Editing Encyclopædia Britannica (section)

== Edition summary ==
{{Main|History of the Encyclopædia Britannica|l1=History of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''}}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+Overview of editions of ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
|-
!scope="col" abbr="Edition" | Edition / supplement
!scope="col" abbr="Publication" | Publication years
!scope="col"| Size
!scope="col"| Sales
!scope="col" abbr="Editor" | Chief editor(s)
!scope="col"| Notes
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| [[Encyclopædia Britannica First Edition|1st]]
| 1768–1771
| 3 volumes, 2,391 pages,{{efn|1=Vol. I has (viii), 697, (i) pages, but 10 unpaginated pages are added between pages 586 and 587. Vol. II has (iii), 1009, (ii) pages, but page numbers 175–176 as well as page numbers 425–426 were used twice; additionally page numbers 311–410 were not used. Vol. III has (iii), 953, (i) pages, but page numbers 679–878 were not used.{{sfnp|Kafker |Loveland |2009 |p=22}}}} 160 plates
| 3,000{{efn|1=Archibald Constable estimated in 1812 that there had been 3,500 copies printed, but revised his estimate to 3,000 in 1821.{{sfnp|Kafker |Loveland |2009 |p=58}}}}
| William Smellie
| Largely the work of one editor, Smellie; An estimated 3,000 sets were eventually sold, priced at £12 apiece; 30 articles longer than three pages. The pages were bound in three equally sized volumes covering Aa–Bzo, Caaba–Lythrum, and Macao–Zyglophyllum.
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| [[Encyclopædia Britannica Second Edition|2nd]]
| 1777–1784
| 10 volumes, 8,595 pages, 340 plates
| 1,500<ref name="kogan_1958" />
| [[James Tytler]]
| Largely the work of one editor, Tytler; 150 long articles; pagination errors; all maps under "Geography" article; 1,500 sets sold<ref name="kogan_1958" />
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| [[Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition|3rd]]
| 1788–1797
| 18 volumes, 14,579 pages, 542 plates
| 10,000 or 13,000{{efn|1=According to Smellie, it was 10,000, as quoted by Robert Kerr in his "Memoirs of William Smellie." Archibald Constable was quoted as saying the production started at 5,000 and concluded at 13,000.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |edition=14th |encyclopedia=Britannica |volume=8 |title=Encyclopedia |page=374}}</ref>}}
| Colin Macfarquhar and George Gleig
| £42,000 profit on 10,000 copies sold; first dedication to monarch; pirated by Moore in Dublin and [[Thomas Dobson (printer)|Thomas Dobson]] in Philadelphia
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| [[Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition|supplement to&nbsp;3rd]]
| 1801, revised in 1803
| 2 volumes, 1,624 pages, 50 plates
|
| George Gleig
| Copyright owned by [[Thomas Bonar]]
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| 4th
| 1801–1810
| 20 volumes, 16,033 pages, 581 plates
| 4,000<ref>{{cite EB9 |title=Encyclopedia |volume=8}}</ref>
| [[James Millar (scientist)|James Millar]]
| Authors first allowed to retain copyright. Material in the supplement to 3rd not incorporated due to copyright issues.
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| 5th
| 1815–1817
| 20 volumes, 16,017 pages, 582 plates
|
| James Millar
| Reprint of the 4th edition. Financial losses by Millar and Andrew Bell's heirs; EB rights sold to [[Archibald Constable]]
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| supplement to&nbsp;4th, 5th, and 6th
| 1816–1824
| 6 volumes, 4,933 pages, 125 plates<sup>[[#editionnote1|1]]</sup>
| 10,500<ref name="kogan_1958" />
| Macvey Napier
| Famous contributors recruited, such as Sir [[Humphry Davy]], [[Sir Walter Scott]], [[Malthus]]
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| 6th
| 1820–1823
| 20 volumes
|
| [[Charles Maclaren]]
| Reprint of the 4th and 5th editions with modern font. Constable went bankrupt on 19&nbsp;January 1826; EB rights eventually secured by [[Adam Black]]
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| 7th
| 1830–1842
| 21 volumes, 17,101 pages, 506 plates, plus a 187-page index volume
| 5,000<ref name="kogan_1958" />
| Macvey Napier, assisted by [[James Browne (writer)|James Browne]], LLD
| Widening network of famous contributors, such as Sir [[David Brewster]], [[Thomas de Quincey]], [[Antonio Panizzi]]; 5,000 sets sold<ref name="kogan_1958" />
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| 8th
| 1853–1860
| 21 volumes, 17,957 pages, 402 plates; plus a 239-page index volume, published 1861<sup>[[#editionnote2|2]]</sup>
| 8,000{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}
| [[Thomas Stewart Traill]]
| Many long articles were copied from the 7th edition; 344 contributors including [[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|William Thomson]]; authorized American sets printed by Little, Brown in Boston; 8,000 sets sold altogether
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| 9th
| 1875–1889
| 24 volumes, plus a 499-page index volume labeled Volume 25
| 55,000 authorized{{efn|1=10,000 sets sold by Britannica plus 45,000 genuine American reprints by Scribner's Sons, and "several hundred thousand sets of mutilated and fraudulent 9th editions were sold..."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |edition=14th |encyclopedia=Britannica |volume=8 |title=Encyclopedia |page=376}}</ref> Most sources estimate there were 500,000 pirated sets.}} plus 500,000 pirated sets
| Thomas Spencer Baynes (1875–80); then [[W. Robertson Smith|W.&nbsp;Robertson Smith]]
| Some carry-over from 8th edition, but mostly a new work; high point of scholarship; 10,000 sets sold by Britannica and 45,000 authorized sets made in the US by Little, Brown in Boston and Schribners' Sons in NY, but pirated widely (500,000 sets) in the US.<sup>[[#editionnote3|3]]</sup>
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| 10th,<br />supplement to&nbsp;9th
| 1902–1903
| 11 volumes, plus the 24 volumes of the 9th. Volume 34 containing 124 detailed country maps with index of 250,000 names<sup>[[#editionnote4|4]]</sup>
| 70,000
| Sir [[Donald Mackenzie Wallace]] and [[Hugh Chisholm]] in London; [[Arthur T. Hadley]] and [[Franklin Henry Hooper]] in New York City
| American partnership bought EB rights on 9&nbsp;May 1901; high-pressure sales methods
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|11th]]
| 1910–1911 || 28 volumes, plus volume 29 index
| 1,000,000
| Hugh Chisholm in London, Franklin Henry Hooper in New York City
| Another high point of scholarship and writing; more articles than the 9th, but shorter and simpler; financial difficulties for owner, Horace Everett Hooper; EB rights sold to [[Sears, Roebuck and Company|Sears Roebuck]] in 1920
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| 12th,<br />supplement to&nbsp;11th
| 1921–1922
| 3 volumes with own index, plus the 29 volumes of the 11th<sup>[[#editionnote5|5]]</sup>
|
| Hugh Chisholm in London, Franklin Henry Hooper in New York City
| Summarized state of the world before, during, and after World War I
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| 13th,<br />supplement to&nbsp;11th
| 1926
| 3 volumes with own index, plus the 29 volumes of the 11th<sup>[[#editionnote6|6]]</sup>
|
| [[James Louis Garvin]] in London, Franklin Henry Hooper in New York City
| Replaced 12th edition volumes; improved perspective of the events of 1910–1926
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| 14th
| 1929–1933
| 24 volumes<sup>[[#editionnote7|7]]</sup>
|
| James Louis Garvin in London, Franklin Henry Hooper in New York City
| Publication just before Great Depression was financially catastrophic{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| revised 14th
| 1933–1973
| 24 volumes<sup>[[#editionnote7|7]]</sup>
|
| Franklin Henry Hooper until 1938; then Walter Yust, [[Harry Ashmore]], Warren E. Preece, William Haley
| Began continuous revision in 1936: every article revised at least twice every decade
|-
! style="text-align:right;" rowspan="2"| 15th
| 1974–1984
| 30 volumes<sup>[[#editionnote8|8]]</sup>
|
| Warren E. Preece, then Philip W. Goetz
| Introduced three-part structure; division of articles into {{lang|la|[[Micropædia]]}} and {{lang|la|Macropædia}}; {{lang|la|Propædia}} Outline of Knowledge; separate index eliminated
|-
| | 1985–2010 || 32 volumes<sup>[[#editionnote9|9]]</sup>
|
| Philip W. Goetz, then [[Robert McHenry]], currently Dale Hoiberg
| Restored two-volume index; some ''Micropædia'' and ''Macropædia'' articles merged; slightly longer overall; new versions were issued every few years. This edition is the last printed edition.
|-
! style="text-align:right;"| Global
| 2009
| 30 compact volumes
|
| Dale Hoiberg
| Unlike the 15th edition, it did not contain Macro- and Micropedia sections, but ran A through Z as all editions up to the 14th had.
|}
{| border="0" cellpadding="2"
|-
| class="toccolours" |'''Edition notes'''

