{{About|the type of reference work}}

[[File:Brockhaus Lexikon.jpg|thumb|300px|''[[Brockhaus Enzyklopädie]]'']]

An '''encyclopedia''' or '''encyclopaedia''' (also spelled '''encyclopædia''', see [[American and British English spelling differences|spelling differences]])<ref name="Oxford English Dictionary">{{cite web|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/61848?redirectedFrom=encyclopaedia#eid |format=online |publisher=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] (OED.com), [[Oxford University Press]] |title=encyclopaedia |accessdate=2012-02-18}}</ref> is a type of [[reference work]] or [[compendium]] holding a comprehensive summary of [[information]] from either all branches of [[knowledge]] or a particular branch of knowledge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.rcc.edu/riverside/glossaryoflibraryterms.htm#e |title=Encyclopedia. |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070803182506/http://library.rcc.edu/riverside/glossaryoflibraryterms.htm#e |archivedate=2007-08-03}} Glossary of Library Terms. Riverside City College, Digital Library/Learning Resource Center. Retrieved on: November 17, 2007.</ref>

Encyclopedias are divided into [[article (publishing)|articles]] or entries, which are usually accessed [[Alphabetical order|alphabetically]] by article name.<ref name=DOLencyclopedia>{{cite book |title= Dictionary of Lexicography|last= Hartmann|first=R. R. K. |last2=James|first2=Gregory|author3=Gregory James|year= 1998|publisher= Routledge|location= |isbn= 0-415-14143-5|page=48 |pages= |url= http://books.google.com/?id=49NZ12icE-QC&pg=PA49&dq=%22encyclopedic+dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia&q=%22encyclopedic%20dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia|accessdate=July 27, 2010|quote=}}</ref> Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in most [[dictionary|dictionaries]].<ref name=DOLencyclopedia/> Generally speaking, unlike dictionary entries, which focus on [[Linguistics|linguistic]] information about [[word]]s, encyclopedia articles focus on [[fact]]ual information to cover the thing or concept for which the article name stands.<ref name=bejoint>Béjoint, Henri (2000). [http://books.google.com/books?id=DJ8gwtomUpMC&lpg=PA30&dq=lexicography%20translated%20encyclopedia%20dictionary&pg=PA30 ''Modern Lexicography''], pp. 30–31. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-829951-6</ref><ref name=EB>{{cite web |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186603/encyclopaedia|title=Encyclopaedia|author= |work= Encyclopædia Britannica|quote=An English lexicographer, H.W. Fowler, wrote in the preface to the first edition (1911) of ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English language'' that a dictionary is concerned with the uses of words and phrases and with giving information about the things for which they stand only so far as current use of the words depends upon knowledge of those things. The emphasis in an encyclopedia is much more on the nature of the things for which the words and phrases stand.|accessdate=July 27, 2010}}</ref><ref name=DOLei>{{cite book |title= Dictionary of Lexicography|last= Hartmann|first=R. R. K. |author2=Gregory James|year= 1998|publisher= Routledge|location= |isbn= 0-415-14143-5|page=49 |pages= |url= http://books.google.com/?id=49NZ12icE-QC&pg=PA49&dq=%22encyclopedic+dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia&q=%22encyclopedic%20dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia|accessdate=July 27, 2010|quote=In contrast with linguistic information, encyclopedia material is more concerned with the description of objective realities than the words or phrases that refer to them. In practice, however, there is no hard and fast boundary between factual and lexical knowledge.}}</ref><ref name=OHEL22>{{cite book |title= The Oxford History of English Lexicography, Volume I|last= Cowie|first=Anthony Paul|year= 2009|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= |isbn= 0-415-14143-5|page=22|pages= |url= http://books.google.com/?id=nhnVF9Or_wMC&printsec=frontcover&q|accessdate=August 17, 2010|quote=An 'encyclopedia' (encyclopaedia) usually gives more information than a dictionary; it explains not only the words but also the things and concepts referred to by the words.}}</ref>

Encyclopedias have existed for around 2,000 years; the oldest still in existence, ''[[Naturalis Historia]]'', was written starting in [[circa|ca.]] AD 77 by [[Pliny the Elder]]; it was not fully revised at the time of his death in 79. The modern encyclopedia evolved out of dictionaries around the 17th century. Historically, some encyclopedias were contained in one [[volume]], whereas others, such as the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', the ''[[Enciclopedia Italiana]]'' (62 volumes, 56,000 pages) or the world's largest, ''[[Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana]]'' (118 volumes, 105,000 pages), became huge multi-volume works. Some modern encyclopedias, such as [[Wikipedia]], are electronic and often freely available.

