730 INDEX instead of subjects has been compiled by the Royal Society and is entitled Catalogue of Scientific Papers (1800-73), 8 vols. 4 to, 1867- 1879. (H. B. W.*) INDEX LIBRORUM PROHIBITORUM is the title borne by the official list of those books which on doctrinal or moral grounds the Roman Catholic Church, under penalty of ecclesiastical censures, authoritatively forbids the members of her communion to possess or to read. Most Governments, whether civil or ecclesiastical, have at all times in one way or another acted on the general principle that some control may and ought to be exercised over the literature circulated among those under their jurisdiction ; for various examples, both in ancient and in modern times, reference may be made to the article BIBLIOGRAPHY (vol. iii. p. 658). The earliest known instance of a list of pro scribed books being issued with the authority of a bishop of Rome is sometimes assigned to the pontificate of Gelasius (494) and sometimes to that of Hormisdas (514), but most probably ought not to be dated earlier than the 8th century. The document is for the most part, as its name implies, a Notitia Librorum Apocryphorum qui non recipiuntur, and chiefly consists of an enumeration of such apocryphal works as by their titles might be apt to mis lead the unwary into attaching an undue weight to their teaching (the " Acts " of Philip, Thomas, Peter, Philip, and the Gospels of Thaddseus, Matthias, Peter, James the Less, and others). Its concluding paragraph, however, sweep- ingly declares all the writings of Simon Magus and of many other heretics who are mentioned by name, as also of many more whose names have been completely forgotten (minime retinentur), to be repudiated, eliminated entirely from the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church, and eternally condemned. 1 Subsequent pontiffs continued to exhort the episcopate and the whole body of the faithful to be on their guard against heretical writings, whether old or nev j o-ud one of the functvws of the Inquisition when it was established was to exercise a rigid censor ship over books put in circulation. The bishops in their dioceses had always, however, a considerable discretion. With the discovery of the art of printing, and the wide and cheap diffusion of all sorts of books which ensued, the need for new precautions against heresy and immorality in literature made itself felt, and more than one pope (Sixtus IV. in 1479 and Alexander VI. in 1501) gave special direction to the archbishops of Cologne, Mainz, Treves, and Magdeburg regarding the growing abuses of the printing press ; in 1515 the Lateran council formulated the decree De Impressions Librorum, which required that no work should be printed without previous examination by the proper ecclesiastical authority, the penalty of unlicensed printing being excommunication of the culprit, and confiscation and destruction of the books. The council of Trent in its fourth session, 8th April 1546, forbade the sale or possession of any anonymous religious book which had not previously been seen and approved by the ordinary ; in the same year the university of Louvain, at tiu command of Charles V., prepared an " Index " of pernicious and forbidden books, a second edition of which appeared in 1550. In l-, and again in 1559, Pope Paul IV., through the Inquisition at Rome, published what may be regarded as the first Roman Index in the modern ecclesiastical use of that term (Index auctorum et librorum qui tanquam hceretici aut siispecti aut perversi ab Officio S. B. Inquisilionis reprobantur et in universa Christiana republica inter die untur). All anonymous works published since 1519 were condemned without exception in this Index, which directed its hostility chiefly against works 1 Hardouin, Cone., ii. 940 ; Labbe, Cone., ii. 938-941. The whole document has also been reprinted in Smith s Diet, of Chr. A ntiq. art. " Prohibited Books." that seemed unfavourable to the claims of the Roman curia,, or maintained the superiority of councils over popes. A list of sixty-two printers of heretical books was appended. At the 18th session of the council of Trent - (26th February 1562), in consideration of the great increase in the number of suspect and pernicious books, and also of the ineflicacy of the many previous " censures " which had proceeded from the provinces and from Rome itself, certain fathers were appointed to enquire into these " censures," and to consider what ought to be done in tliB circumstances. At the 25th session (4th December 1563) this committee of the council was reported to have completed its work, but as the subject did not seem (on account of the great number and variety of the books) to admit of being properly discussed by the council, the result of its labours was handed over to the pope (Pius IV.) to deal with as he should think proper. In the following March accordingly were published, with papal approval, the Index librorum prohibitorum, which continues to be reprinted and brought down to date, and the " Ten Rules " which, supplemented and explained by Clement VIII., Sixtus V., Alexander VIL, and finally by Benedict XIV. (10th July 17f>3), still regulate the preparation of that catalogue. By the first of these rules the condemnation of all books already con demned by pope or council prior to 1515 is renewed ; by the second the works of " heresiarchs " (Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Schwenkfeld, Hiibmaier) are condemned whatever be their subject, but it is provided that the non-religious works of those who are heretics merely may on examina tion and approval be permitted ; the third and fourth relate to translations of the Bible ; the fifth orders the expurgation of lexicons, concordances, and similar com< pilations by heretics ; the sixth discourages the circulation of books in the vulgar tongue about controversies between Catholics and heretics; the seventh, eighth, and ninth relate to obscene or grossly superstitious publications ; the tenth contains various details of procedure about the licensing of books, and concludes with the declaration that the possessor or reader of heretical books is forthwith to be excommuni cated, while the possessor or reader of books prohibited on other grounds falls into mortal sin, and is to be dealt with severely at the discretion of the bishop. The business of correcting the Index to date is now in the hands of an ecclesiastical board known as the " Congregation of the Index," which consists of a prefect (who is always a cardinal) and other cardinals, with whom are associated the " consulters " and " examiners of books " (qnalijicatores). The Index Librorum Expurgandorum or Expurgatorius catalogues the works which may be read after the deletion of specified passages. Bishops have the power of granting at their discretion the right to read forbidden books, except in some reserved cases, where the papal dispensation is required. The Roman Index is unfortunately very far from being an exhaustive catalogue of works inconsistent with Catholic orthodoxy, and thus lacks the interest and vast importance it would otherwise have had for the biblio grapher. The early Reformers, by their attitude towards writings which from their point of view seemed objectionable, fur nished many an argumentum ad hominem to the Catholics (see Gretser s learned work, De Jure et More prohibendi, expurgandi, et abolendi libros hcereticos et noxios, 1603); thus we find Calvin writing to the ministers at Frankfort about one of the books of Servetus, with a view to its being burnt (Ep. 153). Gradually, however, all the Protestant churches have recognized the expediency of leaving indi viduals and communities practically free to select for their instruction and amusement the works which in the consci entious exercise of their own responsible judgment they
may find best adapted to their wants.
