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Sunday, December 5, 2021

The First Phase of the Royce Edition Website Completed

The First Phase of the Royce Edition Website Completed  

The Royce Edition website (royce-edition.iupui.edu) now includes all available published writings of Josiah Royce. In this work, the Ignas Skrupskelis bibliography was the guide.  Bibliographical entries fill fifty-five pages, with 282 separate entries. Some items are brief notes, and some items are two volume books. Seven short essays in The Berkeleyan, a University of California student publication, from 1874 and 1875 cannot be found. These essays were likely lost in the fire that took place at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1980. Seven articles on the history of the state of California are ignored, because, while Royce is listed as a contributor to the articles, his contributions cannot be identified or separated out.  Several articles are ignored, because, while Royce’s name is included in the contributors, whether he contributed anything is not clear. Published notes of “thank you” and “congratulations” are ignored.  Six articles are added from other bibliographic resources. Several posthumous collections and publications are included.  

While I am adept at finding material online, I could not complete this project without the assistance of experts and supportive library staffs. Teodora Durbin, interlibrary loan specialist, at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, was extremely helpful in locating obscure items. This work could not be completed without her expertise and extra efforts. The library staffs at Brown University, The Johns Hopkins University, and Harvard University graciously went beyond their normal duties to obtain copies of Royce articles in publications which are located in deep storage or off-site. These libraries held the only known copies of the publications. The extra efforts are greatly appreciated.  

The next phase of the project is to post reviews of Royce’s books and specific responses to Royce’s writings by his contemporaries. John Shook kindly provided links to reviews and articles. This phase of the project has begun. The website has a transcription of Royce’s handwritten Ph.D. dissertation and transcriptions of fourteen sets of unpublished lectures. The transcription work will continue under the supervision of Scott Pratt, University of Oregon, Director of the Josiah Royce Edition.

The Royce Foundation generously provided a grant of $500.00 for the purchase from Rutgers University Press of a license to post Josiah Royce's Seminar, 1913-1914: As Recorded in the Notebooks of Harry T. Costello. Edited by Grover Smith. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1963, xxiii, 209 pp.  on the Edition website as an open access volume, which means that individuals may download and read the volume, use it in research, and quote from it in scholarly publications, but not redistribute the volume or use it in any manner for profit. This book is significant in that the notes made by Harry Costello provide a unique insight into the teaching of Josiah Royce. This book will be posted on the Edition website within the category “Transcribed Manuscripts,” because the book is not a publication by Royce himself, but a transcription of what Royce presented verbally.  

Of course, website errors and omissions are likely.  Your assistance in making corrections is welcomed. Please email me.  May you find the website useful in your exploration of the work of Josiah Royce.  

David Pfeifer 

Website Administrator 

depfeife@iu.edu