SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

publication of a new encyclopedia for Coptic Studies in English. It would include the state of research in the field about every thing related to Copts and Coptic Studies. That was his lifelong dream. A dream that became reality about a decade ago, which I personally doubted it would be at first. It was only through such a person with his knowledge, reputation, contacts, and vision that this momentous task could have been accomplished. This dream which began in the 1950s was debated and discussed for years and years in Egypt. Though enthusiasm was there, it did not progress beyond a dream. With the convening of the first gathering of Coptic scholars in Egypt in 1976 (the first International Coptic Congress), and the open invitation of H.H. Pope Shenouda III, the possibility became a probability that grew with time. Eventually, as you can read in Dr. Lola Atiya's Forward to the Printed Edition, the wheels were put in motion to transform the dream into reality. This transformation process involved making list of articles, enlisting the best and brightest in the field to write them, and the all-dreaded task of raising the funds to publish them. Also a competent support staff of researchers, translators, and technical typists was required. Raising funds proved to be the least difficult of these tasks which allowed for the assembling of that competent staff. The Coptic Church, American and International Foundations, and the authorities of the University of Utah and BYU contributed significantly in this respect. The most difficult task was getting the articles written by the right people prior to the Lord's Second Coming! These scholars were for the most part advancing in age faster than they were producing the articles. In fact many were called by the Lord before their work was completed. As time went on, many became skeptical of the realization of such work and history unfortunately supported their skepticism. But Prof. Atiya was not about to let history claim his dream but rather have it shape history. Well in his eighties by then, he would not be stopped. He

even had to step in to write many of the entries when those whom he assigned them to were unable to do it for any reason. Slowly the dream was turning to reality before his eyes and the light at the end of the tunnel was becoming brighter and brighter. But just before this handsome 8-volume set was to emerge, we were all saddened and shocked by the news of his death. Dr. Lola Atiya, his surviving wife was enlisted to guide this project to its conclusion and preserve it as the greatest accomplishment of his life which was filled with accomplishments. St. Mark Foundation (SMF), recognizing the importance of this work in promoting the study of the Coptic Heritage, began to contact Dr. L. Atiya concerning obtaining the publishing rights to convert this work into an affordable electronic work that will ensure a wider audience, especially among the Copts, that found the $900 original price to be beyond their means. Dr. L. Atiya was very enthusiastic to the idea and recommended and directed Dr. Fawzy, the founder of SMF, to the authorities of Macmillan Publishing Company, the Publisher of the Encyclopedia. Without her ever- present help and encouragement, this electronic version would never have been possible. The Agreement with the Publisher: Upon the suggestion and recommendation of Dr. Lola Atiya, Dr. Fawzy and his staff engaged in negotiation with the original publisher, Macmillan Publishing Co. The publisher was especially receptive to the idea of an electronic version, which was not an unusual request for them to entertain. Subsequently, a conditional seven-year agreement was drawn up and agreed to by the publisher and SMF. Under the terms of the agreement, SMF was granted exclusive publishing rights for seven years to produce the text of the encyclopedia on an electronic medium, CD-Rom or subscription-based Internet service. The agreement allowed the publishing of the text with only modifications if typing errors were encountered. For a specified fee, the publisher furnished SMF with an 8-disk copy of the unformatted ASCII text of the first seven volumes minus any illustrations. Also a

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter

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