Encyclopedias
The Society's collection of encyclopedias includes more than
sixty complete sets, amounting to over 850 volumes. Over thirty different
titles are represented.
While these titles include several works from abroad and from the
seventeenth and twentieth centuries, the collection focuses on
nineteenth-century American imprints. Editions published
before 1821 are considered part of the Dated Books collection and
are accessible online catalog.
The collection includes not only voluminous, general
encyclopedias such as those compiled by Thomas Dobson, Abraham
Rees, and Francis Lieber, but also brief, specialized works such as
the Encyclopedia of Wit (Philadelphia, 1817) and Every Man's
Mine of Useful Knowledge (Montreal, 1871). Because encyclopedias
have been continually revised and updated, many titles have been
collected in multiple editions. For example, the Society's four
different editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica span the period
from 1771 to 1926. Such holdings illuminate changes in
scholarship and book production. Encyclopedias published before 1841 have
been cataloged online; the readers' services staff
should be consulted access to the remainder of the collection.
- Caroline W. Stoffel, Online Services Librarian
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For current information on the cataloging status of this and
other AAS collections, choose "Collection Access" below.
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