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
Like the second edition, the volumes were written over a long period, from volume 1 in 1788 to volume 18 in 1797. Unlike the second edition, the title pages were not printed with their volumes but were printed and sent to subscribers when the set was complete, and dated the year of completion. All volumes of the 3rd edition have title pages dated 1797. The encyclopedia continued to be printed, in complete sets, for many years, with all the volumes still dated 1797. In addition to the legitimate sets printed in Edinburgh, unauthorized sets were being printed in Dublin by James Moore and Philadelphia by Thomas Dobson. In Edinburgh, 10,000 complete sets were printed, according to Robert Kerr or 13,000 copies according to Constable. In addition, there were 2,000 copies of "Dobson"s and an unknown number by Moore. By contrast, only 1,500 copies of the second edition were printed, all unbound. The quality of the printing appears better than in previous editions.