<sup id="editionnote1">1</sup>"Supplement to the fourth, fifth, and sixth editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica. With preliminary dissertations on the history of the sciences."

<sup id="editionnote2">2</sup> The 7th to 14th editions included a separate index volume.

<sup id="editionnote3">3</sup> The 9th edition featured articles by notables of the day, such as [[James Clerk Maxwell]] on electricity and magnetism, and [[Lord Kelvin|William Thomson]] (who became Lord Kelvin) on heat.

<sup id="editionnote4">4</sup> The 10th edition included a maps volume and a cumulative index volume for the 9th and 10th edition volumes: ''the new volumes, constituting, in combination with the existing volumes of the 9th ed., the 10th ed.&nbsp;... and also supplying a new, distinctive, and independent library of reference dealing with recent events and developments''

<sup id="editionnote5">5</sup> "Vols. 30–32&nbsp;... the New volumes constituting, in combination with the twenty-nine volumes of the eleventh edition, the twelfth edition"

<sup id="editionnote6">6</sup> This supplement replaced the previous supplement: ''The three new supplementary volumes constituting, with the volumes of the latest standard edition, the thirteenth edition.''

<sup id="editionnote7">7</sup> At this point ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' began almost annual revisions. New revisions of the 14th edition appeared every year between 1929 and 1973 with the exceptions of 1931, 1934 and 1935.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (15th ed.). Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. interior flap.</ref>

<sup id="editionnote8">8</sup> Annual revisions were published every year between 1974 and 2007 with the exceptions of 1996, 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2006.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The 15th edition (introduced as "Britannica 3") was published in three parts: a 10-volume {{lang|la|Micropædia}} (which contained short articles and served as an index), a 19-volume {{lang|la|Macropædia}}, plus the {{lang|la|Propædia}} (see text).

<sup id="editionnote9">9</sup> In 1985, the system was modified by adding a separate two-volume index; the {{lang|la|Macropædia}} articles were further consolidated into fewer, larger ones (for example, the previously separate articles about the 50 US states were all included into the "United States of America" article), with some medium-length articles moved to the {{lang|la|Micropædia}}. The {{lang|la|Micropædia}} had 12 vols. and the {{lang|la|Macropædia}} 17.

The first CD-ROM edition was issued in 1994. At that time also an online version was offered for paid subscription. In 1999 this was offered free, and no revised print versions appeared. The experiment was ended in 2001 and a new printed set was issued in 2001.
|}