==Etymology==

[[File:Ringelbergius, 'Lucubrationes...KYKLOPEDEIA...' ed. Basel 1541 original.JPG|thumb|right|Title page of "''Lucubrationes''..." 1541 edition, the first book to use the word encyclopedia in the title]]

{{See also|American and British English spelling differences#Simplification of ae and oe}}

The word ''[[wikt:encyclopedia|encyclopedia]]'' comes from the [[Koine Greek]] {{lang|grc|ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία}},<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0060%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D10%3Asection%3D1 Ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία], Quintilian, ''Institutio Oratoria'', 1.10.1, at Perseus project<!--Perseus features an erroneous transcription: *ἐγκύκλικος instead of ἐγκύκλιος--></ref> [[List of Greek words with English derivatives#Transliteration|transliterated]] ''enkyklios paideia'', meaning "general education" from ''enkyklios'' (ἐγκύκλιος), meaning "circular, recurrent, required regularly, general"<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3De%29gku%2Fklios Ἐγκύκλιος], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', at Perseus project</ref> and ''[[paideia]]'' (παιδεία), meaning "education, rearing of a child";<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpaidei%2Fa Παιδεία], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', at Perseus project</ref> it was reduced to a single word due to an error<ref>According to some accounts, such as the [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/encyclopedia ''American Heritage Dictionary''], copyists of Latin manuscripts took this phrase to be a single Greek word, ''enkyklopaidia''.<!--The American Heritage Dictionary gives "enkuklopaedia" (a mistaken transliteration) but Wikipedia follows [[WP:GREEK]].--></ref> by copyists of [[Latin]] manuscripts. Together, the phrase literally translates as "complete instruction" or "complete knowledge".

{{quote|Indeed, the purpose of an encyclopedia is to collect knowledge disseminated around the globe; to set forth its general system to the men with whom we live, and transmit it to those who will come after us, so that the work of preceding centuries will not become useless to the centuries to come; and so that our offspring, becoming better instructed, will at the same time become more virtuous and happy, and that we should not die without having rendered a service to the human race in the future years to come.|[[Denis Diderot|Diderot]]<ref>Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;idno=did2222.0000.004;rgn=main;view=text ''Encyclopédie.''] University of Michigan Library:Scholarly Publishing Office and DLXS. Retrieved on: November 17, 2007</ref>}}

Copyists of Latin manuscripts took this phrase to be a single Greek word, ''enkyklopaidia'', with the same meaning, and this spurious Greek word became the New Latin word "encyclopaedia", which in turn came into English. Though the notion of a compendium of knowledge dates back thousands of years, the term was first used in the title of a book in 1517 by Johannes Aventinus: ''Encyclopedia orbisque doctrinarum, hoc est omnium artium, scientiarum, ipsius philosophiae index ac divisio'', and in 1538 by [[Joachimus Fortius Ringelbergius]], ''Lucubrationes vel potius absolutissima kyklopaideia'' ([[Basel]], 1538). The word ''encyclopaedia'' was first used as a noun in the title of his book by the Croatian encyclopedist [[Pavao Skalić]] in his ''Encyclopaedia seu orbis disciplinarum tam sacrarum quam prophanarum epistemon'' (Encyclopaedia, or Knowledge of the World of Disciplines, Basel, 1559).{{Dubious|date=September 2009}} One of the oldest vernacular uses was by [[François Rabelais]] in his ''Pantagruel'' in 1532.<ref>{{cite conference|booktitle=Pre-Modern Encyclopaedic Texts: Proceedings of the Second Comers Congress, Groningen, 1 – July 4, 1996|year=1997|publisher=BRILL|pages=213|author=Bert Roest|title=Compilation as Theme and Praxis in Franciscan Universal Chronicles|ISBN=90-04-10830-0|editor=Peter Binkley}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Pliny's Catalogue of Culture: Art and Empire in the Natural History|author=Sorcha Carey|page=17|chapter=Two Strategies of Encyclopaedism|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-925913-5}}</ref> Several encyclopedias have names that include the suffix ''-p(a)edia'', e.g., [[Banglapedia]] (on matters relevant for Bengal).

