List of historical encyclopedias

This is a list of encyclopedias, arranged by time period. For other arrangements, see list of encyclopedias.

Encyclopedias before 1700

• Nine Books of Disciplines by Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BC – 27 BC).
• Pliny's Natural History AD 77. Highly influential in the Middle Ages.
• De verborum significatu by Sextus Pompeius Festus (2nd century AD).
• Onomasticon by Julius Pollux (2nd century AD).
• The Emperor's Mirror (Huanglan), Wei dynasty (220-265), Chinese

5th century

• Martianus Capella, De nuptiis Mercurii et Philologiae. Introduced the division in seven liberal arts.

6th century

• Cassiodorus' Institutiones, AD 560. First Christian encyclopedia.

7th century

• Yiwen Leiju (622) Tang dynasty, Chinese
• St. Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae, AD 636. Christian encyclopedia, most influential encyclopedia of the early Middle Ages.
• Fa yüan chu lin, AD 668, a Buddhist encyclopedia of 100 volumes, compiled by Tao-shih

8th century

• Venerable Beda, De natura rerum

9th century

• Adab al-katib (The book of knowledge) by Ibn Qutayba (828–889). Earliest Arabic work that could be called an Encyclopedia.
• Bibliotheke by Patriarch Photius (9th century). Earliest Byzantine work that could be called an Encyclopedia.
• Hrabanus Maurus, 842. De rerum naturis (On the nature of things). Derived from Isidore's text.
• De Administrando Imperio, a domestic and foreign policy manual by emperor Constantine VII.

10th century

• Suda (10th century)
• Four Great Books of Song (Song Sida Shu) (10th to 11th century) Song dynasty, Chinese

11th century

• De omnifaria doctrina by Michael Psellos
• Speculum universale by Radulfus Ardens

12th century

• De diversis artibus, compiled 1100-1120 by Theophilus Presbyter.
• Liber Floridus, compiled in 1120 by Lambert of St. Omer
• Imago mundi, treaty of cosmography and history by Honorius Augustodunensis, about 1110.
• Didascalicon by Hugues de Saint-Victor (1096-1141) proposal of a new classification of sciences and a new method of lecture of the Bible.
• Hortus deliciarum written by Herrade of Landsberg, the first women to write an encyclopedia, between 1159 and 1175.

13th century

• Otia Imperialia by Gervase of Tilbury 1214
• Guillaume d'Auvergne, De universo creaturarum 1231.
• Gautier de Metz L’Image du monde 1246. In Lorrain dialect, based on Honorius Augustodunensis.
• Bartholomeus Anglicus, De proprietatibus rerum, 1240. The most widely read and quoted encyclopedia in the late-medieval period.
• Thomas of Cantimpré, Liber de natura rerum, 1256.
• Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum Majus, 1260. The most ambitious encyclopedia in the late-medieval period with over 3 million words.
• Brunetto Latini, Li Livres dou Trésor. In French.

15th century

• Yongle Encyclopedia (1403–1408). Ming Dynasty Chinese encyclopedia.
• Fons memorabilium universi by Domenico Bandini of Arezzo (early 15th century)
• Visio delectable by Alfonso de la Torre (c. 1484)

16th century

• Giorgio Valla, De expetendis et fugiendis rebus, 1501
• Domenico Nani Mirabelli, Polyanthea nova, 1503.
• Gregor Reisch, Margarita philosophica, 1503.
• Johannes Aventinus, Encyclopedia orbisque doctrinarum, hoc est omnium artium, scientiarum, ipsius philosophiae index ac divisio , 1517
• Juan Luis Vives, De disciplinis libri XX, 1531
• Joachim Sterck van Ringelbergh, Lucubrationes vel potius absolutissima kyklopaideia (Basel) 1541.
• Charles Estienne, Dictionarium historicum, geographicum et poeticum, 1553.
• Paul Skalic, philosopher born in Zagreb, first to use the term encyclopedia in the current sense. Encyclopediae seu orbis disciplinarum tam sacrarum quam profanarum epistemon, 1559 (Basel, Switzerland), 1571 (Köln, Germany).
• Theodor Zwinger (1533–1588), Theatrum Vitae Humanae, 1588.
• Bernardino de Sahagún: La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España, 1545-1590.
• Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) (1596) Ming dynasty, Chinese

