At the Fall 2015 book sale, we will offer the complete
Encyclopedia Brittanica 12th
Edition -- which consists of the renowned 11th Edition, published in 1910, and the 3-volume supplement to update the set through 1922.
Although today most households have given up on the once-essential
family encyclopedia, The
Encyclopedia Brittanica, 11th Edition remains a
treasured reference work
among book lovers and historians.
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2015 Fall Sale Preview: complete Encyclopedia Brittanica 12th
Edition, $200.
Click photo to enlarge. |
The 11th Edition publishers dramatically changed their approach to creating this "sum of human knowledge," as they advertised it. Earlier editions were written by one or two authors and consisted of dense, academic, and not particularly useful text. By contrast, the 11th Edition was extensively rewritten with an emphasis on readability, with hundreds of scholars and journalists contributing 40,000 articles.
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Final 11th Edition vols plus the 1922 12th
Edition supplement.
Click photo to enlarge. |
Beyond being exceptionally well-written, the 11th Edition fascinates many readers because it is among the last works that presume to comprehensively catalog and elucidate the entire sphere of human knowledge. As such, it presents a panoramic, Edwardian view of world at the close of the age of reason, before (as Hans Koning
wrote) that era's optimism and confidence were lost in World War I's mindless destruction.
Note that the 12th Edition set we offer includes the entire 11th Edition plus the supplement, published in 1922, which includes summaries of the events leading up to, during, and after the Great War. It will become available for $200 at the start of the fall sale, October 1.