Albion
Albion names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Albion the oldest name by which the island of Great
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the oldest name by which the island of Great Britain was known to the Greeks and Romans. Great Britain and Ireland were known by the general appellation of the Britannic Islands , while the former was designated by the particular name of Albion or Alwion , and the latter by that of Ierne , Iouernia, or Erin. Cæsar does not use the word Albion; his name for England is Britannia. The name of Albion was probably given to England by the Gaels of the opposite coast, who could not fail to be struck with the chalky cliffs that characterize the nearest part of Kent.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
Son of Neptune and Amphitrite, came into Britain, where he established a kingdom, and introduced astrology and the art of building ships. Great Britain is called Albion after him. Albis (Elbe). One of the great rivers in Germany, the most easterly which the Romans became acquainted with.
Albion a city of Michigan in Calhoun co
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city of Michigan in Calhoun co. It is on the Michigan Central, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroads, and an electric line running from Kalamazoo to Detroit. It is also on the Kalamazoo river. The city has important manufactures of iron, automobile springs, and other accessories, and agricultural implements; a library, two hospitals, a park, and is the seat of Albion College. Pop. (1910) 5,833; (1920) 8,354.
Albion a village of New York
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a village of New York, the county-seat of Orleans co. It is on the New York Central, the Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester railroads and the Erie canal. It has a library, high school, court house, memorial church, and several public institutions. Its industries include a canning factory, cement works, etc. Pop. (1910) 5,016; (1920) 4,683.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's claim in 1921 that Albion is "the oldest name by which the island of Great Britain was known to the Greeks and Romans" still stands, and the 1900 volume's Son-of-Neptune founder was already understood as myth rather than history. What has shifted is the etymology: Collier's derived the name from the chalk cliffs of Kent seen by "the Gaels of the opposite coast", while most philologists now trace it to a Celtic root *albiyo-, meaning roughly "land" or "upper world", the same element behind Gaelic Alba for Scotland. The two American Albions have gone opposite ways from their 1920 counts: Albion, Michigan, whose "automobile springs" and malleable-iron works Collier's listed, has slipped back to roughly 7,600 people as its factories closed, though Albion College remains; Albion, New York, still the seat of Orleans County on the Erie Canal, now holds about 5,700 and is best known for the state prisons built on its edge.
Written for this edition, 2026.