List of historical encyclopedias

=Encyclopedias before 1700=

*"Pliny's Natural History" AD 77. Highly influential in the Middle Ages.
*Cassiodorus' "Institutiones", AD 560. First Christian encyclopedia.
*"Yiwen Leiju" (622) Tang dynasty, Chinese
*St. Isidore of Seville's "Etymologiae", AD 636. Christian encyclopedia, most influential encyclopedia of the early Middle Ages.
*"Fa yüan chu lin", AD 668, a Buddhist encyclopedia of 100 volumes, compiled by Tao-shih
*"Adab al-katib" "(The book of knowledge)" by Ibn Qutayba (828–889). Earliest Arabic work that could be called an Encyclopedia.
*"Bibliotheke" by Patriarch Photius (9th century). Earliest Byzantine work that could be called an Encyclopedia.
*Hrabanus Maurus, 842. "De rerum naturis (On the nature of things)". Derived from Isidore's text.
*"Suda" (10th century)
*"Four Great Books of Song" (Song Sida Shu)(10th to 11th century) Song dynasty, Chinese
*"Liber Floridus", compiled in 1120 by Lambert of St-Bertin
*Bartholomeus de Glanvilla, "De proprietatibus rerum", 1240. The most widely read and quoted encyclopedia in the late-medieval period.
*Vincent of Beauvais, "Speculum Majus", 1260. The most ambitious encyclopedia in the late-medieval period over 3 million words.
*"Yongle Encyclopedia" (1403–1408). Ming Dynasty Chinese encyclopedia.
*Paul Skalic, philosopher born in Zagreb, first to use the term "encyclopedia" in the current sense. "Encyclopediae seu orbis disciplinarum tam sacrarum quam profanarum epistemon", 1559 (Basel, Switzerland), 1571 (Köln, Germany).
*Theodor Zwinger (1533–1588), "Theatrum Vitae Humanae", 1588.
*"Bencao Gangmu" ("Compendium of Materia Medica") (1596) Ming dynasty, Chinese
*"Sancai Tuhui" (1609)
* Sir Thomas Browne: "Pseudodoxia Epidemica" 1646-1672
*Louis Moréri "Le grand Dictionaire historique" ("The Great Historical Dictionary"), 1671.
*Pierre Bayle: "Dictionnaire Historique et Critique" ("Historical and Critical Dictionary"), 1695.
*Vincenzo Coronelli publisher of "Biblioteca Universale Sacro-Profana" early 18th century, the first encyclopedia to be alphabetical.
*John Henry Alsted
*John Jacob Hoffman

Encyclopedias published 1700–1800

*"Lexicon Technicum" (1704)
*"Wakan Sansai Zue" (1712)
*"Gujin Túshu Jíchéng" (1725-26) Qing dynasty, Chinese
*"Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences" (1728 and later eds; usually cited as Chambers's Cyclopaedia)
*"An Universal History of Arts and Sciences" (1745)
*"Encyclopædia Britannica" (1771, and eds 2 and 3 by 1800)
*"Dobson's Encyclopædia" (1789-1798; largely a reprint of the "Britannica's" 3rd edition)
*"Siku Quanshu" (1782) Qing dynasty, Chinese
*"Encyclopædia Perthensis" (1796–1806, ed 2 by 1816)

French encyclopedias

*"Encyclopédie" (1751–1772)
*"Encyclopédie Méthodique" (Panckoucke) 1782–1832

German encyclopedias

*"Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon" (1751–1754)
*"Conversations-Lexikon mit vorzüglicher Rücksicht auf die gegenwärtigen Zeiten" (1796–1808; see Brockhaus)

Encyclopedias published 1800–1900

*"Rees's Cyclopaedia" (1802–1819)
*"Encyclopædia Britannica" (eds 4–9 by 1900)
*"Edinburgh Encyclopaedia" (1808)
*"British Encyclopaedia" (1809)
*"Encyclopaedia Londinensis" (1810)
*"Pantologia" (1813)
*"Encyclopaedia Metropolitana" (1817–1845)
*"Penny Cyclopaedia" (1833–1846)
*"English Encyclopaedia" (1854–1862, supp. 1869–1873)
*"Chambers's Encyclopaedia" (1860–1868; no relation to Chambers's "Cyclopaedia" of the C18)
*"Pears Cyclopaedia" (1st ed. 1897)
*"The People's Select Cyclopedia" (1897) by Charles Nisbett, pub by Hodder and Stoughton

pecialist encyclopedias

*"Engineer's and Mechanic's Encyclopaedia" (1836/1837; 2nd ed. 1849; often cited as Hebert's "Encyclopaedia")
*"Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts and Manufactures" (1852; often cited as Tomlinson's "Cyclopaedia")
*"A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities" (1842)
*"Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology " (1870)
*"Cyclopaedia of Political Science " - [http://www.econlib.org/library/YPDBooks/Lalor/llCytoc.html "Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States by the Best American and European Writers"] (1881-1899) John J. Lalor. On Econlib.

American encyclopedias

*"Encyclopaedia Americana", Francis Lieber (1829–1858)
*"New American Encyclopaedia" (1858–1863 and annual supplements to 1902)
*"American Encyclopaedia" (1873–1876)
*"New Universal Encyclopaedia" (1875–1877)
*"Johnson's Universal Encyclopaedia" (1893–1895)
*"International Encyclopaedia" (1884–1898)

Dutch encyclopedias

*"Winkler Prins Geïllustreerde Encyclopaedie" (1870-1882; 2nd ed. 1884-1888)

French encyclopedias

[http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/epc/langueXIX/numlarou/lar_3.htm Dictionnaires généraux, universels, encyclopédiques, et autres…] A bibliography of French encyclopedias up to Larousse.

