page_title: Encyclopædia Britannica
section_title: Editions
hierarchical_section_title: Encyclopædia Britannica / History / Editions
caption_attribution_description: English: Title page for first edition (1771) of Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Typ 705.71.363, Houghton Library, Harvard University
context_page_description: The Encyclopædia Britannica, previously published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a popular encyclopaedia. It is written in British English. It was originally only printed on paper, but late in the 20th century it expanded to have digital, or computer versions as well. Since 2010, it is out of print in paper versions. The encyclopaedia is split into many books. The articles in the books are arranged in alphabetical order. There have been versions of it that are for children as well. It is the largest printed encyclopaedia in English, and the second largest encyclopaedia. The largest is Wikipedia. Many people consider it to be the best encyclopaedia, because they think it is accurate and has lots of detail.
  The encyclopaedia was once very small, the first edition in 1768 only had 3 books. Slowly it became bigger. The last edition, the 15th, started in 1974, has 29 books, plus two indexes. It includes an extra book called Propædia, to classify knowledge. The 29 books and made up of a Macropædia and a Micropædia.
context_section_description: There are 15 official editions of the encyclopaedia, with some extensions to the 3rd and 5th editions (see the Table below). Actually, one can say that the 10th edition was only an extension to the 9th edition, and the 12th and 13th editions were extensions to the 11th edition. The 15th edition was reorganised in 1985, and the updated, current version is the 15th edition.
  Through the encyclopaedia's history, the Britannica wanted to be an excellent reference book and to provide learning materials for those who want to study. In 1974, the 15th edition had a third wish: to put together all that everyone knows. The history of the Britannica can be divided into five main eras, or lengths of time.
caption: Title page of the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
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