In British usage, the spellings ''encyclopedia'' and ''encyclopaedia'' are both current.<ref>[http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/chref/chref.py/main?title=21st&query=encyclopaedia "encyclopaedia"], Chambers Reference Online; [http://www.askoxford.com/results/?view=dict&field-12668446=encyclopaedia&branch=13842570&textsearchtype=exact&sortorder=score%2Cname "encyclopaedia"]{{dead link|date=May 2011}}, AskOxford.</ref> In American usage, only the former is commonly used.<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/61/97/E0129700.html "encyclopaedia"]{{dead link|date=May 2011}}, Bartleby.com; [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encyclopaedia "Encyclopaedia"], Merriam Webster.</ref> The spelling ''encyclopædia''—with the ''[[æ]]'' [[ligature (typography)|ligature]]—was frequently used in the 19th century and is increasingly rare, although it is retained in product titles such as ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' and others. The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (1989) records ''encyclopædia'' and ''encyclopaedia'' as equal alternatives (in that order), and notes the ''æ'' would be obsolete except that it is preserved in works that have Latin titles. ''[[Webster's Dictionary|Webster's Third New International Dictionary]]'' (1997–2002) features ''encyclopedia'' as the main headword and ''encyclopaedia'' as a minor variant. In addition, ''cyclopedia'' and ''cyclopaedia'' are now rarely used shortened forms of the word originating in the 17th century.

==Characteristics==

<!-- "Encyclopedia article" redirects to this section; See 'what links here' and change redirects if the section title is changed. -->

The modern encyclopedia was developed from the [[dictionary]] in the 18th century. Historically, both encyclopedias and dictionaries have been researched and written by well-educated, well-informed content [[expert]]s, but they are significantly different in structure. A dictionary is a linguistic work which primarily focuses on alphabetical listing of [[words]] and their [[definitions]]. [[Synonym]]ous words and those related by the subject matter are to be found scattered around the dictionary, giving no obvious place for in-depth treatment. Thus, a dictionary typically provides limited [[information]], [[wikt:Analysis|analysis]] or background for the word defined. While it may offer a definition, it may leave the reader lacking in [[understanding]] the meaning, significance or limitations of a [[Term (language)|term]], and how the term relates to a broader field of knowledge. An encyclopedia is, allegedly, not written in order to convince, although one of its goals is indeed to convince its reader about its own veracity. In the terms of [[Aristotle]]'s [[Modes of persuasion]], a dictionary should persuade the reader through ''[[logos]]'' (conveying only appropriate emotions); it will be expected to have a lack of [[pathos]] (it should not stir up irrelevant emotions), and to have little [[ethos]] except that of the dictionary itself.

To address those needs, an encyclopedia article is typically not limited to simple definitions, and is not limited to defining an individual word, but provides a more extensive meaning for a ''subject or [[list of academic disciplines|discipline]]''. In addition to defining and listing synonymous terms for the topic, the article is able to treat the topic's more extensive meaning in more depth and convey the most relevant accumulated knowledge on that subject. An encyclopedia article also often includes many [[map]]s and [[illustration]]s, as well as [[bibliography]] and [[statistics]].

Four major elements define an encyclopedia: its subject matter, its scope, its method of organization, and its method of production:

* Encyclopedias can be general, containing articles on topics in every field (the English-language ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' and German ''[[Brockhaus Enzyklopädie|Brockhaus]]'' are well-known examples). General encyclopedias often contain guides on how to do a variety of things, as well as embedded dictionaries and [[gazetteer]]s.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} There are also encyclopedias that cover a wide variety of topics but from a particular cultural, ethnic, or national perspective, such as the ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'' or ''[[Encyclopaedia Judaica]]''.

* Works of encyclopedic scope aim to convey the important accumulated knowledge for their subject domain, such as an encyclopedia of [[medicine]], [[philosophy]], or [[law]]. Works vary in the breadth of material and the depth of discussion, depending on the [[target audience]]. (For example, the [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html Medical encyclopedia] produced by A.D.A.M., Inc. for the U.S. [[National Institutes of Health]].)

* Some systematic method of organization is essential to making an encyclopedia usable as a work of reference. There have historically been two main methods of organizing printed encyclopedias: the [[alphabetical order|alphabetical]] method (consisting of a number of separate articles, organized in alphabetical order), or organization by [[hierarchy|hierarchical]] categories. The former method is today the most common by far, especially for general works. The fluidity of electronic media, however, allows new possibilities for multiple methods of organization of the same content. Further, electronic media offer previously unimaginable capabilities for search, [[Subject indexing|indexing]] and [[cross reference]]. The [[epigraph (literature)|epigraph]] from [[Horace]] on the title page of the 18th century ''Encyclopédie'' suggests the importance of the structure of an encyclopedia: "What grace may be added to commonplace matters by the power of order and connection."

