Ancient Web: New Advent Put a 1911 Maximus Biography Into Hyperlinks

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

A biographical encyclopedia article printed in 1911 now has hyperlinks on nearly every line. That transformation was once a colossal volunteer undertaking, not an automatic feature of publishing.

Read New Advent's St. Maximus of Constantinople entry.

The article, credited to John Chapman in volume ten of The Catholic Encyclopedia, follows Maximus the Confessor through the seventh-century controversy over whether Christ had one will or two. Its narrative includes the monk's arguments with Pyrrhus, disputes involving emperors and patriarchs, his imprisonment and exile, and an account of the punishments inflicted on him in 662.

The text also catalogs Maximus's philosophical and theological writings, from commentaries on Scripture to Mystagogia and discussions of Pseudo-Dionysius. Every few phrases are links to other entries explaining places, people, councils, and contested doctrines.

The page identifies Joe Buehler as the person who transcribed this article for the web project. Its citation section preserves Chapman's name, the 1911 date, publisher, and the original volume. The old printed reference has not been rewritten into a modern historical verdict: its perspective is openly Catholic, including judgments about the Roman papacy and theological opponents.

The digitizers made an encyclopedia navigable

A surviving contemporary New Advent account explains the work behind the undertaking. Founder Kevin Knight put the New Advent site online in early 1995 and invited volunteers to find printed copies of the encyclopedia, type entries, and send the text for HTML publication.

The report describes contributors in different countries and even a cloistered nun sending transcriptions through an intermediary. Knight assembled the submissions on a home computer. The process required people, books, keyboards, email, and a great deal of patience.

That makes this entry a story about two historical periods at once. The original author's 1911 understanding of a seventh-century thinker survives inside a 1990s effort to democratize access to a reference set. The hyperlinks allow an ordinary reader to follow names and doctrines without owning its printed volumes.

Modern scholarship may disagree with parts of the century-old account. The original voice and provenance remain visible, which is precisely the reason to preserve it as a source rather than silently update it.

Browse the Maximus entry and read how New Advent's transcription project worked.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.