Encyclopedia Objectivica
From Valwiki
| Author: | John Walte. |
| Subtitle: | Information on Science and Philosophy. |
| Language: | Common and Elvish. |
| Document Type: | Book. |
| Genre: | Encyclopedia. |
Encyclopedia Objectivica was an encyclopedia published in Valikorlia after the Valikorlian Fleet's destruction of Port Wolfe.
Its introduction, the Preliminary Discourse, is considered an important exposition of Waltian ideals. The Encyclopedia's self-professed aim was "to change the way people think." John Walte, with the help of many people he hired, wrote the whole thing.
Contents |
Origins
The Encyclopedia was originally meant to be simply an update of past Cyclopedias. The remake was commissioned by book publishers to a Librarian in Greendale. The Publishers later announced the work as available for sale - however to their dismay, the librarian had not done the work he was commissioned to do; in fact, he could barely read and write common and did not even own a copy of any past Cyclopaedias. The publishers had been swindled, and so one of the publishers physically beat the librarian with a cane—the librarian sued on assault charges, but the publishers were acquitted in court as being justified. Setting out to find a new writer and editor, The publishers engaged John Walte. Within thirteen months Walte hired numerous writers and commissioned a few close friends to help write the Encyclopedia. Walte would remain editor for the next five years seeing the Encyclopedia through to completion.
Publication
The work comprised 35 volumes, with 71,818 articles, and 3,129 illustrations. The first 28 volumes were published and were edited by Walte. The remaining five volumes were completed by other editors when Walte hired even more writers, along with a two volume index. Many of the most noted figures of science and philosophy contributed to the work. The single greatest contributor was John Walte himself who wrote 17,266 articles, or about 8 per day between his 18th birthday and it's publication.
The writers of the encyclopedia saw it as a vehicle to covertly destroy superstitions while overtly providing access to human knowledge. It was a summary of thought and belief of John Walte and Waltianism. In Valikorlia it caused a storm of controversy, due mostly to its tone of antireligion. The encyclopedia praised free-thinkers and challenged religious dogma, and classified religion as a branch of philosophy, not as the ultimate source of knowledge and moral advice. The entire work was almost banned by royal decree and had to be closed down after the first seven volumes but because it had many highly placed supporters, work continued "in secret". In truth, secular authorities did not want to disrupt the commercial enterprise which employed hundreds of people. To appease the church's enemies of the project, the authorities had officially banned the enterprise, but they turned a blind eye to its continued existence.
It was also a vast compendium of the technologies of the period, describing the traditional craft tools and processes. Much information was taken from the descriptions of different workers and marketeers.
The full title was Encyclopedia Objectivica: Information on Science and Philosophy, by John Walte The title-page was appraised.
The Encyclopedia presented a taxonomy of human knowledge which was inspired by epistemological books such as Advancement of Knowledge. The three main branches of knowledge are: "Memory"/History, "Reason"/Philosophy, and "Imagination"/Poetry.
Artifacts
One of the things which made the Encyclopedia so important to the treasure hunter audience was the inclusion of Artifacts, Magical Items, and Artifact types. "The Treasure Hunter is the hero and adventurer of the new era, the collector and connoisseur, a vital link in discovering the nature of truth in the arcane and the mundane." One of the most interesting and expounded upon articles is one which Walte himself worked upon and worked with, the Rei Ken.
The Ghost Sword
Walte's close friend Sugoi Denshi, a professional Treasure Hunter, loaned a newly found artifact known as Rei Ken or as Walte called it Ghost Sword over so he could research and observe it up close. "The Ghost Sword or rather as it is better known, Rei Ken, is one of the miracles of modern manacraft. The blade is entirely translucent with an unsettling cyan colored glow which when observed seemed to be a sort of otherworldly magic type." Walte described the grip as scarlet and the cross-guard and pommel as a sort of darker red. The scabbard wasn't described in too great a detail but it was recorded that it was a light blue tint.
Statistics
Approximate size of the Encyclopedia:
- 17 volumes of articles
- 11 volumes of illustrations
- 18,000 pages of text
- 75,000 entries
- 44,000 main articles
- 28,000 secondary articles
- 2,500 illustration indices
- 20,000,000 words in total
Quotes
- "Reason is to the philosopher what faith is to the pious... other men walk in darkness; the philosopher, who has the same passions, acts only after reflection; he walks through the night, but it is preceded by a torch. The philosopher forms his principles on an infinity of particular observations. He does not confuse truth with plausibility; he takes for truth what is true, for forgery what is false, for doubtful what is doubtful, and probable what is probable. The philosophical spirit is thus a spirit of observation and accuracy." (Philosophers article, Walte)
- "If exclusive privileges were not granted, and if the financial system would not tend to concentrate wealth, there would be few great fortunes and no quick wealth. When the means of growing rich is divided between a greater number of citizens, wealth will also be more evenly distributed; extreme poverty and extreme wealth would be also rare." (Wealth article, Anonymous)
OOC Information
The book though a project for many years was only recently published, it is based partially off of Denis Diderot's Encyclopédie.
Availability
If being just freshly published and a perfect book for reference and research. You can find it with any book peddler, book salesman, almost any library, and possibly in a book shelf in almost every house.
