cocoro : June 2008

I emerge from the depths of the Black Hole Also Known as Work to geek out over the release--finally! after years of delay and one cancellation--of the monumental Dictionnaire du monde germanique, a 1000-page encyclopedia covering historical, cultural, artistic, economic, political, sociological, religious and scientific aspects of the German-speaking civilization published by Editions Bayard. Last September 2007. Which just goes to show how out of the loop I am since I've been waiting for this book for ages. I'm not a Germanist but projects of this sort are close to my nerdy little heart.

Under the general editorship of Jacques Le Rider (EPHE Sorbonne), Michel Espagne (Normal Sup) and Élisabeth Décultot (CNRS), the book features articles written by leading Germanists from around the world. Originally scheduled to be published by the Presses universitaires de France in 1999, the book was delayed until 2001, then 2002, and finally cancelled. Eventually there was talk that Bayard would publish it in 2005. 2005 came and still no book. Finally, in January 2007 Bayard indicated that it would most likely be released some time in Fall 2007. Priced at 129 Euros, I don't even want to think about what the Philippine retail price will end up being. If it does get here at all (most likely not).

Fiche technique
Title: Dictionnaire du monde germanique
Sous la direction de Michel Espagne, Elisabeth Décultot et Jacques Le Rider
Publisher: Éditions Bayard
ISBN-10: 2227476524
ISBN-13: 9782227476523
Publication Date: 27 September 2007
Format: Broché, 24 x 17 cm, 1100 pages
Features: Illustrations en noir et blanc, cartes
Retail Price (France): 129 Euros

What follows is a preliminary partial list of contributors and article titles, pieced together from information found here and there on the web. I have no idea if all of these made it into the final product.

François Delpla