17th century

• Sancai Tuhui, compiled by Wang Qi and Wang Siyi (1609)
• Antonio Zara: Anatomia ingeniorum et scientiarum, 1615.
• Johann Heinrich Alsted: Encyclopaedia septem tomi distincta 1630
• Laurentius Beyerlinck, Magnum Theatrum Vitae Humanae, 1631.
• Sir Thomas Browne: Pseudodoxia Epidemica 1646-1672
• János Apáczai Csere: Magyar encyclopaedia, c. 1655.
• Louis Moréri Le grand Dictionaire historique (The Great Historical Dictionary), 1671.
• Johann Jacob Hofmann, Lexicon universale, historico-geographico-chronologico-poetico-phîlologicum‘, Basel, 1677
• Antoine Furetière, Dictionnaire universel contenant généralement tous les mots françois, tant vieux que modernes, et les termes de toutes les sciences et des arts 1690.
• John Dunton: The ladies dictionary..., 1694.
• Johann Christoph Wagenseil: Pera librorum iuvenilium, 1695.
• Pierre Bayle: Dictionnaire Historique et Critique (Historical and Critical Dictionary), 1695.

Encyclopedias published 1700–1800

American encyclopedias

• Dobson's Encyclopædia (1789–1798; largely a reprint of the Britannica's 3rd edition)

British encyclopedias

• Lexicon Technicum (1704)
• Chambers's Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1728)
• An Universal History of Arts and Sciences (1745)
• Encyclopædia Britannica (1768, editions 2 and 3 by 1800)
• Chemical Dictionary by William Nicholson (1795)
• Encyclopædia Perthensis (1796–1806, ed 2 by 1816)

Chinese encyclopedias

• Gujin Túshu Jíchéng (1725–26) Qing dynasty
• Siku Quanshu (1782) Qing dynasty

French encyclopedias

• Dictionnaire de Trévoux (1704–1771)
• Encyclopédie, by Diderot and D'Alembert, (1751–1772)
• Descriptions des Arts et Métiers (1761–1788)
• Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire universel raisonné des connaissances humaines, Yverdon, (1770–1780)
• Encyclopédie Méthodique by Charles-Joseph Panckoucke, (1782–1832)

German encyclopedias

• Reales Staats- und Zeitungs-Lexicon by Philipp Balthasar Sinold von Schütz (1704)
• Curieuses Natur- Kunst- Gewerk- und Handlungs-Lexicon by Paul Jacob Marperger (1712)
• Allgemeines lexikon der Künste und Wißenschaften by Johann Theodor Jablonski (1721)
• Musicalisches Lexicon by Johann Gottfried Walther (1732)
• Allgemeines Gelehrten-Lexicon by Christian Gottlieb Jöcher (1733–1751)
• Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon by Johann Heinrich Zedler (1751–1754)
• Oekonomische Encyklopädie by Johann Georg Krünitz (1773–1858)
• Deutschen Encyclopädie (1788)
• Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonküstler by Ernst Ludwig Gerber (1790–1792)
• Conversations-Lexikon mit vorzüglicher Rücksicht auf die gegenwärtigen Zeiten (1796–1808; see Brockhaus)

Italian encyclopedias

• Vincenzo Coronelli Biblioteca Universale Sacro-Profana (1701–1707)
• Gianfrancesco Pivati Nuovo dizionario scientifico e curioso, sacroprofano (1746–1751)
• Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro Idea dell'Universo (1778-1792)

