How did encyclopaedias come into being?
The current generation of Google-savvy generation hardly turns to books for knowledge. So, it’s no wonder that not too many of them are aware of the term encyclopaedia. These are books of reference that have been existing for centuries. An encyclopaedia contains information on a wide array of asubjects arranged alphabetically. The word encyclopedia comes from the Greek phrase, ‘enkyklios paideia’, which means ‘general education’. It originally referred to a circle or a complete system of learning or an all-round education. Read on to know more about the fascinating world of encyclopedias:
The first encyclopaedia
It is said that the earliest English-language general encyclopaedia is Encycloedia Britannica. The first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica appeared in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768. It has depended on both outside experts and its own editors with diverse subject-area expertise to write its entries from its inception. The articles are then fact-checked, revised, and copyedited by Britannica editors, ensuring that they satisfy Britannica's long-standing standards for readability and accuracy. Furthermore, the same group of editors revises and updates existing articles on a regular basis to reflect new advancements in those fields.
The first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica was published and printed in Edinburgh for engraver Andrew Bell and printer Colin Macfarquhar and sold by Macfarquhar at his printing studio on Nicolson Street.
Evolution of encyclopaedias
Throughout its long history, the meaning of the word encyclopaedia has evolved significantly. Most people today think of an encyclopaedia as a multi-volume collection of knowledge-based content, complete with maps and a full index, as well as numerous add-ons like bibliographies, illustrations, abbreviations and foreign expressions lists, gazetteers, etc. Encyclopaedias have been published in a variety of formats, ranging from a single 200-page volume produced by a single person to massive collections of 100 volumes or more. The extent to which knowledge has been covered has varied depending on the time and country in which it is published. Many encyclopaedias have removed illustrations, atlases, and bibliographies. Also, biographies of real people have long been considered inappropriate.
The encyclopaedia, which has been organised alphabetically, has a short history of less than 1,000 years. There has been no agreement on how an encyclopaedia's content should be organised. The method was usually utility-based in Roman times, with everyday topics like astronomy and geography appearing first, and the fine arts appearing at the end.
Popularity of encyclopedias in the present times
Out of all the various sorts of reference materials that exist around us, dictionaries, atlases, directories, gazetteers and more, the encyclopaedias are arguably the most self-contained and all-inclusive of them. Each of the others transmits some information about each subject it deals with; only the encyclopaedia tries to cover an entire range of knowledge, and provide a full account of what is known about each topic.
Though the internet has long surpassed Encyclopedia Britannica in popularity, it will continue to be a collector’s delight. However, free, online crowdsourced encyclopaedias such as Wikipedia that had its humble beginning in 2001 have continued to engage and interest readers over the years.