The Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Studies of Selected
Pivotal Ideas, edited by Philip P. Wiener, was published by Charles
Scribner's Sons, New York, in 1973-74. The Dictionary of the History
of Ideas also appeared in Chinese- and Japanese-language editions.
However, the DHI has been out of print for many years. Aware
of the new potential offered by electronic access to texts, the Directors
and Board of Editors of the Journal of the History of Ideas authorized
a grant to support digitization of the DHI. Substantial support
has also been provided by the University of Virginia Library through
its Electronic Text Center. The project has been undertaken with the
permission of Charles Scribner's Sons and of The Gale Group, of which
Scribner's is a part.
The paper editions of the Dictionary of the History of Ideas included many illustrations.
Because of copyright restrictions, these are not included in this electronic edition. However, the
Dictionary of the History of Ideas can be found in many libraries, and used copies can
sometimes be obtained through www.bookfinder.com and other
bookseller sites.
We invite those whose curiosity is stimulated by the Dictionary
of the History of Ideas to investigate the Library of the History
of Ideas (University of Rochester Press), which is made up of topical
volumes containing articles previously published in the Journal of
the History of Ideas; or to browse in the JHI itself.
The successor to the Dictionary of the History of Ideas, the New Dictionary of the History of Ideas,
is edited by Maryanne Cline Horowitz and published by Charles Scribner's Sons, an imprint of Thomson Gale. It
became available in late 2004 in a six-volume hardcover set (ISBN: 0-684-31377-4) and in e-book format (ISBN: 0-684-31452-5).
The New Dictionary of the History of Ideas is a totally updated and rethought work that strives to be global and
gender-inclusive. At the January 2005 meeting of the American Library Association, the Reference User Services Association
judged the NDHI an “Outstanding Reference Work.”
For a PDF file of Maryanne Cline Horowitz's Preface to the New Dictionary of the History of Ideas,
click here.