* As modern multimedia and the information age have evolved, they have had an ever-increasing effect on the collection, verification, summation, and presentation of information of all kinds. Projects such as [[Everything2]], [[Encarta]], [[h2g2]], and Wikipedia are examples of new forms of the encyclopedia as [[information retrieval]] becomes simpler. The method of production for an encyclopedia historically has been supported in both for-profit and non-profit contexts. The ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'' mentioned above was entirely state sponsored, while the ''Britannica'' was supported as a for-profit institution. By comparison, [[Wikipedia]] is supported by volunteers contributing in a non-profit environment under the organization of the [[Wikimedia]] Foundation.

Some works entitled "dictionaries" are actually similar to encyclopedias, especially those concerned with a particular field (such as the ''[[Dictionary of the Middle Ages]]'', the ''[[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]]'', and ''[[Black's Law Dictionary]]''). The ''[[Macquarie Dictionary]],'' Australia's national dictionary, became an [[encyclopedic dictionary]] after its first edition in recognition of the use of proper nouns in common communication, and the words derived from such proper nouns.

There are some broad differences between encyclopedias and dictionaries. Most noticeably, encyclopedia articles are longer, fuller and more thorough than entries in most general-purpose dictionaries.<ref name=DOLencyclopedia/><ref name=DOLencyclopedicdefinition/> There are differences in content as well. Generally speaking, dictionaries provide [[linguistics|linguistic]] information about words themselves, while encyclopedias focus more on the thing for which those words stand.<ref name=bejoint/><ref name=EB/><ref name=DOLei/><ref name=OHEL22/> Thus, while dictionary entries are inextricably fixed to the word described, encyclopedia articles can be given a different entry name. As such, dictionary entries are not fully translatable into other languages, but encyclopedia articles can be.<ref name=bejoint/>

In practice, however, the distinction is not concrete, as there is no clear-cut difference between factual, "encyclopedic" information and linguistic information such as appears in dictionaries.<ref name=DOLei/><ref name=DOLencyclopedicdefinition>{{cite journal|journal= Dictionary of Lexicography|last= Hartmann|first=R. R. K. |last2=James|first2=Gregory|author3=Gregory James|year= 1998|publisher= Routledge|location= |isbn= 0-415-14143-5|pages=48–49 |title=Encyclopedic definition |url= http://books.google.com/?id=49NZ12icE-QC&pg=PA49&dq=%22encyclopedic+dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia&q=%22encyclopedic%20dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia|accessdate=July 27, 2010|quote=Usually these two aspects overlap – encyclopedic information being difficult to distinguish from linguistic information – and dictionaries attempt to capture both in the explanation of a meaning...}}</ref><ref name=Bejoint31>{{cite book |title= Modern Lexicography|last= Béjoint|first= Henri |authorlink= |year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= |isbn= 0-19-829951-6|page= 31|pages= |url= |accessdate=|quote= The two types, as we have seen, are not easily differentiated; encyclopedias contain information that is also to be found in dictionaries, and vice versa.}}</ref> Thus encyclopedias may contain material that is also found in dictionaries, and vice versa.<ref name=Bejoint31/> In particular, dictionary entries often contain factual information about the thing named by the word.<ref name=DOLencyclopedicdefinition/><ref name=Bejoint31/>

==History==

{{Main|History of encyclopedias}}

Encyclopedias have progressed from the beginning of history in written form, through medieval and modern times in print, and most recently, displayed on computer and distributed via computer networks.

=== Ancient times ===

[[Image:naturalishistoria.jpg|thumb|''Naturalis Historiæ'', 1669 edition, title page]]

One of the earliest encyclopedic works to have survived to modern times is the ''[[Naturalis Historia]]'' of [[Pliny the Elder]], a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] statesman living in the 1st century AD. He compiled a work of 37 chapters covering natural history, architecture, medicine, geography, geology, and all aspects of the world around him. He stated in the preface that he had compiled 20,000 facts from 2000 works by over 200 authors, and added many others from his own experience. The work was published around AD 77-79, although he probably never finished proofing the work before his death in the eruption of [[Vesuvius]] in AD 79.<ref name=naturalis>Naturalis Historia</ref>

===Middle Ages===

[[Isidore of Seville]], one of the greatest scholars of the early Middle Ages, is widely recognized for writing the first encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, the ''[[Etymologiae]]'' (''The Etymologies'') or ''Origines'' (around 630), in which he compiled a sizable portion of the learning available at his time, both ancient and modern. The work has 448 chapters in 20 volumes, and is valuable because of the quotes and fragments of texts by other authors that would have been lost had he not collected them.

The most popular encyclopedia of the [[Carolingian]] Age was the ''De universo'' or ''De rerum naturis'' by [[Rabanus Maurus]], written about 830; it was based on ''Etymologiae''.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}.

