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, 12:3–22 (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’Encyclopédie, 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. 228–254, and vol. 2, plates 155–174 (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, Sahagún, L’Encyclopédie, the Metropolitana, the Britannica, L’Encyclopédie française, and Arabic and Chinese encyclopaedias of the classical period. “The Uses of Encyclopaedias: Past, Present, and Future,” American Behavioral Scientist, 6:3–40 (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 Encyclopédie, 1775–1800 (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 1703–1967. 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.
