A Manual of Councils of the Holy Catholic Church is a two-volume reference text by Edward H. Landon. The first edition was published in 1846. At least one edition has been published since.
This is a compendium of church councils, not just the ecumenical councils but also smaller, local councils from the 1st century to the 18th century. The text is organized by the name of the council in alphabetical order. The name of a council is based on the geographical location in which it was held.
In cases of multiple councils held at the same locale, which is common—for example, Carthage, Rheims, Worms—the order is chronological. The year is listed, but the month and date are not always available.
Typically, a sentence or even a few paragraphs describe the circumstances and proceedings of the council. Although brief, it does provide some context. In some cases, the canons or constitutions are provided in the form of numbered points. The text of the council documents, in part or whole, are not reproduced. It is as if the author read the actual documents and summarized their contents in his own words, sometimes in point form.
Obviously, one is at the mercy of the author’s discretion or the authors of whatever other sources he used.
There is an index of the councils and subjects. However, the list of subjects is not detailed or comprehensive. This would be helpful but would admittedly inflate the page count significantly.
Nonetheless, even though it does not contain excerpts or a detailed subject index like Denzinger, it is a convenient two-volume reference that provides snapshots of Church councils through the centuries, giving one an appreciation of history and tradition.
Both volumes are freely available for download at archive.org.
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