This volume of the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, spanning from Capefigue to Carneades, offers a comprehensive collection of geographical, historical, and biographical entries compiled in nineteen ten. The section opens with biographies of notable historical writers and royalist figures, such as the French historian Jean-Baptiste Honoré Raymond Capefigue and the English royalist Arthur Capel, detailing their political alignments, literary output, and eventful lives during times of civil conflict. Geographical entries form a substantial portion of the text, offering precise details on locations such as Cape May, Cape Town, and the Cape Verde Islands, tracing their colonization, economic development, and strategic importance under various European powers.
Attention is also given to classical antiquities and ancient geography, with detailed scholarly accounts of places like Capena and Capernaum, examining their historical references in classical texts and the ongoing archaeological debates surrounding their exact topographical sites. Biographical sketches extend to literary critics and scholars, notably Edward Capell and his extensive labours on the textual history of Shakespeare, as well as classical writers like Martianus Capella and his encyclopaedic allegories. Natural history and regional flora and fauna receive thorough treatment, illustrated by descriptions of the capercally and its reintroduction into British woodlands, alongside detailed accounts of the bird's distribution and habits across European pine forests.
The volume further details the architectural and historical significance of the Capet family dynasty, tracing their lineage, territorial expansion, and the royal houses that descended from them across medieval Europe. Scientific and technical subjects, such as capillary action and carbon compounds, are systematically explored alongside historical personages and monastic orders, providing a complete cross-section of the accumulated knowledge of the early twentieth century. The text serves as an invaluable historical record of scholarship and geographical discovery, capturing the state of research at the close of the Edwardian era.
