Edinburgh Encyclopædia

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Encyclopedia

title: "Edinburgh Encyclopædia" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1808-in-literature", "1808-introductions", "book-series-introduced-in-the-1800s", "scottish-encyclopedias", "scottish-books", "history-of-edinburgh", "culture-in-edinburgh", "reference-works-in-the-public-domain", "publications-established-in-1808", "1808-establishments-in-scotland", "1808-non-fiction-books", "william-blackwood-books", "19th-century-encyclopedias", "19th-century-british-literature"] description: "Encyclopedia" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_Encyclopædia" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Encyclopedia ::

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The Edinburgh Encyclopædia is an encyclopaedia in 18 volumes, printed and published by William Blackwood and edited by David Brewster between 1808 and 1830. In competition with the Edinburgh-published Encyclopædia Britannica, the Edinburgh Encyclopædia is generally considered to be strongest on scientific topics, where many of the articles were written by the editor.

The Edinburgh Encyclopædia was originally planned to encompassed 12 volumes, but by the time the final volume was published, in 1830, it counted 18 volumes. Some subjects, such as the polarization of light and electromagnetism, had not even been heard of when the project began, and yet the Encyclopedia had articles on them. The electromagnetism article was even contributed by Hans Christian Ørsted, the founder of modern electromagnetic studies. It also included information on contemporary events such as Christopher Hansteen's 1829 expedition to Siberia.

In 1815 William Elford Leach published the first bibliography of entomology in Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopædia (see Timeline of entomology – 1800–1850).

Joseph Parker of Philadelphia and Whiting & Watson of New York City printed American editions, both in 1832.

Contributors

A list of major contributors, with indications of their articles, was published in 1830.

Other contributors – "Gentlemen Eminent in Science and Literature" – included Adam Anderson, Charles Babbage, Thomas Carlyle, Robert Gordon, Robert Edmond Grant, John Leslie, Henry Liston, John Gibson Lockhart and Thomas Telford.

References

References

  1. Brewster, David. (1832). "The Edinburgh encyclopædia conducted by David Brewster, with the assistance of gentlemen eminent in science and literature, Volume 18". [[J. and E. Parker]].
  2. (1902). "Encyclopædia Britannica".
  3. Robert Collison ''Encyclopedias: their history throughout the ages'' 2nd ed. New York and London; Haffner Publishing Company 1966 pp.175–6
  4. Sir David Brewster. (1830). "The Edinburgh Encyclopædia". Printed for W. Blackwood.
  5. (1833). "The Literary gazette: A weekly journal of literature, science, and the fine arts". H. Colburn.
  6. Desmond, Adrian. (October 2006). "The bibliography of Robert Edmond Grant (1793–1874)".
  7. {{cite DNB
  8. Martha McMackin Garland. (1980). "Cambridge Before Darwin: The Idéal of Alihsral Education, 1800-1860". Cambridge University Press.
  9. Georg Lehner. (2011). "China in European Encyclopaedias, 1700-1850". [[Koninklijke Brill]].
  10. "Letters, ''TC to Alexander Galloway; 25 December 1821''; DOI: 10.1215/lt-18211225-TC-AGA-01; CL 1: 419".
  11. John Bulloch, John Alexander Henderson (editors), ''Scottish Notes and Queries'' (1888), p. 40; [https://archive.org/stream/scottishnotesan05unkngoog#page/n66/mode/2up archive.org].
  12. {{cite DNB
  13. Chapple, John A. V.. "Stevenson, William".
  14. {{cite DNB

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1808-in-literature1808-introductionsbook-series-introduced-in-the-1800sscottish-encyclopediasscottish-bookshistory-of-edinburghculture-in-edinburghreference-works-in-the-public-domainpublications-established-in-18081808-establishments-in-scotland1808-non-fiction-bookswilliam-blackwood-books19th-century-encyclopedias19th-century-british-literature