Encyclopædia Britannica Second Edition
Encyclopedia
The Encyclopædia Britannica Second Edition (1777–1784) is a 10-volume reference work, an edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's earliest period as a two-man operation founded by Colin Macfarquhar
and Andrew Bell, in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was sold unbound in subscription format over a period of 7 years. Most of the medical and scientific articles, as well as the minor articles, were written by James Tytler
. All copperplates were created by Bell.
Vol 1. A 1778;
Vol 2. A-B 1778;
Vol 3. C 1778;
Vol 4. D-F 1779;
Vol 5. G-J 1780;
Vol 6. K-L 1780;
Vol 7. M-O 1781;
Vol 8. O-P 1781;
Vol 9. P-S 1782;
Vol 10. S-Z 1783.
The second edition is especially interesting to the American reader, as it was written during the course of the Revolutionary War. Volume 1 was written when New York City was occupied by the King's army and the course of the war was still quite undecided. Volume 10 was written the year after Cornwallis
capitulated and sovereignty was recognized. In the article Colonies, page 2072-2080 Tytler goes into great detail about the British colonies in America and the causes of the revolution, and treats it with an unsympathetic yet neutral, scholarly viewpoint. Volumes written early, such as volume 2 in the article Boston, where mention is made of "the present American war," and Volume 4 in the article New England (under E for England), have these places described as British colonies. In volume 10, written at the end of the war, the article Virginia describes it as "Late one of the British colonies, now one of the United States of North America." Later in that same volume, in the article New York (listed under Y for York), the correctly named "United States of America" is mentioned for the first time.
After the success of the first edition, the second was a more ambitious project, with the addition of history and biography articles. Smellie
, editor of the first edition, declined the job for the second, principally because he objected to the addition of biography. Macfarquhar took over the role himself, aided by pharmacist James Tytler
, M.A., who was known as an able writer and willing to work for a very low wage. Macfarquhar and Bell rescued Tytler from Holyrood Palace, a debtors' prison, and employed him for seven years at 17 shillings per week. Tytler was a polymath, educated by his father in classic languages and theology, and at Edinburgh in medicine, surgery, pharmacy, and chemistry. He wrote many science and history articles and almost all of the minor articles; by Robert Burns
' estimate, Tytler wrote over three-quarters of the second edition. On subjects in which he was not expert, he would copy and paste from contemporary sources. For example, on articles related to Law, such as Corporation, he took large sections of text from William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England." In compiling the many biographical acticles, he borrowed heavily from Biographia Britannica and other sources, often copying word-for-word. His experience and livelihood in surgery and pharmacy led to his authoring unusually long articles in those fields, as well as related subjects such as chemistry and medicine, but he also wrote long articles for, "Electricity" and "Optics," which were outside his field. He was a gifted writer, being in charge of editing the copy and galleys himself, and helping typeset in the printing room. He would sometimes write without using any sort of manuscript, simply setting type as he wrote. In fact, Burns described him as being a printer by trade.
Compared to the 1st edition, the second had five times as many long articles (150), including "Scotland" (84 pages), "Optics" (132 pages), and "Medicine" (309 pages), the last two of which had their own indices. It was published in 181 numbers from 21 June 1777 to 18 September 1784; these numbers were bound into ten volumes dated 1778–1783, having 8,595 pages and 340 plates, again engraved by Andrew Bell. A pagination
error caused page 8000 to follow page 7099. All the maps in this edition are found in the "Geography
" article, as had been done in the first edition. The second edition improved greatly upon the 1st, but is still notable for the large amount of archaic information it contains. For example, "Chemistry" goes into great detail on an obsolete system of what would now be called alchemy, in which earth, air, water and fire are named elements containing various amounts of phlogiston. Tytler also describes the architecture of Noah's Ark
in detail (illustrated with a copperplate engraving) and, following Bishop Ussher
, includes a remarkably precise chronology for the Earth
, beginning with its creation on 23 October 4004 B.C. and noting that the Great Flood of 2348 B.C. lasted for exactly 777 days. The 2nd edition also reports a cure for tuberculosis
:
and a somewhat melancholy article on "Love
" that persisted in the Britannica for nearly a century (until its 9th edition):
In the second edition, the article "History" was written by Adam Ferguson
and/or Tytler. Folded into the article there is a plate, colored by hand, showing a timeline of history. It begins at the flood of Noah and numbers the years from the creation of the world, giving the birth of Christ the year 4004, and it includes timelines for different regions of the world:
Like the first edition, the second was sold in sections by subscription at the printing shop of Colin MacFarquhar
. When finished in 1784, remaining numbers were collected and sold as complete sets at Charles Elliot's book shop in Edinburgh for 10 pounds, unbound. Over 1,500 copies of the second edition were sold this way by Elliot in less than one year, making the second edition enough of a financial success that a more ambitious third edition
was begun a few years later.