The encyclopedia of [[Suda]], a massive 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia, had 30 000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often derived from medieval Christian compilers. The text was arranged alphabetically with some slight deviations from common vowel order and place in the Greek alphabet.

The [[Historiography of early Islam|early Muslim compilations of knowledge]] in the Middle Ages included many comprehensive works. Around year 960, the [[Brethren of Purity]] of [[Basra]]<ref>P.D. Wightman (1953), ''The Growth of Scientific Ideas''</ref> were engaged in their [[Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity]]. Notable works include [[Al-Razi|Abu Bakr al-Razi]]'s encyclopedia of science, the [[Mutazilite]] [[Al-Kindi]]'s prolific output of 270 books, and [[Ibn Sina]]'s medical encyclopedia, which was a standard reference work for centuries. Also notable are works of [[universal history]] (or sociology) from [[Asharite]]s, [[al-Tabri]], [[Masudi|al-Masudi]], [[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari|Tabari]]'s ''[[History of the Prophets and Kings]]'', [[Ibn Rustah]], [[Ali ibn al-Athir|al-Athir]], and [[Ibn Khaldun]], whose [[The Muqadimmah|Muqadimmah]] contains cautions regarding trust in written records that remain wholly applicable today.

The enormous encyclopedic work in China of the ''[[Four Great Books of Song]]'', compiled by the 11th century AD during the early [[Song Dynasty]] (960–1279), was a massive literary undertaking for the time. The last encyclopedia of the four, the ''[[Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau]]'', amounted to 9.4 million [[Chinese characters]] in 1000 written volumes.

In the late Middle Ages, several authors had the ambition of compiling the sum of human knowledge in a certain field or overall, for example [[Bartholomew of England]], [[Vincent of Beauvais]], [[Radulfus Ardens]], [[Book of Sydrac|Sydrac]], [[Brunetto Latini]], Giovanni da Sangiminiano, [[Pierre Bersuire]]. Some were women, like [[Hildegard of Bingen]] and [[Herrad of Landsberg]]. The most successful of those publications were the ''Speculum maius (Great Mirror)'' of [[Vincent of Beauvais]] and the ''De proprietatibus rerum (On the Properties of Things)'' by [[Bartholomew of England]]. The latter was translated (or adapted) into French, Provençal, Italian, English, Flemish, Anglo-Norman, Spanish and German during the Middle Ages. Both were written in the middle of the 13th century. No medieval encyclopedia bore the title ''Encyclopaedia'' – they were often called ''On nature (De natura, De naturis rerum)'', ''Mirror (Speculum maius, Speculum universale)'', ''Treasure (Trésor)''.<ref>Monique Paulmier-Foucart, "Medieval Encyclopaedias", in André Vauchez (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages'', James Clarke & Co, 2002.</ref>

===Renaissance===

[[File:Margarita Philosopica by Reisch 2.jpg|thumb|Anatomy in ''Margarita Philosophica'', 1565]]

These works were all hand copied and thus rarely available, beyond wealthy patrons or monastic men of learning: they were expensive, and usually written for those extending knowledge rather than those using it.<ref name="dotma">See "Encyclopedia" in ''[[Dictionary of the Middle Ages]]''.</ref>

During [[Renaissance]] the creation of [[printing]] allowed a wider diffusion of encyclopedias and every scholar could have his or her own copy. The ''De expetendis et fugiendis rebus'' by Giorgio Valla was posthumously printed in 1501 by [[Aldo Manuzio]] in [[Venice]]. This work followed the traditional scheme of liberal arts. However, Valla added the translation of ancient Greek works on mathematics (firstly by [[Archimedes]]), newly discovered and translated. The ''Margarita Philosophica'' by [[Gregor Reisch]], printed in 1503, was a complete encyclopedia explaining the seven liberal arts.

The term encyclopaedia was coined by 16th century humanists who misread copies of their texts of [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and [[Quintilian]], and combined the two Greek words "''enkyklios paideia''" into one word, έγκυκλοπαιδεία.<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3De%29gkuklopaidei%2Fa Ἐγκυκλοπαιδεία], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', at Perseus project</ref> The phrase ''enkyklios paideia'' (ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία) was used by Plutarch and the Latin word Encyclopedia came from him.

The first work titled in this way was the ''Encyclopedia orbisque doctrinarum, hoc est omnium artium, scientiarum, ipsius philosophiae index ac divisio'' written by [[Johannes Aventinus]] in 1517.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}

The English physician and philosopher, Sir [[Thomas Browne]] used the word 'encyclopaedia' in 1646 in the preface [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/pseudodoxia/pseudo1.html to the reader] to define his ''[[Pseudodoxia Epidemica]]'', a major work of the 17th-century scientific revolution. Browne structured his encyclopaedia upon the time-honoured schemata of the Renaissance, the so-called 'scale of creation' which ascends through the mineral, vegetable, animal, human, planetary and cosmological worlds. ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' was a European best-seller, translated into French, Dutch and German as well as Latin it went through no less than five editions, each revised and augmented, the last edition appearing in 1672.

