ENCYCLOPAEDIA

also spelled Encyclopedia (from Greek enkyklios paideia, general education), reference work that contains information on all branches of knowledge or that treats a particular branch of knowledge in a comprehensive manner. An encyclopaedia is a self-contained reference work with two main aims: to include up-to-date knowledge about a particular discipline or group of disciplines and to make this knowledge conveniently accessible. An encyclopaedia differs from a dictionary in that it can explain subjects in detail, rather than merely supplying definitions of words and phrases. It differs from an almanac in that the information contained in the latter is dated. It differs from pedagogical texts in its attempt to be easy to consult and to be readily understood by the layperson. To ensure comprehensiveness and depth of coverage, an encyclopaedia is generally written in the form of many separate articles, often by experts in the field. These articles include background and historical information as well as current material, which consists of varying combinations of text, tables, charts, illustrations, and, in the case of electronic encyclopaedias, audio and video recordings. Some encyclopaedias also offer study and learning guides, as well as yearly supplements that provide updates of various kinds. Encyclopaedias vary greatly in format and content. They have ranged from single-volume encyclopaedias (such as the Columbia Encyclopedia) to encyclopaedias of more than 100 volumes (China's Y-hai encyclopaedia was printed in 1738 in 240 volumes). A few encyclopaedias (such as The New Book of Knowledge) are published specifically for children. Major encyclopaedias may attempt to encompass the entire scope of knowledge as fully as possible for the layperson (e.g., Brockhaus Enzyklopdie), while an increasing number of others focus on specific fields of knowledge for the benefit of the specialist (e.g., the Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology). In addition, some encyclopaedias, such as the Encyclopdia Britannica, are published in both print and electronic versionsthe latter appearing as CD-ROM products or as online services. The many articles contained in an encyclopaedia must be made easily accessible to a reader who desires information on a specific subject. Among print encyclopaedias, it is almost universal practice to order the articles by their titles in a continuous alphabetical sequence, although some encyclopaedias group their articles into subdivisions based on broader subject areas. Finding the desired information is also facilitated by such aids as an alphabetical index and cross-references between articles. In an electronic encyclopaedia, a search-and-retrieval program produces a list of entries that contain information matching a specific request posed by the reader. The prototype of modern encyclopaedias is usually acknowledged to be Ephraim Chambers' Cyclopaedia (1728). This encyclopaedia is thought to have been the first to use an extensive system of cross-references, as well as the first for which supplements were issued. The first modern encyclopaedia was the French Encyclopdie (175165). This encyclopaedia probably had more influence on its time than did any other work. (See Encyclopdie.) The first edition of the Encyclopdia Britannica (q.v.) was published in 176871; as it passed through 14 subsequent editions and entered the world of electronic publishing, the Britannica evolved into the largest and most comprehensive general encyclopaedia in the English language. also spelled encyclopedia (from Greek enkyklios paideia, general education) reference work that contains information on all branches of knowledge or that treats a particular branch of knowledge in a comprehensive manner. For more than 2,000 years encyclopaedias have existed as summaries of extant scholarship in forms comprehensible to their readers. The word at first meant a circle or a complete system of learningthat is, an all-around education. When Rabelais used the term in French for the first time in Pantagruel (chapter 20), he was still talking of education. It was Paul Scalich, a German writer and compiler, who was the first to use the word to describe a book in the title of his Encyclopaedia; seu, orbis disciplinarum, tam sacrarum quam prophanum epistemon . . . (Encyclopaedia; or Knowledge of the World of Disciplines, Not Only Sacred but Profane . . . ), issued at Basel in 1559. The many encyclopaedias that had been published prior to this time either had been given fanciful titles (Hortus deliciarum, Garden of Delights) or had been simply called dictionary. The word dictionary has been widely used as a name for encyclopaedias, and Scalich's pioneer use of encyclopaedia did not find general acceptance until Denis Diderot made it fashionable with his historic French encyclopaedia, although cyclopaedia was then becoming fairly popular as an alternative term. Even today a modern encyclopaedia may still be called a dictionary, but no good dictionary has ever been called an encyclopaedia. The meaning of the word encyclopaedia has changed considerably during its long history. Today most people think of an encyclopaedia as a multivolume compendium of all available knowledge, complete with maps and a detailed index, as well as numerous adjuncts such as bibliographies, illustrations, lists of abbreviations and foreign expressions, gazetteers, and so on. They expect it to include biographies of the great men and women of the present as well as those of the past, and they take it for granted that the alphabetically arranged contents will have been written in their own language by many people and will have been edited by a highly skilled and scholarly staff; nevertheless, not one of these ingredients has remained the same throughout the ages. Encyclopaedias have come in all sizes, from a single 200-page volume written by one man to giant sets of 100 volumes or more. The degree of coverage of knowledge has varied according to the time and country of publication. Illustrations, atlases, and bibliographies have been omitted from many encyclopaedias, and for a long time it was not thought fitting to include biographies of living persons. Indexes are a late addition, and most of the early ones were