The Encyclopedic Imagination from Pliny to Google Books (BROWN UNIVERSITY)

Considers the history of encyclopedic activity in various classical, medieval, and modern contexts. We will explore issues of encyclopedic epistemology, book history, the classification of knowledge, and the obsession to collect, compile, and document everything knowable and unknowable in both real and fictional encyclopedias. Readings will include selections from Pliny, Isidore de Seville, Vincent de Beauvais, the Ikhwan al-Safa', al-Jahiz, Avicenna, Rabelais, Diderot, Flaubert, Calvino, Borges, Foucault, and others. Undergraduates interested in enrolling should email the instructor prior to registration. Enrollment limited to 40.