===18th–19th centuries===

[[Image:Encyclopedie de D'Alembert et Diderot - Premiere Page - ENC 1-NA5.jpg|thumb|[[Encyclopédie]], 1773]]

The beginnings of the modern idea of the general-purpose, widely distributed printed encyclopedia precede the 18th century encyclopedists. However, [[Ephraim Chambers|Chambers]]' ''[[Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences]]'' (1728), and the ''[[Encyclopédie]]'' of [[Denis Diderot]] and [[Jean le Rond d'Alembert]] (1751 onwards), as well as ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' and the ''[[Brockhaus encyclopedia|Conversations-Lexikon]]'', were the first to realize the form we would recognize today, with a comprehensive scope of topics, discussed in depth and organized in an accessible, systematic method. Chambers, in 1728, followed the earlier lead of John Harris's ''[[Lexicon Technicum]]'' of 1704 and later editions (see also below); this work was by its title and content "A Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences: Explaining not only the Terms of Art, but the Arts Themselves".

During the 19th and early 20th century, many smaller or less developed languages{{which|date=December 2014}} saw their first encyclopedias, using French, German, and English role models. While encyclopedias in larger languages, having large markets that could support a large editorial staff, churned out new 20-volume works in a few years and new editions with brief intervals, such publication plans often spanned a decade or more in smaller languages.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

===20th century===

[[File:EncycBrit1913.jpg|thumb|left|1913 advertisement for ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', the oldest and one of the largest contemporary English encyclopedias]]

Popular and affordable encyclopedias such as [[Harmsworth's Universal Encyclopaedia]] and the [[Children's Encyclopaedia]] appeared in the early 1920s.

In the United States, the 1950s and 1960s saw the introduction of several large popular encyclopedias, often sold on installment plans. The best known of these were ''[[World Book]]'' and ''[[Funk and Wagnalls]]''.

The second half of the 20th century also saw the proliferation of specialized encyclopedias that compiled topics in specific fields. This trend has continued. Encyclopedias of at least one volume in size now exist for most if not all [[academic discipline]]s, including such narrow topics such as [[bioethics]] and [[African American history]].

By the late 20th century, encyclopedias were being published on [[CD-ROM]]s for use with personal computers. [[Microsoft]]'s ''[[Encarta]]'', launched in 1993, was a landmark example as it had no printed equivalent. Articles were supplemented with both video and audio files as well as numerous high-quality images. After sixteen years, Microsoft discontinued the Encarta line of products in 2009.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://encarta.msn.com/guide_page_FAQ/FAQ.html|title= Important Notice: MSN Encarta to be Discontinued|publisher=MSN Encarta|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?id=1257023810258996|archivedate=2009-10-31}}</ref>

===21st century===

In 2001, [[Jimmy Wales]] and [[Larry Sanger]] launched [[Wikipedia]], a collaboratively edited, multilingual, open-source, free [[Internet]] encyclopedia supported by the non-profit [[Wikimedia Foundation]]. As of December 2014, there are 4,678,709 articles in the English Wikipedia. There are 287 different editions of Wikipedia. As of February 2014, it had 18 billion page views and nearly 500 million unique visitors each month.<ref name="small screen2">{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/technology/wikipedia-vs-the-small-screen.html | title=Wikipedia vs. the Small Screen | work=New York Times | date=9 February 2014 | last=Cohen |first=Noam}}</ref> Wikipedia has more than 22 million accounts, out of which there were over 73,000 active editors globally, as of May 2014. Wikipedia's accuracy was found by a ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' study to be close to that of [[Encyclopædia Britannica]],<ref name="GilesJ2005Internet">{{cite journal|author=Jim Giles|title=Internet encyclopedias go head to head|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=438|issue=7070|pages=900–901|date=December 2005|pmid=16355180|url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7070/full/438900a.html|doi=10.1038/438900a|authorlink=Jim Giles (reporter)|bibcode=2005Natur.438..900G}}{{subscription required}}

Note: The study was cited in several news articles; e.g.:

