The Scholar's Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica
The famous 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica has been nicknamed the "scholar's edition" due to superb quality of the articles and the high caliber of the contributors.
Some of the great contributors included Thomas Huxley, Alfred Russel Wallace, James Clerk Maxwell, James Frazer, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Muir, Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Amelia Edwards, William Morris ....
When we say "articles", this can a bit misleading for the modern reader as some of the articles are as long as 170 pages, which is the length of a small book. Interestingly enough, a number of the articles were later republished as articles by their authors.
This encyclopedia was published in 1875 (and a supplement added in 1902). The articles (along with the pictures and tables) give us a snapshot of life back in 1875-1902.
Many of the articles (for example, the article, "Renaissance", are actually quite timeless contributions and should definitely be part of your reading list.
So read on for some links to articles and illustrations. You could well acquire a taste for this magnificent work of reference!
Some Famous Contributors to the 9th Edition Britannica
Do you recognize these names?
- Thomas Henry Huxley (wrote article "Evolution")
- Professor Thomas Huxley was of the great scientists of the Victorian period and a great defender of Darwinism.
- Prof. James Frazer (wrote article "Taboo")
- Professor James G. Frazer was a pioneering anthropologist.
- Robert Louis Stevenson (wrote article "Beranger")
- Robert Louis Stevenson was a famous novelist to whom we owe "Treasure Island" and "Kidnapped".
African Elephant (in Britannica, 9th Edition)
Some Curious Articles from the Britannica, Ninth Edition
- Apparitions
- FROM THIS ARTICLE:
Ghosts are almost the first guess of the savage, almost the last infirmity of the civilized imagination; on these forms, shadowy and unsubstantial as they are, solid superstructures of ritual and morality have been based, and apparitions, with the consequences of the belief in them, have a literature and a history of their own. - Sea Serpents
- FROM THIS ARTICLE:
The belief in enormous serpents, both terrestrial and marine, dates from very early times. - Vampire
- FROM THIS ARTICLE:
Peter Martyr (Anghiera), who wrote soon after the conquest of South America, says that in the Isthmus of Darien there were bats which sucked the blood of men and cattle when asleep to such a degree as to even kill them.
William Robertson Smith, theologian, orientalist, and Ninth Edition co-editor
Read more in my William Robertson Smith lens.
What They Say about the Britannica, Ninth Edition
- According to the Ninth
- "The 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica is the print apotheosis of the Victorian world view. It is not a dry work of reference, but is alive with opinion and personality. There are plenty of examples of Empire-minded bombast and slanted jingoism, but again and again the freshness and modernity of a contributor's insights leap out at the 21st century reader."
This blog has insightful and often humorous commentaries on articles from the 9th Edition of the Britannica.
Eminent Victorians
Sardonic look at some famous people in the era of the 9th Edition Britannica
Eminent Victorians (Oxford World's Classics)
Amazon Price: $9.36 (as of 12/09/2009)
In this book, Florence Nightingale is not a gentle archangel descended from heaven to minister sweetly to wounded soldiers, but rather an exacting, dictatorial, and judgmental crusader. Her "pen, in the virulence of its volubility, would rush ... to the denunciation of an incompetent surgeon or the ridicule of a self-sufficient nurse. Her sarcasm searched the ranks of the officials with the deadly and unsparing precision of a machine-gun. Her nicknames were terrible. She respected no one."
Dr. Thomas Arnold, the man appointed to revamp the very private British public school system, fares little better: in Strachey's acid ink, he became "the founder of the worship of athletics and the worship of good form."
In this same vain, military hero General Gordon is portrayed as a temperamental, irascible hermit, occasionally drunk and often found in the company of young boys--a man who tended to forget and forgo the tenets found in the Bible he kept with him always.
And the powerful and popular Cardinal Manning, who came within a hair's breadth of succeeding Pope Pius IX, belonged, Strachey writes, "to that class of eminent ecclesiastics ... who have been distinguished less for saintliness and learning than for practical ability."
As he offered up indelible sketches of his less-than-fab four, Strachey was intent on critiquing established mores. This effortlessly superior wit knew full well that deep convictions and good deeds often go hand in hand with hypocrisy, arrogance, and egomania. His task was to pique those who pretended they did not.
Great Britain during the Victorian Era / 19th Century
What the world was like when the Britannica, 9th Edition was pubished
Lenses on Victorian Period and Culture
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Victorian Culture Headquarters
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History, people and Societies in England, America and Europe during the Victorian era. Genealogy and Family History Lenses with prominent Victorian content also welcome to join and share their experience and knowledge. Learn about Victorian society....
Blog Posts from Google about Encyclopaedia Britannica (9th Edition)
- Viral Notebook | Michael M. Grant, Ph.D.
- Posted in digital citizenship, guest bloggers, teacher education, teacher professional development, web 2.0 on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 by Michael M Grant Tags: credibility, digital citizenship, information literacy, media literacy, reliability, ... Wikipedia can (and does) contain errors, but so does the Encyclopedia Britannica and many other sources.? Another positive feature of Wikipedia is that it is easy accessible and readily available in so many languages. ...
- Spurgeon & the Prayer of Jabez: What a 19th-century “Puritan ...
- No preacher in the history of the church has been more prolific: His collected sermons amount to more than 20 million words?a number equivalent to the 27 volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th edition. ...
- 1. Information revolution
- Success of he 9th edition Britannica led to publication of the first American edition. Under a sponsorship of The Times of London, the 10th edition was published with 11-volume supplement to the 9th edition in 1903. ...
- Ruby's share: Wikipedia vs Encyclopaedia Brittannica
- "The 24 volumes and index volume of the ninth edition?one of the greatest?appeared one by one between 1875 and 1889.Ownership of the Encyclopædia Britannica passed permanently to the United States when the American publisher Horace E. ...
Have something to say about this lens or about the Britannica, 9th Edition?
Do it here!
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Reply
- sphinxart sphinxart Jan 22, 2009 @ 3:02 pm
- Hello: Was doing research on the 9th EB and found this. Just wanted to, I guess brag(!) that I have a complete set in great condition. Bought it at a Volunteer Fire Dept. Auction here in Bear River, Nova Scotia for $70. Have used it in my art many times, but also enjoy just picking up a volume, opening a page and reading whatever I land on. It's a wonderful window to the past, and it lives up to the hyperbole. Thanks for letting me boast...not my usual style!
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Reply
- fanfreluche fanfreluche Jan 8, 2008 @ 1:09 pm
- Another great lens!!
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Reply
- Nathanville Nathanville Oct 26, 2007 @ 12:34 pm
- Hi, Great lens and 5*. Thanks for visiting my BRITANNIA lens.
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