Encyclopædia Britannica
The "Britannica" is the English-language encyclopaedia/encyclopedia that was in print for the longest time: it lasted 244 years. It was first published between 1768 and 1771 in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, as three volumes. (This first edition is available in facsimile.) The encyclopaedia grew in size: the second edition was 10 volumes, and by its fourth edition (1801–1810) it had expanded to 20 volumes. Its rising stature as a scholarly work helped recruit eminent contributors, and the 9th (1875–1889) and 11th editions (1911) are landmark encyclopaedias for scholarship and literary style. Beginning with the 11th edition and following its acquisition by an American firm, the "Britannica" shortened and simplified articles to broaden its appeal to the North American market. In 1933, the "Britannica" became the first encyclopaedia to adopt "continuous revision", in which the encyclopaedia is continually reprinted, with every article updated on a schedule. In March 2012, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. announced it would no longer publish printed editions, and would focus instead on "Encyclopædia Britannica Online".
Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition
Two volumes were produced in 1801 to supplement the Third edition. A second edition of the two volumes, "with improvements", was printed in 1803. Both versions were printed by John Brown, Anchor Close, Edinburgh. In both versions, the articles are ordered alphabetically and the volumes contain about 800 pages each. The 1803 edition has A-I in volume 1 and I-Z in volume 2. A new article on Chemistry, 190 pages in length, written by Thomas Thomson of Edinburgh, is meant to completely replace the 261-page article in the main encyclopedia, written by James Tytler. Much new information about oxygen, combustion, and disproof of the phlogiston theory had been discovered since Tytler's day, and are explained in the supplements. A new and quickly growing list of chemical elements and their compounds was replacing the former system, which contained only the elements earth, air, water, and fire. Thomson also wrote new articles on Mineralogy, Combustion, and a 90-page article named Substances, all pertaining to Chemistry. Thomson went on to write the article Chemistry for the 7th edition of "Britannica", 40 years later.