Book contents
- The European Encyclopedia
- The European Encyclopedia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Chronological List of Printed Encyclopedias
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Genres of Encyclopedias
- Chapter 2 The Contents of Encyclopedias
- Chapter 3 Size, Price, and the Economics of Encyclopedias
- Chapter 4 Preparing an Encyclopedia
- Chapter 5 The Organization of Encyclopedias
- Chapter 6 Illustrations in Encyclopedias
- Chapter 7 Authorship in Encyclopedias
- Chapter 8 Publishing an Encyclopedia
- Chapter 9 Readers and Users of Encyclopedias
- Chapter 10 Encyclopedias after Print
- Bibliography
- Index
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 June 2019
- The European Encyclopedia
- The European Encyclopedia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Chronological List of Printed Encyclopedias
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Genres of Encyclopedias
- Chapter 2 The Contents of Encyclopedias
- Chapter 3 Size, Price, and the Economics of Encyclopedias
- Chapter 4 Preparing an Encyclopedia
- Chapter 5 The Organization of Encyclopedias
- Chapter 6 Illustrations in Encyclopedias
- Chapter 7 Authorship in Encyclopedias
- Chapter 8 Publishing an Encyclopedia
- Chapter 9 Readers and Users of Encyclopedias
- Chapter 10 Encyclopedias after Print
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This book is a history of the European encyclopedia, an alphabetical book of knowledge that took shape in the seventeenth century. For three centuries afterward, printed encyclopedias in the European tradition were an element of culture and peoples’ lives, initially just among Europe’s educated elite but ultimately through much of the literate world. In the late nineteenth century, a blurb from a physician and contributor to Johnson’s New Universal Cyclopaedia (1875–7) proclaimed Johnson’s the best book for families short of the Bible. As gigantic books, encyclopedias invited hyperbole, and one should be skeptical about testimonials, especially from contributors. Still, the notion that encyclopedias, by this time, stood at the forefront of books is corroborated elsewhere.
- Type
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- Information
- The European EncyclopediaFrom 1650 to the Twenty-First Century, pp. 1 - 14Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019