Japanese encyclopedias

• Wakan Sansai Zue (1712)

Polish encyclopedias

• Nowe Ateny (1745)
• Zbiór potrzebniejszych wiadomości (1781)

Encyclopedias published 1800–1900

American encyclopedias

• Encyclopaedia Americana (1829–1833) 13 volumes, editor Francis Lieber.
• New American Cyclopaedia (1857–1863) 16 volumes, editors George Ripley and Charles A. Dana.
• American Cyclopaedia (1873–1876), the retitled New American Cyclopaedia.
• Johnson's New Universal Cyclopaedia (1876–1878) 4 volumes. editors Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard and Arnold Henry Guyot.
• Cyclopedia of Universal History (180-84), World History
• Ridpath's Universal History (1895), World History
• Johnson's Universal Cyclopaedia (1893–1897), the retitled Johnson's New Universal Cyclopaedia, edited by Charles Kendall Adams.
• Alden's Library of Universal Knowledge (1879), a reprint of Chambers's Encyclopaedia with American additions.
• International Cyclopaedia (1884), initially it was largely a reprint of Alden's Library of Universal Knowledge, but later editions were improved by editors Harry Thurston Peck, Selim Peabody, Frank Moore Colby, and Daniel Coit Gilman.
• People's Cyclopedia of Universal Knowledge (1881) 3 volumes, 700 pages each, editor W. H. De Puy. Contains much from Chambers's Encyclopaedia. The 1898 title was The New People's Cyclopedia of Universal Knowledge.

Arabic encyclopedias

• Al-Muhit al Muhit ("The ocean of oceans"), Butrus al-Bustani (1867)

British encyclopedias

• Rees's Cyclopaedia (1802–1819)
• Encyclopædia Britannica (eds 4–9 by 1889)
• Edinburgh Encyclopaedia (1808–1830)
• British Encyclopaedia (1809)
• Encyclopaedia Londinensis (1810)
• Pantologia (1813)
• Encyclopaedia Metropolitana (1822–1845)
• Penny Cyclopaedia (1833–1846)
• English Encyclopaedia (1854–1862, supp. 1869–1873)
• Chambers's Encyclopaedia (1860; no relation to Chambers's Cyclopaedia of the 18th century)
• Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1870)
• Dictionary of Political Economy (1894–1899) by Inglis Palgrave
• Pears Cyclopaedia (1897), originally named Pears' Shilling Cyclopaedia
• The People's Select Cyclopedia (1897) by Charles Nisbett
• Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898–1904)

Czech encyclopedias

• Otto's encyclopedia (28 volumes, 1888-1908)

Danish encyclopedias

• Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon (19 volumes, 1893-1911)

Dutch encyclopedias

See also: Dutch encyclopedia

• Winkler Prins Geïllustreerde Encyclopaedie (1870–1882; 2nd ed. 1884-1888)

French encyclopedias

• Dictionnaires généraux, universels, encyclopédiques, et autres… A bibliography of French encyclopedias up to Larousse.

• Encyclopédie Méthodique (Panckoucke) 1782–1832
• Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique, François-Joseph Fétis (1835–1844)
• Encyclopédie nouvelle (Pierre Leroux and Jean Reynaud) 1839–1840
• Petite Encyclopédie du jeune âge, Larousse (1853)
• Nouvelle Biographie Générale, Ferdinand Hoefer (1853–1866)
• Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle by Pierre Larousse (17 volumes 1866–1877) —really an encyclopedia despite its name
• Dictionnaire de chimie pure et appliquée, Charles-Adolphe Wurtz (1874–1878)
• Dictionnaire de botanique, Henri Ernest Baillon (1876–1892)
• La Grande Encyclopédie, general secretaries of the editorial board: Camille Dreyfus and André Berthelot (31 volumes 1886–1902)

