Editing Johann Heinrich Zedler (section)

===Announcement of the Universal Lexicon===
[[File:Neue Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen - 1730-03-26 - 208.jpg|thumb|Zedler announced on 26 March 1730 his plan to print a large universal lexicon of all the sciences, seeking Praenumeration subscriptions.]]
On 26 March 1730 Zedler announced the seventh and eighth volumes of Luther's works in the journal ''New Learned Works'', and also announced his next project: the ''Great Complete Universal Lexicon of Science and Art'', with the first volume to be available through Praenumeration subscriptions.<ref>''Neue Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen'', 26. März 1730, page 208.</ref>

Zedler intended to summarize many previously available reference works on various fields of knowledge into a single large work of reference. The plan was a challenge to the established publishers of Leipzig.
For example, [[Johann Friedrich Gleditsch]] had published a household lexicon in 1704, and with its third edition of 1708 this had become a form of encyclopedia.
Thomas Fritsch had published the ''General Historical Lexicon'' in 1709, the German-language equivalent of ''[[Le Grand Dictionnaire historique]]'' of [[Louis Moréri]], a multi-volume project with contributions from specialist writers and scientists.
In 1721, Johann Theodor Jablonski published a ''General Lexicon of Arts and Science''.
A series of small reference books and dictionaries  for the public completed the range.{{sfn|Kossmann|1969|pp=1553–1590}}
All these works were now threatened by Zedler's project.

The first public reaction from an established Leipzig publisher came five weeks after Zedler's notice. Caspar Fritsch, son of Thomas Fritsch (who had died in 1726), was concerned about the effect on sales of the ''General Historical Lexicon'', whose third edition was being prepared. He announced special pricing, and stressed the security of subscriptions to his established work.{{sfn|Quedenbaum|1977|p=64}}