The Encyclopedia of New Jersey Rutgers University Press illuminates the diversity and glory of this great state Archived article from Apr 26, 2004 By Amy Vames   Co-editors Maxine Lurie and Marc Mappen and Rutgers University Press director Marlie Wasserman, from left to right, proudly display the Press' most ambitious project, The Encyclopedia of New Jersey. Photo by Nick Romanenko Rutgers University Press director Marlie Wasserman likes to refer to the just published Encyclopedia of New Jersey as a newborn, since it weighs about 7 pounds. And despite the long gestation period this offspring required, Wasserman is justifiably proud of her biggest and most ambitious “baby.” The encyclopedia, nearly nine years in the making and released this month by the press, is the definitive source of information on New Jersey. The nearly 3,000 entries cover everything from the arts to transportation, from education to science and technology, from business to religion, and everything in between. Even each of the state’s 566 municipalities has an entry. Marc Mappen, one of the book’s editors, was associate dean at University College in 1995 when he got the idea for the project. “I saw the New York City Encyclopedia, which had just come out, and it kind of knocked me off my feet,” Mappen says. “I thought it was wonderful and felt that New Jersey could use something like this.” He took the idea to Wasserman, who had just seen a review of the New York City version. Contrary to what she would have expected, the review praised the book as highly readable and enjoyable. “It was the kind of review that made you want to go out and buy the encyclopedia,” Wasserman recalls. Hoping to get the same results from a New Jersey version, she and Mappen began to plan how to produce it. They also enlisted Maxine Lurie, chair of the history department at Seton Hall University, to co-edit the book with Mappen. The three set up an advisory board and began to seek financial support from individuals, foundations and businesses in the state. Within a few years, $1 million had been raised for the book. An encyclopedia is an expensive and complicated publication to undertake, Wasserman says, for several reasons. First, an editorial board of about 30 experts had to be assembled; they came up with about 3,000 topics for the book. Writing about all those topics required contracting with about 800 authors. The press also hired a cartographer, Michael Siegel, of the Rutgers geography department, to produce about 150 original maps. An illustrations editor was needed to track down 500 illustrations and secure permission to use. “Handling the sheer volume of material in the book was sort of like moving the Russian Army,” Wasserman says with a laugh. Hiring suitable authors was a challenge, she adds. Her staff posted announcements seeking authors on every list serve they could find. They were flooded with author responses and had to winnow those down to the writers they felt were truly the experts in their fields. Conversely, “we often got suggestions for topics on which we just couldn’t find experts,” she says, particularly those on popular culture. About 30 percent of the entries were written by Rutgers faculty members, staff members or alumni. The entries had to be balanced in terms of geography, history, politics and cultural significance, she says. The editors also set a very high standard for the living people they would include in the encyclopedia. Wasserman recalls a moderately well-known New Jersey writer who called repeatedly asking to be an entry. It took several conversations with the woman for the project staff to convince her that, aside from the state’s living governors and a few celebrities, such as Bruce Springsteen, few living people would make the cut. The encyclopedia is clearly the most monumental project ever undertaken by the press, which is planning a suitably ambitious marketing and publicity campaign to go along with it. At about 1 million words, the book is the equivalent of about 10 regular- size books the press typically publishes. Several senior staff members worked relentlessly to prepare the book for the printer by January to ensure April publication. The 968-page book costs $49.95 and is available at bookstores or can be ordered from the press. The first printing was 9,000 copies but Wasserman and Gary Fitzgerald, marketing and sales director at the press, hope that is just the beginning. They plan to blanket the state with advertising, including a billboard along the New Jersey Turnpike, which will probably be a first for any university press. But Fitzgerald sees it as entirely appropriate, considering the prominent place the turnpike holds in state history and lore. Although the book is big and comprehensive, it is quite readable. Perusing one item, say the entry on boardwalks, leads you to entries on the Jersey Shore and the Steel Pier. The section on the Kalmyks, descendants of Mongolians living in central Jersey, prompts you to check out the entry on ethnicity, where you can learn about the enormous variety of ethnic groups in the state. Mappen, who has been executive director of the New Jersey Historical Commission since 2000, says he and Lurie had two goals in editing the encyclopedia: “To tell the public about New Jersey and to make it a jumping off point for writing more about the state.” He says he is thrilled with the final product. “I’m immensely proud. I’m really glad to have had a hand in it,” he adds. Wasserman says she cringes a bit when she envisions the Encyclopedia of New Jersey becoming the butt of late-night comedians. But she feels even more strongly that the Garden State is just as worthy of having an encyclopedia about itself as New York City or Texas, which also has one. “I think it says we’ve made it as a state and I hope it will increase pride in New Jersey,” Wasserman says. “This is our attempt to say we live in a great state. Let’s understand it and celebrate it.”

For questions or comments about this site, contact Greg Trevor Last Updated: May 30, 2006 © 2012 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. All rights reserved.