German encyclopedias

• Oekonomische Encyklopädie (General System of State, City, Home and Agriculture) Editor Johann Georg Krünitz (242 Volumes 1773–1858)
• Enzyclopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften im Grundrisse, G. F. W. Hegel (1817)
• Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste ("Ersch-Gruber"; 1818–1889, uncompleted)
• Brockhaus (eds. 1–14 by 1900)
• Pierers Universal-Lexikon (1824–1836; 7th ed. 1888–1893)
• Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, "Pauly-Wissowa" (1839–1852, 2nd ed. 1890–1980)
• Meyers Konversations-Lexikon (1839–1855; 5th ed. 1893–1897)
• Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche, Johann Jakob Herzog (1853–1868)
• Herders Konversations-Lexikon (1854–1857; 2nd ed. 1875–1879)
• Handbuch der Organischen Chemie, Friedrich Konrad Beilstein (1880-1882)
• Lexikon der gesamten Technik, Otto Lueger (1st Edition 1894–1899)
• Encyklopädie der mathematischen Wissenschaften, Felix Klein (1898–1933)

Hungarian encyclopedias

• A Pallas Nagy Lexikona (1893–1897)

Polish encyclopedias

• Encyklopedia Powszechna or Encyklopedia Orgelbranda (1st Edition 1859-1868)

Romanian encyclopedias

• Enciclopedia română (Editor: Constantin Diaconovich, 3 volumes, 1896–1904)

Russian encyclopedias

• Plyushar's Encyclopedic Lexicon (17 volumes, 1834-1841)
• Military Encyclopedic Lexicon (15 volumes, 1837-1852)
• Encyclopedia of Military and Marine Sciences (8 volumes, 1883-1897)
• Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (86 volumes, 1890-1906)
• Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary (9 volumes, 1891-1903)

Swedish encyclopedias

• Conversations-lexicon (4 volumes, 1821-1826), a translation of Brockhaus 2nd edition
• Svenskt konversationslexikon (4 volumes, 1845-1851) by Per Gustaf Berg
• Nordisk familjebok (20 volumes, 1876–1899; 2nd ed. 1904–1926)

Spanish encyclopedias

• Enciclopedia moderna (1851), Francisco de P. Mellado
• Diccionario geográfico, estadístico, histórico, de la isla de Cuba (1863–66)

Specialist encyclopedias

• Engineer's and Mechanic's Encyclopaedia (1836/1837; 2nd ed. 1849; often cited as Hebert's Encyclopaedia)
• Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts and Manufactures (1852; often cited as Tomlinson's Cyclopaedia)
• A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1842)
• Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870)
• Cyclopaedia of Political Science - Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States by the Best American and European Writers (1881–1899) John J. Lalor. On Econlib.
• The Cyclopedia of New Zealand (1897–1908 mainly self-published)

Turkish encyclopedias

• [Kamus-ül-Ulûm ve’l-Maarif] Editor Ali Suavi,1870
• [Lûgaat-i Tarihiye ve Coğrafiye] Editor Ahmet Rıfat Efendi,1881 (7 volumes)
• [Sicil-i Osmani] Editor Mehmet Süreyya Bey, 1890
• [Kamus-ül-Alam] Editor » : Şemsettin Sami, 1899 (6 volumes)

Religious encyclopedias

• Coptic Encyclopedia (1993)
• Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906)
• Encyclopaedia Judaica
• Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)
• Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1914; public domain since 2004)
• St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India (1973,82,2010)
• Encyclopedia of Mormonism (1992)
• Orthodox Encyclopedia (Serbe)
• Encyclopaedia of Islam
• Hastings, James: Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (1908–1926)
• Unitarian-Universalist Encyclopedia (http:unitarian-universalist.wetpaint.com)

See also

• List of encyclopedias
• List of encyclopedias by branch of knowledge
• List of encyclopedias by language (English)

References

• Collison, Robert, Encyclopaedias: Their History Throughout the Ages, 2nd ed. (New York, London: Hafner, 1966)