J. P. Migne
J. P. Migne (Jacques-Paul Migne, 1800–1875) was a French Catholic priest and one of the most prolific publishers of theological and religious literature in nineteenth-century France. Born at Saint-Flour on October 25, 1800, Migne opened a publishing house at Petit-Montrouge near Paris in 1836, which produced vast collections of religious works at popular prices. Known as the Ateliers Catholiques, the press employed more than 300 persons and produced an ambitious universal library for the clergy, aiming to publish at a moderate price the whole of Christian writings from the beginnings to his own day. His most celebrated publication was the Patrologiae cursus completus, comprising the Patrologia Latina (217 volumes, 1844–55) and the Patrologia Graeca (162 volumes, 1857–66), which remains an invaluable reference work in patristic scholarship. Beyond theology and patristics, Migne's press also published encyclopedic collections covering the sacred literatures of world religions, including the Les livres sacrés de toutes les religions, sauf la bible (1858). A fire in 1868 destroyed his Montrouge establishment and the stereotype plates of the Patrologia, and following subsequent difficulties with the Archbishop of Paris and the Franco-German War, Migne died in 1875 without recovering his former prosperity. His business subsequently passed to Garnier Frères.