At the end of volume 10 is a 200-page addendum (page 8996 to 9195) entitled "Appendix containing articles omitted and others further explained or improved, together with corrections of errors and of wrong references."
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's earliest period as a two-man operation founded by Colin Macfarquhar
Colin Macfarquhar
Colin Macfarquhar was a Scottish bookseller and printer. He is best known for being one of the "Society of Gentlemen in Scotland", along with Andrew Bell, who first published the Encyclopædia Britannica. Macfarquhar also contributed heavily to the second and third edition...
and Andrew Bell, in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was sold unbound in subscription format over a period of 7 years. Most of the medical and scientific articles, as well as the minor articles, were written by James Tytler
James Tytler
James Tytler was a Scottish apothecary and the editor of the second edition of Encyclopædia Britannica. Tytler became the first person in Britain to steer a hot air balloon ....
. All copperplates were created by Bell.
Vol 1. A 1778;
Vol 2. A-B 1778;
Vol 3. C 1778;
Vol 4. D-F 1779;
Vol 5. G-J 1780;
Vol 6. K-L 1780;
Vol 7. M-O 1781;
Vol 8. O-P 1781;
Vol 9. P-S 1782;
Vol 10. S-Z 1783.
The second edition is especially interesting to the American reader, as it was written during the course of the Revolutionary War. Volume 1 was written when New York City was occupied by the King's army and the course of the war was still quite undecided. Volume 10 was written the year after Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis KG , styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as The Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator...
capitulated and sovereignty was recognized. In the article Colonies, page 2072-2080 Tytler goes into great detail about the British colonies in America and the causes of the revolution, and treats it with an unsympathetic yet neutral, scholarly viewpoint. Volumes written early, such as volume 2 in the article Boston, where mention is made of "the present American war," and Volume 4 in the article New England (under E for England), have these places described as British colonies. In volume 10, written at the end of the war, the article Virginia describes it as "Late one of the British colonies, now one of the United States of North America." Later in that same volume, in the article New York (listed under Y for York), the correctly named "United States of America" is mentioned for the first time.
After the success of the first edition, the second was a more ambitious project, with the addition of history and biography articles. Smellie
William Smellie (encyclopedist)
William Smellie was a Scottish master printer, naturalist, antiquary, editor and encyclopedist. He was friends with Robert Burns, whose assessment is engraved on Smellie's tombstone: "Here lies a man who did honour to human nature"...
, editor of the first edition, declined the job for the second, principally because he objected to the addition of biography. Macfarquhar took over the role himself, aided by pharmacist James Tytler
James Tytler
James Tytler was a Scottish apothecary and the editor of the second edition of Encyclopædia Britannica. Tytler became the first person in Britain to steer a hot air balloon ....
