Britannica First Edition Replica Set (3 vol.) (Britannica Black) (Hardcover)

by Encyclopedia Britannica (Author, Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Encyclopaedia Britannica continues to be an authoritative resource. The 81,000 articles are signed by more than 4,300 contributors and have extensive bibliographies. The latest printing retains the Micropaedia/Macropaedia/Propaedia structure: short articles for quick reference in the Micropaedia, in-depth treatment of broad topics in the Macropaedia, and an "outline of knowledge" in the Propaedia. The articles on non-U.S. countries in the Macropaedia are extensive--India is 175 pages long. Afghanistan is updated through 2004 with information about the new constitution and government formed by Hamid Karzai, making it more current than the Micropaedia entry, which ends with the overthrow of the Taliban. The Micropaedia entry for Yasir Arafat notes his November 2004 death.

The 84 new articles in this printing include Kerry, John; Nanotechnology; Wal-Mart; Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD); and Yo-Yo Ma. New articles on Animal rights, Monkeypox, and SARS update biomedical coverage. Among the 3,900 rewritten or revised articles are African American literature, Great Depression, Mt. Everest, and Vietnam War. More than 120 maps have been added or changed, including those for Chicago, Europe, Iran, Iraq, United Nations Peacekeeping, and Vietnam War. Among the 119 new illustrations are new flag and primate plates.

Encyclopaedia Britannica retains its position as an excellent scholarly reference source for public, academic, and secondary-school libraries, especially since it has improved its coverage of current events and added some articles on popular culture. Barbara Bibel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Nearly a quarter millennium after the "Society of Gentlemen in Scotland" captured the sum total of extant human knowledge in the first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, what was known then, and what was not, will fascinate, intrigue, surprise, and entertain family and friends for hours on end. The handsome three-volume reproduction is so beautifully executed that it's almost indistinguishable from the 1768 original, right down to the natural age spots and watermarks on the pages. A must-have for collectors of history or vintage books, the set lends an unmistakable air of prestige to any home or office. See for yourself one of the world's most influential publications - the books that established Britannica's tradition of comprehensiveness and authority in general knowledge that has remained unsurpassed ever since.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 2659 pages
• Publisher: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. (September 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0852290667
• ISBN-13: 978-0852290668
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.8 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,269,238 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, October 12, 2004

By	Gavin Wilson - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

There's a wonderful episode in series three of Blackadder in which, for reasons I cannot quite remember, Baldric and Blackadder work through the night to recreate Dr Johnson's dictionary. I think they get as 'Aardvark'.

There's a sense of too much effort being invested up-front in this first edition of the Encyclopaedia. The three equally-sized volumes cover A-B, C-L and M-Z. The volumes were written and published a few years apart, and you can imagine the editorial meeting in 1768 when they realised that they had only cover A to B. Would they continue at the same pace, and possibly not live to see a final XYZ volume published? (What would their wives say?!) Or would they rush the rest, and hope that no-one noticed the imbalance?

Well, now we can enjoy the imbalance. A word of warning: you need to get used to the archaic form of the letter 's', which looks like an 'f' except at the end of a word or when in uppercase. Thus we get phrases like 'notwithftanding thefe difadvantages' and conceivably 'fuppofing Pope's Iliad to be fhit'.

The reproduction of the three volumes has been done on a photographic basis, using an aged edition. Thus you'll buying a pristine photocopy of someone's original, as it is now, splodges and all. As others have noted, the binding is not real leather, but this doesn't bother me. Each volume is surprisingly light, given that you're getting around 1,000 pages per book. And that includes a number of fold-out tables.
The content is particularly Scottish, by the way, although there is no harm in that. Thus if you look up 'Law', there's almost nothing on the law of England and Wales, yet the editor appears to have filled countless pages with the full text of every Scottish statute in operation at the time.

As you might expect, this is not the first encyclopaedia to buy if you're looking for something to help your kids through GCSEs. I suspect that, 250 years on, over half the entries are incorrect or at least out of kilter with today's understanding of the world. But it's a fascinating thing to browse through.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE ULTIMATE REFERENCE VOLUME, January 22, 2003

By	reviewer (Zurich, Switzerland.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Encyclopaedia Britannica 2002 Complete 32 Volume Print Set (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2002) (Hardcover)

A complete set of "Encyclopaedia Britannica" provides a near perfect answer to every reference need. Its age-long tradition is synonymous with class and accuracy: a sound testimony that reflects its over two centuries in circulation.
This set of tools is something any versatile researcher would hardly do without. There is no imaginable topic that is not taken care of.
The price of this collection may be above that of a laptop, but with it, you are done: no need for extra (general) reference tool. It remains a precious resource for anyone who can afford it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible experiences!, June 13, 2008

By	Stephen Walter "Pathboy" (Paris, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007 Edition (Hardcover)

I would just like to let potential buyer know that the Britannica company can be quite annoying once you make your purchase. Once you get 'in the system', they'll start sending big, expensive books that you didn't order in hopes that you'll buy them. What a pain! The process to mail these 5 pound books back is loathsome, and even when you do, the charge invoices keep coming! Even after several calls, the right 'account specialist' is never available to fix the problem, so you can expect another invoice the next month.

I like the encyclopedia, but buy it from a dealer or used so you don't end up in the 'system'.