Condé Benoist Pallen

Condé Benoist Pallen (December 5, 1858 – May 26, 1929) was an American Catholic editor, poet, and author. He edited the Catholic periodicals Church Progress and The Catholic World between 1887 and 1897 and later served as Catholic revisory editor for general encyclopedias including the Encyclopedia Americana and the New International Encyclopedia.^[1] From 1905 he was managing editor of The Catholic Encyclopedia and president of Encyclopedia Press, taking a leading role in the production of what became a standard English-language reference work on Catholic doctrine and history.^[2] As an author he published essays, literary criticism, poetry, and fiction, including the anti-socialist dystopian novel Crucible Island: A Romance, an Adventure and an Experiment (1919).^[2][3]

Pallen was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 5, 1858. His father, Montrose A. Pallen, was a physician and teacher of medicine originally from Mississippi. His mother, Anne (Benoist) Pallen, was the daughter of a St. Louis banker and descendant of the Chevalier Benoist, who served under General Montcalm in the French and Indian War.^[2] His family background was part of the long-established French Catholic community of St. Louis.^[4] His nephew and namesake was the magazine publisher Condé Nast.^[5]

Pallen studied at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., receiving the degree of A.B. in 1880 and A.M. in 1883.^[4] He then obtained a Ph.D. from Saint Louis University in 1885, where he subsequently held the chair of philosophy and began lecturing on philosophical, economic, and literary topics.^[1] In 1896 Georgetown awarded him the honorary degree of LL.D. in recognition of his academic and editorial work.^[4] He later continued his studies in Rome before returning to the United States.^[2]

After returning to St. Louis, Pallen became editor of the Catholic weekly Church Progress (later The Church Progress) and of the monthly review The Catholic World, posts he held from 1887 to 1897.^[2][1] During this period he also served as Catholic revisory editor for two widely used general reference works, the Encyclopedia Americana and the New International Encyclopedia, reviewing articles touching on Catholic doctrine and history.^[1]

In the early 20th century Pallen joined a group of scholars who proposed creating a comprehensive Catholic encyclopedia in the English language. He helped organize the board of editors for The Catholic Encyclopedia in 1904–1905 and served as managing editor from 1905 to 1913, overseeing the publication of the 16-volume work (1907–1914) and its 1922 supplement.^[2][6] He was president of Encyclopedia Press, Inc. from 1913 to 1920 and was later associated with other publishing ventures, including work on the New Catholic Dictionary (1929).^[2][1]

Outside publishing, Pallen was active in civic organisations. He served as chairman of the Department of Subversive Movements of the National Civic Federation, reflecting his interest in contemporary social and economic debates.^[2] Popes Leo XIII and Pius XI recognised his services to Catholic scholarship and journalism by conferring on him the medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice and investing him as a Knight of St. Gregory the Great.^[2][1]

Pallen wrote on literature, philosophy, education, and social questions, as well as publishing poetry and fiction. Among his early critical works are What is Liberalism? (1889), The Philosophy of Literature (1897), and Epochs of Literature (1898).^[2][1] He also produced studies of Tennyson's Idylls of the King, including The Meaning of the Idylls of the King (1904).^[2][7]

As a poet he published volumes such as New Rubáiyat (1889), The Feast of Thalarchus: A Dramatic Poem (1901), The Death of Sir Lancelot, and Other Poems (1902), and Collected Poems (1915).^[2][1][8] His essays and articles appeared in Catholic periodicals including The Catholic World, where he wrote on scepticism, Tennyson, and contemporary issues in the 1880s.

Pallen also wrote several works of fiction. Crucible Island: A Romance, an Adventure and an Experiment (1919) is an anti-socialist dystopian novel in which a young radical visits an island society where collectivist ideas have been put into practice and becomes disillusioned by the social and political consequences.^[2][3] The book has been cited in surveys of early twentieth-century dystopian literature as an example of anti-socialist fiction.^[3][9] Later novels include As Man to Man: The Adventures of a Commuter (1927), Ghost House (1928), a speculative tale built around an invention that records traces of a past crime, and The King's Coil (1928).^[2][1][10]

Pallen died in New York City on May 26, 1929, after suffering from arteriosclerosis. His remains were buried in a family plot in St. Louis.^[5] Following his death, President Herbert Hoover sent a message of condolence to Pallen's widow, describing him as someone who had given "the rich fruits of a sincere and high-minded search for the everlasting truths" to his contemporaries.^[11]

Within Catholic intellectual life in the United States, Pallen is chiefly remembered for his role in conceiving and editing The Catholic Encyclopedia and for his contributions as a lecturer and essayist on philosophical and literary topics.^[2][1] In later literary histories he has also been noted for Crucible Island as an example of early twentieth-century Catholic and conservative dystopian fiction.^[3]

• What is Liberalism? (1889)
• New Rubáiyat (1889), poems
• The Philosophy of Literature (1897)
• Epochs of Literature (1898)
• The Feast of Thalarchus: A Dramatic Poem (1901)
• The Death of Sir Lancelot, and Other Poems (1902)
• The Meaning of the Idylls of the King (1904)
• Collected Poems (1915)
• The Education of Boys (1916)
• The Story of Literature (1917)
• Crucible Island: A Romance, an Adventure and an Experiment (1919)
• As Man to Man: The Adventures of a Commuter (1927)
• Ghost House (1928)
• The King's Coil (1928)^[2][1]

• "Scepticism and its Relations to Modern Thought," The Catholic World (1883)
• "A Meaning of Idyls of the King," The Catholic World (1885)
• "A Chat by the Way," The Catholic World (1885)
• "Practical People," The Catholic World (1886)

• Works by Condé Benoist Pallen at Internet Archive