*"Encyclopédie Méthodique" (Panckoucke) 1782–1832
*"Encyclopédie nouvelle" (Pierre Leroux and Jean Reynaud) 1839–1840
*"Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle by Pierre Larousse (17 volumes 1866–1877) —really an encyclopedia despite its name
*"La Grande Encyclopédie, general secretaries of the editorial board: Camille Dreyfus and André Berthelot (31 volumes 1886–1902)

German encyclopedias

*"Oekonomische Encyklopädie (General System of State, City, Home and Agriculture)" Editor Johann Georg Krünitz (242 Volumes 1773–1858)
*"Brockhaus" (eds. 1–14 by 1900)
*"Pierers Universal-Lexikon" (1824–1836; 7th ed. 1888–1893)
*"Meyers Konversations-Lexikon" (1839–1855; 5th ed. 1893–1897)
*"Herders Konversations-Lexikon" (1854–1857; 2nd ed. 1875–1879)

Hungarian encyclopedias

*"A Pallas Nagy Lexikona" (1893–1897)

wedish encyclopedias

*"Nordisk familjebok" (1876–1899; 2nd ed. 1904–1926)

Encyclopedias published 1900–present

*"Encyclopædia Britannica" (eds. 10–16 by 2000)
*"Collier's Encyclopedia" (1951–1998)
*"Harmsworth's Encyclopaedia" (1905; known in the USA as "Nelson's Encyclopaedia")
*"Everyman Encyclopaedia" (c. 1910)
*"The Children's Encyclopedia" (1908-10, and numerous editions to 1964)
*"World Book Encyclopedia" (1917)
*"Encyclopedia International" (1963)
*"Encyclopedia of Desalination and water and Water Resources"
*"Encarta" (1993) (incorporating some content from Funk and Wagnalls and Colliers)
* "Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems"
* "Funk and Wagnalls" (1912–2001?)
* "Encyclopedia Mythica" (1995)
* "Concise encyclopedia of economics" (1993)

American encyclopedias

* "New International Encyclopaedia" (1902–1927)
* "Collier's Encyclopedia" (1951–1998)
* "The Nuttall Encyclopaedia"
* "Academic American Encyclopedia"
* "Dictionary of the Middle Ages" (1982–1989)

Arabic encyclopedias

* "Global Arabic Encyclopedia" (1992–...) [http://www.mawsoah.net/]

Bangladeshi encyclopedias

*"Banglapedia"(2003-)

Chinese encyclopedias

Dutch encyclopedias

* "Winkler Prins Geïllustreerde Encyclopaedie" (3rd ed. 1905-1912; 9th ed. 1990-1993)
* "Oosthoek's Geïllustreerde Encyclopaedie" (1916-1923; 7th ed. 1976-1981)
* "Grote Nederlandse Larousse Encyclopedie" (1971-1979)
* "Grote Spectrum Encyclopedie" (1974-1980)
* Dutch columnist "Battus" wrote a parody encyclopaedia with fake articles called "De encyclopedie" (1978).

French encyclopedias

*"Encyclopædia Universalis" (1968–....)
*"Claude Augé Nouveau Petit Larousse Illustré"
*"Encyclopaedia Britannica" translated into French

Greek encyclopedias

*"Papyrus - Larousse – Britannica (??p???? - ?a???? - ?p??t?????a) (1975–2004)
*"Helios (?e?te??? ???????pa?d???? ?e?????, ?????), (1950)

German encyclopedias

* "Brockhaus" (eds. 15–21 by 2006)
* "Meyers Konversations-Lexikon" (6th ed. 1902–1908; 9th (final) ed. 1971–1979)
* "Herders Konversations-Lexikon" (3rd ed. 1902–1907; 5th ed. 1952–1956)

Indian Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia Indica: A Grand Tribute to Culture, Art, Architecture, Religion and Development. Anmol Publications Pvt Ltd

Iranian encyclopedias

*"Encyclopedia Iranica" (1979)
*"Treasure Box of Knowledge" (1993)

Italian encyclopedias

*"Enciclopedia italiana di scienze, lettere ed arti" (1929-1960)
*"Dizionario enciclopedico italiano" (1955-)

Religious encyclopedias

* "Coptic Encyclopedia" (1993)
* "Jewish Encyclopedia" (1901–1906)
* "Encyclopedia Judaica"
* "Catholic Encyclopedia" (1913)
* "Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge" (1914; public domain since 2004)
* "Encyclopedia of Mormonism" (1992)
* "Orthodox Encyclopedia" (Serbe)
* "Encyclopaedia of Islam"
* "Hastings, James: Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics" (1908-1926)
* Unitarian-Universalist Encyclopedia ( http:unitarian-universalist.wetpaint.com )

Russian encyclopedias

*"Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary" (1890-1906)
*"Great Soviet Encyclopedia"

cottish encyclopedias

*"Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland" (1994-2000)

panish encyclopedias

*"Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana" (1908-2003)

Swedish encyclopedias

*"Nordisk familjebok" (editions 2-4 of 20+ volumes each, 1904-1957)
*"Svensk uppslagsbok" (2 editions, 31 and 32 volumes, 1929-1955)
*"Kunskapens bok" (6 editions, 8 or 9 volumes each, 1937-1959)
*"Focus" (5 volumes, 1958-1960, introducing a new era of smaller modular encyclopedias, several later editions)
*"Bra Böckers Lexikon" (4 editions of 25 volumes each, 1973-1995)
*"Bonniers familjelexikon" (20 volumes, 1983-1986)
*"Nationalencyklopedin" (20 volumes, 1989-1996)
*"Lexikon 2000" (25 volumes, 1995)