Jacques-Paul Migne

Jacques-Paul Migne was a French priest who devoted his life to publishing cheap and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers. He aimed to provide a universal library for the Catholic clergy, especially those who could not afford expensive books. He founded his own printing house, the Ateliers catholiques, at Petit-Montrouge, in Paris’s outlying 14th arrondissement. He published numerous religious works in rapid succession, without requesting permission from the original authors or publishers. He also edited a journal, L’Univers religieux, which later became the ultramontane organ L’Univers. He was politically conservative and loyal to the Pope, but he also faced opposition from some bishops and clergy who disapproved of his methods or his views. He was suspended from his priestly functions by Archbishop Georges Darboy in 1870. His publishing house was destroyed by a fire in 1868, which ruined his financial situation. He died of a stroke in 1875, one day before his 75th birthday. He is remembered as one of the great 19th century contributors to the scholarship of patristics and the Middle Ages. His editions of the Patrologia Latina and the Patrologia Graeca are still widely used by scholars and students of Christian history.3