Editing Jacques Paul Migne (section)

== A complete edition of patrology==
The best known of his publications are: ''Scripturae sacrae cursus completus'' ("complete course in sacred scripture") which assembled a wide repertory of commentaries on each of the books of the Bible, and ''Theologiae cursus'', each of them in 28 vols, 1840–45; ''Collection des auteurs sacrés'' (100 vols., 1846–48); ''Encyclopédie théologique'' (171 vols., 1844–46).<ref name=EB1911/>

However, the three great series that have made his reputation were ''Patrologiae cursus completus'', Latin series (''[[Patrologia Latina]]'') in 221 vols. (1844–55); Greek series (''[[Patrologia Graeca]]''), first published in Latin (85 vols., 1856–57); then published with Greek text and Latin translation (165 vols., 1857–58). Though scholars have always criticised them, these hastily edited, inexpensive, and widely distributed texts have only slowly been replaced during a century and a half with more critically edited modern editions. The cheap paper of the originals has made them fragile today, but the scope of the ''Patrologia'' still makes it unique and valuable when modern editions do not yet exist. It is a far more complete collection of Patristic and later literature than anything that has appeared subsequently. To create so much so quickly, Migne reprinted the best or latest earlier editions available to him.  In the ''PG'' the Latin translations were often made in the renaissance before any Greek text had been printed, and so do not necessarily match the Greek text very accurately. The indexes themselves are useful for locating references in the [[Patristics|patristic]] writings.

The collection is available through [[Google Books]] and archive.org.