Encyclopędia Britannica
Redirected from Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopędia Britannica is the most prestigious encyclopedia in the English language. Its articles are commonly considered accurate, reliable and well-written.
A product of the Scottish enlightenment[?], it was originally published in Edinburgh by Adam and Charles Black beginning in the 18th century. The trademark and publication rights were sold after the 11th edition to an American company, which is the current publisher. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. (properly spelt with æ, the ae-ligature) now owns a trademark on the word "Britannica". The company is based in Chicago.
As of 2003, the Encyclopędia Britannica contains 65,000 articles with 44 million words. It is published in paper form (32 volumes, list price $1400), online (where brief summaries of articles can be viewed for free, and the full text is available for $10 per month or $60 per year for individual subscribers), and on CD-ROM ($50).
vol. = volume, sup. = supplement
(1) 9th ed. featured articles by notables of the day, such as James Maxwell on Electricity and Magnetism, and William Thomson (who became Lord Kelvin) on Heat.
Edition history
Edition Published Size
1st
1768-1771
3 vol.
2nd
1777-1784
10 vol.
3rd
1788-1797, 1801 sup.
18 vol. + 2 sup.
4th
1801-1809
20 vol.
5th
1815
20 vol.
6th
1820-1823, 1815-1824 sup.
20 vol. + 2 sup.
7th
1830-1842
21 vol.
8th
1852-1860
21 vol. + index
9th
1870-1890
24 vol. + index.
(1)
10th
1902-1903
9th ed. + 9 sup.
(2)
11th
1910-1911
29 vol.
(3)
12th
1921-1922
11th ed. + 3 sup.
13th
1926
11th ed.+ 6 sup.
14th
1929-1973
24 vol.
15th
1974-1984
28 vol.
16th
1985-
32 vol.
(2) 10th ed. added a maps volume and an index volume
(3) 11th ed. Considered the classic edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica; available in the public domain (see 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica).
External links