Cyprian Kinner and the Idea of a Faceted Classification

Most students of classification regard faceted classification schemes as a product of our century. In fact, S. R. Ranganathan lists 1933 as the beginning of the era of faceted classification, for that year saw the publication of the first edition of his own Colon classification. However, while this event was an important milestone in the history of classification, the basic idea of such a scheme was not new. It can be traced back to seventeenth century pioneers of conceptual classification like Cyprian Kinner (d.1649), George Dalgarno (16267-1687), and John Wilkins (1614-1672). Many seventeenth century European scholars expressed a need for a universal character or language that would be an international auxiliary language enabling people of different countries to communicate with each other. It was also to serve as symbolism for accurate scientific description and a means of scientific proof and discovery. As more and more learned Europeans started to use their own vernaculars instead of Latin, the large number of these languages presented serious obstacles to scholarly communication. Furthermore, in an age of great turmoil and religious controversies philosophers and scientists became very conscious of the shortcomings of natural languages. Their most vociferous spokesman, Sir Francis Bacon lamented