulitzer Prize-winner William Rose Benét
, older brother of the writer Stephen Vincent Benét
. It was based on Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
's classic Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, and offered a compendium of curious information (such as "Aani
. In Egyptian mythology, the dog-headed ape sacred to the god Thoth
"). The second edition appeared in 1965, and added illustrations.
More widely available is the third edition, edited by Katherine Baker Siepmann and published in 1987. While this edition no longer mentions such arcane figures as Aani, it offers substantial background on a wide variety of literary figures and increased the international scope of the volume. Jeppe Aakjaer, for instance, appears as a novelist who "was intensely concerned with social misery and the need for reform," though he is "best known" for his "lyric poetry, in which he celebrates the courage of the peasants and the beauties of his native Jutland
."
In 1996, the fourth edition of this useful reference work appeared. The fifth and to date most recent edition was released in December 2008.
William Rose Benét
William Rose Benét was an American poet, writer, and editor.He was the older brother of Stephen Vincent Benét....
, older brother of the writer Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét was an American author, poet, short story writer, and novelist. Benét is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown's Body , for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929, and for two short stories, "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and "By...
. It was based on Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
The Reverend Dr. Ebenezer Cobham Brewer , was the compiler of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, and The Reader's Handbook, Victorian reference works.-Education and travels:E...
's classic Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, and offered a compendium of curious information (such as "Aani
Aani
In Ancient Egyptian religion, Aani is the dog-headed ape sacred to the Egyptian god Thoth. "One of the Egyptian names of the Cynocephalus Baboon, which was sacred to the god Thoth."...
. In Egyptian mythology, the dog-headed ape sacred to the god Thoth
Thoth
Thoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat...
"). The second edition appeared in 1965, and added illustrations.
More widely available is the third edition, edited by Katherine Baker Siepmann and published in 1987. While this edition no longer mentions such arcane figures as Aani, it offers substantial background on a wide variety of literary figures and increased the international scope of the volume. Jeppe Aakjaer, for instance, appears as a novelist who "was intensely concerned with social misery and the need for reform," though he is "best known" for his "lyric poetry, in which he celebrates the courage of the peasants and the beauties of his native Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
."
In 1996, the fourth edition of this useful reference work appeared. The fifth and to date most recent edition was released in December 2008.