, M.A., who was known as an able writer and willing to work for a very low wage. Macfarquhar and Bell rescued Tytler from Holyrood Palace, a debtors' prison, and employed him for seven years at 17 shillings per week. Tytler was a polymath, educated by his father in classic languages and theology, and at Edinburgh in medicine, surgery, pharmacy, and chemistry. He wrote many science and history articles and almost all of the minor articles; by Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
' estimate, Tytler wrote over three-quarters of the second edition. On subjects in which he was not expert, he would copy and paste from contemporary sources. For example, on articles related to Law, such as Corporation, he took large sections of text from William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England." In compiling the many biographical acticles, he borrowed heavily from Biographia Britannica and other sources, often copying word-for-word. His experience and livelihood in surgery and pharmacy led to his authoring unusually long articles in those fields, as well as related subjects such as chemistry and medicine, but he also wrote long articles for, "Electricity" and "Optics," which were outside his field. He was a gifted writer, being in charge of editing the copy and galleys himself, and helping typeset in the printing room. He would sometimes write without using any sort of manuscript, simply setting type as he wrote. In fact, Burns described him as being a printer by trade.
Compared to the 1st edition, the second had five times as many long articles (150), including "Scotland" (84 pages), "Optics" (132 pages), and "Medicine" (309 pages), the last two of which had their own indices. It was published in 181 numbers from 21 June 1777 to 18 September 1784; these numbers were bound into ten volumes dated 1778–1783, having 8,595 pages and 340 plates, again engraved by Andrew Bell. A pagination
Pagination
Pagination is the process of dividing information into discrete pages, either electronic pages or printed pages. Today the latter are usually simply instances of the former that have been outputted to a printing device, such as a desktop printer or a modern printing press...
error caused page 8000 to follow page 7099. All the maps in this edition are found in the "Geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
" article, as had been done in the first edition. The second edition improved greatly upon the 1st, but is still notable for the large amount of archaic information it contains. For example, "Chemistry" goes into great detail on an obsolete system of what would now be called alchemy, in which earth, air, water and fire are named elements containing various amounts of phlogiston. Tytler also describes the architecture of Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
in detail (illustrated with a copperplate engraving) and, following Bishop Ussher
James Ussher
James Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...
, includes a remarkably precise chronology for the Earth
Geochronology
Geochronology is the science of determining the age of rocks, fossils, and sediments, within a certain degree of uncertainty inherent to the method used. A variety of dating methods are used by geologists to achieve this, and schemes of classification and terminology have been proposed...
, beginning with its creation on 23 October 4004 B.C. and noting that the Great Flood of 2348 B.C. lasted for exactly 777 days. The 2nd edition also reports a cure for tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
:
and a somewhat melancholy article on "Love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
" that persisted in the Britannica for nearly a century (until its 9th edition):
In the second edition, the article "History" was written by Adam Ferguson
Adam Ferguson
Adam Ferguson FRSE, also known as Ferguson of Raith was a Scottish philosopher, social scientist and historian of the Scottish Enlightenment...
and/or Tytler. Folded into the article there is a plate, colored by hand, showing a timeline of history. It begins at the flood of Noah and numbers the years from the creation of the world, giving the birth of Christ the year 4004, and it includes timelines for different regions of the world:
Like the first edition, the second was sold in sections by subscription at the printing shop of Colin MacFarquhar
Colin Macfarquhar
Colin Macfarquhar was a Scottish bookseller and printer. He is best known for being one of the "Society of Gentlemen in Scotland", along with Andrew Bell, who first published the Encyclopædia Britannica. Macfarquhar also contributed heavily to the second and third edition...
. When finished in 1784, remaining numbers were collected and sold as complete sets at Charles Elliot's book shop in Edinburgh for 10 pounds, unbound. Over 1,500 copies of the second edition were sold this way by Elliot in less than one year, making the second edition enough of a financial success that a more ambitious third edition
Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition
The Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition is an 18-volume reference work, an edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's earliest period as a two-man operation founded by Colin Macfarquhar and Andrew Bell, in Edinburgh, Scotland...
was begun a few years later.
At the end of volume 10 is a 200-page addendum (page 8996 to 9195) entitled "Appendix containing articles omitted and others further explained or improved, together with corrections of errors and of wrong references."