* {{cite news|title=Wikipedia survives research test|publisher=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4530930.stm|date=December 15, 2005|accessdate=}}</ref> with Wikipedia being much larger. However, [[Criticism of Wikipedia|critics]] argue Wikipedia exhibits [[systemic bias]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewArticle/777 | title=Gender Bias in Wikipedia and Britannica | accessdate=2 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cplx.20164/abstract | title=Analyzing and visualizing the semantic coverage of Wikipedia and its authors | accessdate=2 June 2015}}</ref> and its group dynamics hinder its goals.{{Clarify|date=March 2015}} Many academics, historians, teachers, and journalists reject Wikipedia as a reliable source of information, primarily for being a mixture of truths, half truths, and some falsehoods, and that as a resource about many controversial topics, is notoriously subject to manipulation and spin.<ref name="WikiStat2">{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesWikipediaZZ.htm#editor_activity_levels|title=Wikipedia Statistics – Tables – Active wikipedians|publisher=Stats.wikimedia.org|accessdate=2013-07-04|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724005049/https://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesWikipediaZZ.htm|archivedate=2014-07-24}}</ref> By far the largest web-based encyclopedia, Wikipedia is not, however, the only one in existence. There are several much smaller, but usually more specialized, encyclopedias of various thematics, dedicated to a specific geographic region or time period.<ref>Sideris A., [https://www.academia.edu/481168/The_Encyclopedic_Concept_in_the_Web_Era= "The Encyclopedic Concept in the Web Era"], in Ioannides M., Arnold D., Niccolucci F. and K. Mania (eds.), ''The e-volution of Information Communication Technology in Cultural Heritage. Where Hi-Tech Touches the Past: Risks and Challenges for the 21st Century. VAST 2006'', Epoch, Budapest 2006, pp. 192-197. ISBN 963-8046-74-0.</ref>

==See also==

{{columns-list|2|

* [[Bibliography of encyclopedias]]

* [[Biographical dictionary]]

* [[Encyclopedic knowledge]]

* [[Fictitious entry]]

* [[History of science and technology]]

* [[Lexicography]]

* [[Library science]]

* [[Lists of encyclopedias]]

* [[Thesaurus]]

}}

{{subject bar|portal1=Literature|portal2=Information science|portal3=Education}}

==Notes==

{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==

{{refbegin|30em}}

* [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=encyclopedia&searchmode=none EtymologyOnline]

* {{cite web |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186603/encyclopaedia|title=Encyclopaedia|author= |work= Encyclopædia Britannica|quote= |accessdate=July 27, 2010}}

* {{cite book |title= Modern Lexicography|last= Béjoint|first= Henri |authorlink= |year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= |isbn= 0-19-829951-6|page= |pages= |url= |accessdate=|quote= }}

* C. Codoner, S. Louis, M. Paulmier-Foucart, D. Hüe, M. Salvat, A. Llinares, ''L'Encyclopédisme. Actes du Colloque de Caen'', A. Becq (dir.), Paris, 1991.

* {{cite book|title=Lexicography at a Crossroads: Dictionaries and Encyclopedias Today, Lexicographical Tools Tomorrow|editor=Bergenholtz, H., Nielsen, S., Tarp, S.|publisher=Peter Lang|year=2009|isbn=978-3-03911-799-4}}

* {{cite book|last=Blom|first=Phillip|title=Enlightening the World: Encyclopédie, the Book that Changed the Course of History|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York; Basingstoke|year=2004|isbn=978-1-4039-6895-1|oclc=57669780}}

* {{cite book|last=Collison|first=Robert Lewis|title=Encyclopaedias: Their History Throughout the Ages|publisher=Hafner|location=New York, London|year=1966|edition=2nd|oclc=220101699}}

* {{cite book |title= The Oxford History of English Lexicography, Volume I|last= Cowie|first=Anthony Paul|year= 2009|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= |isbn= 0-415-14143-5|page=|pages= |url= http://books.google.com/?id=nhnVF9Or_wMC&printsec=frontcover&q|accessdate=August 17, 2010|quote=}}

* {{cite book|last=Darnton|first=Robert|title=The business of enlightenment : a publishing history of the Encyclopédie, 1775–1800|publisher=Belknap Press|location=Cambridge|year=1979|isbn=0-674-08785-2}}

* {{cite book |title= Dictionary of Lexicography|last= Hartmann|first=R. R. K. |last2=James|first2=Gregory|author3=Gregory James|year= 1998|publisher= Routledge|location= |isbn= 0-415-14143-5|page=|pages= |url= http://books.google.com/?id=49NZ12icE-QC&pg=PA49&dq=%22encyclopedic+dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia&q=%22encyclopedic%20dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia|accessdate=July 27, 2010|quote=}}

