Rouen
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Rouen. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
roo-ON', a city of France. It was formerly the capital of Normandy. It is situated on the Seine about two-thirds of the way from Paris to Havre. It is now an important cotton-manufacturing center, termed sometimes the "Manchester of France." It also carries on an extensive trade in Bordeaux wines. The venerable cathedral of Notre Dame , built in 1207-80, is noted for an imposing front surmounted by lofty towers. There are exquisite wood carvings, fine sculpture, and beautiful rose windows. The porch of the church of Saint Maclou is one of the most beautiful bits of architecture in France. The openings in the stone work are shaped like tongues of flame. The church of St. Ouen, dating from 1318, surpasses even the cathedral in size and beauty of style. The front, or facade as it is called in architecture, contains three great portals adorned with numerous statues and reliefs. A rose window above the central portal is one of the finest specimens of stained glass known. The walls contain an unusually large number of windows, 135 in all. The stained glass of which they are constructed is celebrated for beauty and quality. Other buildings of importance are the city hall and the palace of justice. The city belfry, or the tower of the great bell, was erected in 1389. The city possesses a large library, a museum of paintings, and several important collections of antiquities. The city derives no little interest from its connection with the life of Joan of Arc. A relic of the citadel in which she was tried for witchcraft still stands. An insignificant fountain occupies the spot in the square where she was burned at the stake in 1431. Population, 120,000. See Joan Of Arc
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city of France, capital of Inférieure, the department of Seineformerly of the province of Normandy, on the Seine, 44 miles from its mouth, and 86 miles N. W. of Paris. It is situate on the right bank of the Seine, in a fertile, pleasant, and varied country. The streets, though in general straight, are narrow and dirty, and some of the houses are of wood. The most agreeable part of the town is that which adjoins the Seine. The public buildings of interest are, the cathedral, containing many old monuments, and one of the finest specimens of Gothic architecture in France; the Church of St. Ouen, likewise fine Gothic building, situate a nearly in the center of the town; and that of St. Maclou, considered a masterpiece of its kind. There are two bridges over the Seine, one of stone, another of iron, connecting the town with the suburb of St. Sever; also various literary societies and schools, an academy of belles-lettres, a society of agriculture and the arts, a central school, classes for medicine and surgery, a navigation and drawing school, ol, together with a public library, library, a collection of paintings and natural history and a botanical garden. Manufactures cotton goods, woolens, linens, iron ware, paper, hats, pottery, wax, cloth, and sugar refineries. Dyeing, both of woolens and cotton, is also conducted with care and success. Rouen has frequently been taken and retaken. In 1419 it was taken by Henry V., and Joan of Arc was, in 1431, burned here. A statue to her memory has been erected on the spot. It is the birthplace of the two Corneilles, and of Fontenelle and Boieldieu. Pop. about 120,000.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's wrote in 1910 that a fountain marked "the spot in the square where she was burned at the stake in 1431," Joan of Arc was not yet a saint; she was canonized in 1920, and since 1979 the Place du Vieux-Marché has held the church of Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, a modern building whose roof is shaped like flames and boat hulls. The greatest break came in the Second World War: German bombing in 1940 and Allied raids culminating in the "semaine rouge" of late May and early June 1944 burned out much of the riverside quarter Collier's called "the most agreeable part of the town," damaged the cathedral and destroyed the Seine bridges, and the medieval centre standing today is largely a careful postwar restoration. The cotton mills that made Rouen the "Manchester of France" are gone, replaced by port traffic, petrochemicals and car manufacturing, and the department is now called Seine-Maritime rather than Seine-Inférieure. The population figure of 120,000 has barely moved for the city proper, but roughly half a million people now live in the surrounding metropolitan area.
Written for this edition, 2026.