Calais
Calais names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Calais kal'is, a seaport town of France
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
kal'is, a seaport town of France. It is situated on the Strait of Dover, at the junction of several canals, and is the terminus of a railroad leading to Paris. It is at the narrowest part of Dover Strait and is about twenty-three and one half miles from the English port of Dover. The harbor may be entered at all stages of the tide. The greater part of the travel between London and Paris, as well as between London and other continental cities, goes by way of Dover and Calais. Nearly a quarter of a million of passengers cross the strait at this point annually. A submarine telegraph connects the two towns, and there is talk of a railroad tunnel beneath the water. Calais is an important commercial town of 60,000 people. Supplies for the London markets, including about 5,000,000 dozen eggs a year, form a considerable part of the export trade. Calais was the last French territory held by the English. In the long wars between the English and the French Calais was considered the key of France. In 1347 it was captured by Edward III after a siege of eleven months. The story runs that he promised to spare the people of the city on the condition that six of their principal citizens should come out to him with ropes around their necks. He ordered that their heads should be cut off at once, but his queen, Philippa, fell at his feet and begged their lives. Calais was considered the "brightest jewel in the English crown." .A boastful inscription was placed over one of the gates: Then shall the Frenchmen Calais win When iron and lead like cork shall swim. Nevertheless, Calais was recaptured by the French in 1558, in Queen Mary's reign. She considered that England had suffered a national misfortune. "When I die," said she, "Calais will be found written on my heart."
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a fortified seaport town of France, in the department of Pas-de-Calais, on the Strait of, and 25 miles S. E. of Dover, and distant 184 miles by rail from Paris. The Old Town or Calais proper has a citadel, and was formerly surrounded by fortifications; but the modern suburb of St. Pierre les Calais having been amalgamated with Calais proper, both are now surrounded with forts and other works, lend additional to which morasses strength. Extensive harbor improvements have been carried out. Calais has considerable exports of grain, wine, and spirits, eggs, fruit and vegetables; but the town derives its principal importance from its being the chief landing place for English travelers to the Continent. It has important manufactures of cotton and silk bobbinet lace. In 1347 Calais was taken by Edward III. of England, after a siege of 11 months. In 1558 it was retaken by the Duke of Guise, being the last relic of the French dominions of the Plantagenets, which at one time comprehended the half of France. In the World War it played an important part as a port of embarkation and disembarkation for the British forces in France and Belgium. It was shelled by German destroyers and bombed by German aeroplanes at numerous occasions, without, however, suffering severe losses, either in life or property. Pop. about 75,000.
Calais a city, port of entry
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city, port of entry, and county-seat of Washington county , Me.; on the St. Croix river, opposite St. Stephen, N. B., and on the St. Croix and Penobscot and the Canadian Pacific railroads; 120 miles E. of Bangor. It is the extreme N. E. seaport of the United States and is connected by steamship lines with Boston , Portland, and St. John, N. B. It has a large lumber trade and numerous foundries , machine shops, shipyards, and other extensive mechanical industries; a national bank, several newspapers, high and grammar schools , electric lights, a public library, etc. Pop. (1910) 6,116 ; (1920) 6,084 !
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 note that "there is talk of a railroad tunnel beneath the water" came true in 1994, when the Channel Tunnel opened from Coquelles just outside Calais, and Eurostar trains now run to London and Paris through it. Collier's 1921 account of a town shelled by German destroyers but suffering no severe loss was quickly outdated: Calais was largely flattened in the 1940 siege and again before its liberation in 1944, so the old town Collier's described is mostly rebuilt. The lace trade survives, celebrated in the Cité de la dentelle museum, but since the 1990s the town has been best known internationally for migrant camps near the tunnel and ferry port, the largest of which, the so-called Jungle, was cleared in 2016. The Maine town of the same name has shrunk rather than grown: from Collier's 6,084 in 1920 to roughly 3,000 today.
Written for this edition, 2026.