* {{cite book|title=Notable encyclopedias of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: nine predecessors of the Encyclopédie|editor=Kafker, Frank A.|publisher=Voltaire Foundation|location=Oxford|year=1981|isbn=978-0-7294-0256-9|oclc=10645788}}

* {{cite book|title=Notable encyclopedias of the late eighteenth century: eleven successors of the Encyclopédie|editor=Kafker, Frank A.|publisher=Voltaire Foundation|location=Oxford|year=1994|isbn=978-0-7294-0467-9|oclc=30787125}}

* {{cite book|last=Needham|first=Joseph|title=Science and Civilization in China|publisher=Caves Books Ltd.|location=Taipei|year=1986|volume=5 – Chemistry and Chemical Technology|chapter=Part 7, Military Technology; the Gunpowder Epic|isbn=978-0-521-30358-3|oclc=59245877}}

* {{cite journal|last=Rosenzweig|first=Roy|authorlink=Roy Rosenzweig|date=June 2006|title=Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past|journal=Journal of American History|volume=93|issue=1|pages=117–46|issn=1945-2314|url=http://chnm.gmu.edu/essays-on-history-new-media/essays/?essayid=42 | doi = 10.2307/4486062 }}

* Sideris, Athanasios (2006). [https://www.academia.edu/481168/The_Encyclopedic_Concept_in_the_Web_Era= "The Encyclopedic Concept in the Web Era"], in Ioannides M., Arnold D., Niccolucci F. and K. Mania (eds.), ''The e-volution of Information Communication Technology in Cultural Heritage. Where Hi-Tech Touches teh Past: Risks and Challenges for the 21st Century. VAST 2006'', Epoch, Budapest, pp.&nbsp;192–197. ISBN 963-8046-74-0.

* {{cite book|last=Walsh|first=S. Padraig|title=Anglo-American general encyclopedias: a historical bibliography, 1703–1967|publisher=Bowker|location=New York|year=1968|page=270|oclc=577541}}

* {{cite book|last=Yeo|first=Richard R.|title=Encyclopaedic visions : scientific dictionaries and enlightenment culture|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, New York|year=2001|isbn=978-0-521-65191-2|oclc=45828872|url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/history-ideas-and-intellectual-history/encyclopaedic-visions-scientific-dictionaries-and-enlightenment-culture?format=HB}}

{{refend}}

==External links==

{{Commons category|Encyclopedias}}

{{Wiktionary|encyclopedia|encyclopaedia|encyclopedic}}

{{Wikisource portal|Encyclopedias}}

* [http://www.educ.fc.ul.pt/hyper/eng/index.html Encyclopaedia and Hypertext] <!-- Is this important enough to include in this article? -->

* [http://www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-errors-books.html Internet Accuracy Project] – Biographical errors in encyclopedias and almanacs

* [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;idno=did2222.0000.004;rgn=main;view=text Encyclopedia] – Diderot's article on the Encyclopedia from the original [[Encyclopédie]].

* [http://www.dm.unipi.it/~tucci/index.html De expetendis et fugiendis rebus] – First Renaissance encyclopedia

* [http://kennedy.byu.edu/staff/peterson/multivol/multibooks.html Errors and inconsistencies in several printed reference books and encyclopedias]

* [http://reviews.cnet.com/1990-3118_7-6378998-1.html Digital encyclopedias put the world at your fingertips]&nbsp;– [[CNET]] article

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20080112134535/http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/reference/encycl.htm Encyclopedias online] University of Wisconsin&nbsp;– Stout listing by category

* [http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/HistSciTech/Cyclopaedia Chambers' ''Cyclopaedia''], 1728, with the 1753 supplement

* [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa&cc=moa&key=title&page=browse&value=encyclop%C3%A6dia+americana&Submit=Quick+Browse ''Encyclopædia Americana''], 1851, [[Francis Lieber]] ed. (Boston: Mussey & Co.) at the University of Michigan Making of America site

* [http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/ ''Encyclopædia Britannica''], articles and illustrations from 9th ed., 1875–89, and 10th ed., 1902–03.

* {{Wikisource-inline|list=

** {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Cyclopædia|short=x |noicon=x}}

** {{Cite Americana|wstitle=Encyclopædia|short=x |noicon=x}}

** {{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Encyclopædia|short=x |noicon=x}}

** {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Encyclopaedia|short=x |noicon=x}}

** {{Cite Nuttall|title=Encyclopædia|short=x |noicon=x}}

** {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Encyclopædia|year=1905|short=x |noicon=x}}

** {{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Cyclopædia|short=x |noicon=x}}

}}

[[Category:Encyclopedias| ]]

[[Category:Tertiary sources]]

[[Category:Tertiary historical works]]