useless. Alphabetical arrangement was as strongly opposed as the use of any language but Latin, at least in the first 1,000 years of publication in the West, and skilled group editorship has a history of scarcely 200 years. In this article the word encyclopaedia has been taken to include not only the great general encyclopaedias of the past and the present but all types of works that claim to provide in an orderly arrangement the essence of all that is known on a subject or a group of subjects. This includes dictionaries of philosophy and of American history as well as volumes such as The World Almanac and Book of Facts, which is really a kind of encyclopaedia of current information. An outline of the scope and history of encyclopaedias is essentially a guide to the development of scholarship, for encyclopaedias stand out as landmarks throughout the centuries, recording much of what was known at the time of publication. Many homes have no encyclopaedia, very few have more than one, yet in the past two millennia at least 2,000 encyclopaedias have been issued in various parts of the world, and some of these have had many editions. No library has copies of them all; if it were possible to collect them, they would occupy some two miles of shelf space. But they are worth preservingeven those that appear to be hopelessly out-of-datefor they contain many contributions by a large number of the world's leaders and scholars. Additional reading General works Walford's Guide to Reference Material, 5th ed., vol. 3 (1991); and Eugene P. Sheehy et al., (eds.), Guide to Reference Books, 10th ed. (1986), and their supplements, both provide histories and scholarly evaluations of the principal current English- and foreign-language encyclopaedias. American Reference Books Annual, a reviewing service for reference books published in the United States, regularly includes overviews of encyclopaedias. Gert A. Zischka, Index Lexicorum: Bibliographie der Lexikalischen Nachschlagewerke (1959), is important both for its excellent summary of the history of the encyclopaedia and for its extensive bibliography of encyclopaedias. Frances Neel Cheney and Wiley J. Williams, Fundamental Reference Sources, 2nd ed. (1980), includes discussions of good encyclopaedias. Annie M. Brewer, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Other Word-Related Books, 4th ed., 2 vol. (1988), is a classified catalog of about 38,000 dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and similar works in English and all other languages. Tom McArthur, Worlds of Reference: Lexicography, Learning, and Language from the Clay Tablet to the Computer (1986), is a readable history of reference book publishing. James Rettig (ed.), Distinguished Classics of Reference Publishing (1992), contains essays on the history and use of 32 reference books, including many mentioned in the article above. History and philosophy There are two short and very readable introductions to the subject: Library of Congress, The Circle of Knowledge (1979), a well-illustrated guide issued in connection with a Library of Congress exhibition; and Sigfrid H. Steinberg, Encyclopaedias, Signature, New Series, 12:322 (1951), a brilliant conspectus of the whole field of encyclopaedia history. Robert Collison, Encyclopaedias: Their History Throughout the Ages, 2nd ed. (1966), lists and describes in one chronological sequence encyclopaedias from both East and West, and pays particular attention to L'Encyclopdie, Brockhaus, the Britannica, the Metropolitana, and Larousse; it also includes a reprint of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Treatise on Method, a philosophical essay on the design of encyclopaedias. Fritz Saxl, Illustrated Mediaeval Encyclopaedias, in his Lectures, vol. 1, pp. 228254, and vol. 2, plates 155174 (1957, reissued 1978), is an important and original contribution to the subject, the 20 illustrations being especially interesting. The Journal of World History, vol. 9, no. 3 (1966), is a complete issue devoted to an international symposium on encyclopaedias, special attention being paid to St. Isidore, Hugh of Saint-Victor, Raoul Ardent, Vincent of Beauvais, Sahagn, L'Encyclopdie, the Metropolitana, the Britannica, L'Encyclopdie franaise, and Arabic and Chinese encyclopaedias of the classical period. The Uses of Encyclopaedias: Past, Present, and Future, American Behavioral Scientist, 6:340 (1962), is a stimulating symposium with contributions by Livio C. Stecchini, Jacques Barzun, Harry S. Ashmore, W.T. Couch, Charles Van Doren, Francis X. Sutton, David L. Sills, Carl F. Stover, and Alfred de Grazia. Robert Darnton, The Business of Enlightenment: A Publishing History of the Encyclopdie, 17751800 (1979), traces the history of Diderot's great encyclopaedia. Herman Kogan, The Great EB (1958), is a well-written and fascinating account of the Britannica and its history, but it is also valuable for the light it throws on the more practical problems and techniques of the encyclopaedia world in general. S. Padraig Walsh, Anglo-American General Encyclopedias (1968), is a historical bibliography of English-language encyclopaedias issued during the period 17031967. In each encyclopaedia the entry under the word Encyclopaedia or Encyclopedia will usually (but not invariably) provide information concerning that encyclopaedia's own history and often gives very useful information on the history of encyclopaedias in general. Additional details may often be found in an encyclopaedia's general introduction, which is usually printed in the first volume. Evaluative studies American Library Association, Reference Books Bulletin Editorial Board, Purchasing an Encyclopedia, 4th ed. (1992), is a pamphlet suggesting 12 criteria for evaluating the quality and usefulness of any encyclopaedia and contains the Board's recommendations concerning a number of major English-language encyclopaedias for adults and children; the Board's annual review of these encyclopaedias using the 12 criteria are published in Booklist, usually in September or October. Kenneth F. Kister, Kister's Best Encyclopedias, 2nd ed. (1994), is a comprehensive consumer guide to general and specialized subject encyclopaedias in the English language, as well as an annotated list of major foreign-language encyclopaedias.