1911 Encyclopædia Britannica

Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) represents "the sum of human knowledge" at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. The edition is still often regarded as the greatest edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, with many articles being up to 10 times the length of those in other encyclopædias.

Related Topics:
1911 - 20th century - Encyclopædia Britannica

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It was edited by Hugh Chisholm. Some articles were written by the best-known scholars and learned gentlemen of the age, such as Edmund Gosse, J.B. Bury, Algernon Charles Swinburne, John Muir, Prince Peter Kropotkin, T.H. Huxley, and William Michael Rossetti, and others well known to that era. Many others were carried over from the Ninth Edition, some with minimal updating, some of the book-length articles divided into smaller parts for easier reference, yet others heavily abridged. Many articles are still of value and interest to modern readers and scholars. The best known authors generally contributed only a single article or part of an article, however. The majority of the work was done by a mix of journalists, British Museum staff, and academics. Among these lesser known contributors were some who would later achieve greatness such as Ernest Rutherford and Bertrand Russell.

Related Topics:
Hugh Chisholm - Edmund Gosse - J.B. Bury - Algernon Charles Swinburne - John Muir - Prince Peter Kropotkin - T.H. Huxley - William Michael Rossetti - British Museum - Ernest Rutherford - Bertrand Russell

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The Eleventh Edition was a notable reorganization and rewriting of the Encyclopædia Britannica, which was first published in three volumes in 1768. The Eleventh Edition formed the basis for every edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica up until 1974, when the completely new Fifteenth Edition, based on modern information presentation, was published.

Related Topics:
Encyclopædia Britannica - 1768 - 1974

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Sir Kenneth Clark, in Another Part of the Wood, wrote of the Eleventh Edition:

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: One leaps from one subject to another, fascinated as much by the play of mind and the idiosyncrasies of their authors as by the facts and dates. It must be the last encyclopædia in the tradition of Diderot which assumes that information can be made memorable only when it is slightly coloured by prejudice. When T.S. Eliot wrote "Soul curled up on the window seat reading the Encyclopædia Britannica" he was certainly thinking of the eleventh edition.

Related Topics:
Diderot - T.S. Eliot

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The 1911 edition for the first time saw a number of female contributors. Thirty-four women contributed articles to the edition.

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The 1911 edition is no longer restricted by copyright, and it is available in several more modern forms.

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