Phillipos Iliou – Popi Polemi
Greek Bibliography of the 19th century
Electronic Catalogue

Scientific collaborators: Anastassia Milonopoulou – Eirini Rizaki
With the contribution of Sandra Vretta

The retrospective Greek national bibliography of the 19th century is a collective work, as is every ambitious bibliography project, based on the long preparatory work undertaken by distinguished scholars and obscure bibliographers. Its foundations were lain by the three-volume Greek Bibliography 1800-1863, by Dimitrios Ghinis and Valerios Mexas (Athens, Academy of Athens, 1939-1957), in combination with successive series of addenda over the same period, which were introduced by C. Th. Dimaras from the pages of the journal Eranistis (a periodical publication of the Society for the Study of the Greek Enlightenment). The work was later taken up mainly by the Tetradia Ergasias of the Institute for Neohellenic Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation.

The Greek Bibliography of the 19th century, as designed from scratch by Philippos Iliou, and as it began to take shape within the Bibliology Workshop, is based on all this rich harvest of information, but also clearly sought to extend its boundaries and capabilities. One tangible example is the monumental first volume of the Greek Bibliography of the 19th century. Books - Pamphlets 1801-1818 by Philippos Iliou (Athens, Bibliologiko Ergastiri - E.L.I.A., 1997): with extensive internal descriptions of all the documents printed over this period, its index of all announcements and book criticisms published in the contemporary press and the manner in which it incorporates the relevant data, offers its user an overall framework for the study of book production and of how books were perceived, constitutes a multi-purpose tool concerning the social history of Greek culture.

This effort, undertaken despite unfavourable conditions, also resulted in the first overall record of Greek published documents in the years following the reign of King Othon, which constitutes a solid foundation, upon which to extend this effort to include the entire 19th century. The fruit of a long joint progress undertaken by Philippos Iliou and Popi Polemi, the four-volume Greek Bibliography 1864-1900 (Athens, Bibliologiko Ergastiri “Philippos Iliou” - ELIA., 2006), with its concise mention of 32,156 documents and analytical indexing, arrived in order to meet a long-standing demand in historical and literary study, as there had never to date been an overall bibliography of that period.

The current electronic catalogue of the Greek Bibliography of the 19th century constitutes the first overall “card classification repository” in electronic of a work-in-progress: the first codification and concise presentation of entries gathered by the “Philippos Iliou” Bibliology Workshop and which concern books, pamphlets, single-page or two-page leaflets and maps that have undergone bibliography. In other words, these concern all discrete printed materials in the Greek language and addressing a Greek-speaking readership.

For the manner in which both the corpus and the document listings were compiled, the user of the electronic catalogue is referred to the introduction of the Greek Bibliography 1864-1900, where the same principles were utilised.

The electronic catalogue, which allows for multiple search criteria, has been compiled:

• for the period 1801-1844 on the basis of the three volumes of the Greek Bibliography of the 19th century.
• for the period 1845-1863 on the basis of Greek Bibliography 1800-1863 by Dimitrios Ghinis and Valerios Mexas, as well as the systematic series of addenda thereto.
• for the period 1864-1900 based on the Greek Bibliography 1864-1900 by Philippos Iliou and Popi Polemi.
• entries concerning the 15th-18th centuries have also been included here, following the Greek Bibliography (c 1466 - 1800), Alphabetical and chronological order by Thomas Papadopoulos (cf. Papadopoulos A). Entries on these earlier centuries were considered necessary for a fuller documentation and facilitation of the research conducted by the «Philippos Iliou» Bibliology Workshop. They are made available now as a work-in-progress, but they are to be complemented according to the standards of the Greek Bibliography of the 19th Century, as a further contribution towards the completion of the restrospective Greek national bibliography.

Each entry is accompanied by an indication of the bibliographic sources, as well as all the Greek and foreign libraries where copies of each document have been located. It should be noted that Web addresses of entries available in digital form are also included. The validity of these addresses has been ascertained by the "Filippos Eliou" Bibliology Workshop, on the date of entry into the system. Any additional changes are the responsibility of the agency that maintains the digital record.

An infrastructure project, a basic documentation tool for historical and philological research, the electronic catalogue of the Greek bibliography of the 19th century was designed to meet ever-increasing and ever more complex requirements. The electronic format is dynamic and simple to constantly correct, add and expand, but does not substitute for the imprint that allows for a better overall picture, and permits deliberation and understanding, a historical understanding of the phenomena. Keeping this catalogue constantly updated is one of the main aims of the “Philippos Iliou” Bibliology Workshop.
Any suggestions made to this end would be highly valued and any proposed collaboration warmly welcomed.

The “Philippos Iliou” Bibliology Workshop retains all legal rights concerning republication or any form of reproduction of the material available on this website.