, 1875-04-03
FAMILIAR TALK.

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA.
1ho appearance Of Tho f1rHs volume OF Iii.
nistl, edition of tbs "Encyclopoaia Brltaunica'
work oppotttlno at tho prosont tnomsnt- ltta
now I,tttn over century slnee II was projected
by AndssN Ecli. cneravet. and Colin McFnrqu-
liar. printer, Of Ediuburg. This, however, WAS
not tho arat attempt In Great britain at COM
pfehcnstve dictionary Of leatnlug. IA carly a.
l1oi. III. Harris, Q! London, began the publica-
tlon of lila p" Lexicon CceApleuH ~; 10 which
! supplement WAS &ddel III TIN. In 171a, tho
CyclopedtA Of Ephrhin clami.era appeared IN two
largo folio volumes, Rnl was fer tlany years
| hetd IN tho highest essee,n,
s1 seara after tho couc!nhion in Franco OF tho
Encyclopedia OF DiJnrot md d Acmberk, liz,
in iii tho publication of tho "I.ritsnnica " "
| was begun III weekly numbers. The plau If tho
work Was devised By William asnel'se. aud tho
principal arsiolea wero written by him. The
agreement upon which tho task ra4 assam"'l ia
gwen IN " KERR f-ifo OF Hnelic, ffonl mich
| no cxtracsit;
I'm: As we ens4r!! Ia publishing 4" Dictionary
Of tls ArtA aud Hesnsrs. ant - you have tl:.snel
Hk that thcre arc 3lfteen carsal sciences "h you
Will undertake fur sud wrIte up 4he snb'tEisons an1
as..ehe fa.,s u than. t,'ntotminH to .oat an. aud
koHt<s T. .rrazs Tho whole work for Tho press. elc.,
| ETC.. ws hereby uarea TO silow rou Ey0 ~. your
| trouble.
s,no}ho began llfo a. composs.or. but, deter
mined to acquire an sdnsatlon. ho E.isucd two
tia hatnn t11e that Ac waH fofiosipB his trhsle.
Wien the daily Lnur catne for Ut. recitation. he
would drop tbs compoasug .rtics, repair 10 tho
University. sud tnke his rnco with hia class.
antt when tue scasiou was uses, Sould agasn re-
turn to tha case. At the ago Of 10 hs was ELL
gagged a. conductor aud compiler Of 5co!s' Mdgd-
a.a", At a salary Of lGa per ueck.
The Encyclopedias nh which sme|liG whs noT
employed was cosnp!ctsd sn .Aroa raan quartz
volumes, 10 1773. Historical, bioErapbcat. anil
geographical Enbiects weru omitted ia thus fits
| edition; but, III 177G, now impression Icing
called foE. 1t was resolved to introd11ce these i'm
portant departments. HtnelHe was Ut t!s ti1no
offered soro III The publication, but ho de.
clfnel 10 hare anything to do viii H. because Of
tho chunge in tue original pfsn Of the wntk. ar.
dames Trter nlat Ut uncommon learning and
| pro|1Ge writer. MAS therefore euyagcd 10 reriso
arld en1arge tho new edition. Through his Ia
bora tho work waA exseLIsd 10 teu volumes, and,
Of these, 1854 uopirs NcEo ihtued. a third
| edition waH Undertaken III 1888, mil comp1sioa
in l717. It consisted uf eighteen volumes of
| which 1000 copies wero printed. The profits
| are said to hayo amounted to e210,e01.
| in the production Of tlis edition, tue services
| Of Several ctulneut writer's Weso secured Soon
| after it uss commenced, tue odItorshp was giyeo
u Dr.. Gleig, OF Sterliny, afterwards Dishop Of
l'Eeclin. f'rof. Joun Robson, of tho UL1scrsi-
II Of Eliuburc. wss 4 YoIuminous contributor,
furnishing the articloa on Tides. TaleBcorcs,
I thssics. Acelstarce, etc.. renewing the aiticls
On Optics, aud asssstsng tic editor iu tho pro-
ductiou Of tho article on Philosophy. 10 tho
supplement Of two volumes ultimately addcd to
this cdltiou, Prof. Nobiton Also contributed
largely. Writing MANY Of tho scientific ARTICLES,
| Mague.iEu, Thunier, Trumpet, aud Watclworks.
Tho fourth cditiDn Of tic Encyclopedia.
AUGMENTED to twenty yoltrucs, VIVA fnishod il
1910, uuaer the supervision OF Dr.. James Miller.
| t'f,n 1,,,}1
copies. an1 did not tncluuo tho supplement.
which hat been sold to Arrhfbald Constable. u
rising publisher in Elnbure. for 1loo. In 1874
Mt. Constablo purchased she copyright OF the
cutire work, and Immediately set about improv.
inE and ealarging i. 4 aupp!ement Of h1 rol-
utneB waH protected, aud placed ralcr tho SKILL
ful maneGemcat Of psof, Macyey NAPIER.
nugaid Stewart commenced ono Ut tho cele-
brated preliminary dlssortatuna.- .--tl1at Oil tho
History Of Metaphysics aud Ethical and Political
Philosophy, but, dS.ag usfore .ns work wst
concluded. itfell into tho hkndh Of Sir Janct
AIackiutosh. lie also WAS takon a~nv ere The
S;towatt wrote tho Hi4sofy o, ae.apbss,ry
Nackintosh The History Of Ethical, aud Lehll'
tint Of Political pAilosophy. The dissertation q
Mathematics sod pLysIcal sei+uce was begun b,
lIof. payfair, aud comnetot W ptof: LeHlsa
tlls supplement- vera Araco; E'ot, aud Dairy
| Tho 1as. volume was published III 192i.
In 1929, t4e cop5siEAs Of tho "nsitann1ea
H8EatG into lilo bQ4$GAflG4 Qk hAEHH{B. a. A14u
. Wack. OF Ed;nburs, Tic seventh !nprcssio,
was cdl1nl by rrof. Napier. sssisted by Jane
r,rio'i tn rsnlsr tho wors accurate and comma
hcnrivs In Ill it, depsttnenta. The p.elln,lnar,
,;,bsertat,ons were tho distinguishing feature q
tic e,tiou.
Tbs seventh imoreeslou was undertaken it
1sD-tno flrst uontLIy psrs nppoarina iu AIarci
al That yaar. and tho lat ii JANUARY, l8t4
Ya,tnr' Malthus. Mill iIo-os. Wilson, Uo Qutn
Gov. a,,a othes ernigcat seho!..s anl writer's, I'D
ei In tho brilliant success OF the entosprizc. Tht
sn,si e1nenno Of ti,e twcnty-obt tllarto volume,
was no feas than cta5, ,Gji d ID, The masc uoat
of rrcsentation corlos vas f4.6 Gs, willie The
,lutw a., thn faucr used excccJed sG,ogO. Fo,
tho ljtarary Vol, ou liz tirst volume Of pipscy
sasions UPWARDS 0! E3t5o vas pasd out. Tux
nrnnrctor. mero rroncriy rewafdcI for ti1eiI
rreat outlar by m immeaiese aud continuous
Tha e,cht,, o;1f,ion v,s l,cc,,n at Tho ctosa al
,yst. anS n;no ynars were ptsuniel ia {ty pvblI.
! us,tul, Tho editorial charge was intriated to
!, Err. Thomas 6tcrar: Trail Professor Ct Medical
apsspludeneo n .no ea!seISS ;asds u hsIag ahouIsg