| 1st |
1768–1771 |
3 volumes, 2,391 pages,[b] 160 plates |
3,000[c] |
William Smellie |
Largely the work of one editor, Smellie; An estimated 3,000 sets were
eventually sold, priced at 12 pounds sterling apiece; 30 articles longer
than three pages. The pages were bound in three equally sized volumes
covering Aa–Bzo, Caaba–Lythrum, and Macao–Zyglophyllum. |
| 2nd |
1777–1784 |
10 volumes, 8,595 pages, 340 plates |
1,500[94] |
James Tytler |
Largely the work of one editor, Tytler; 150 long articles; pagination
errors; all maps under "Geography" article; 1,500 sets sold [94] |
| 3rd |
1788–1797 |
18 volumes, 14,579 pages, 542 plates |
10,000 or 13,000[d] |
Colin Macfarquhar and George Gleig |
£42,000 profit on 10,000 copies sold; first dedication to monarch; pirated
by Moore in Dublin and Thomas Dobson in Philadelphia |
| supplement to 3rd |
1801, revised in 1803 |
2 volumes, 1,624 pages, 50 plates |
|
George Gleig |
Copyright owned by Thomas Bonar |
| 4th |
1801–1810 |
20 volumes, 16,033 pages, 581 plates |
4,000[132] |
James Millar |
Authors first allowed to retain copyright. Material in the supplement to
3rd not incorporated due to copyright issues. |
| 5th |
1815–1817 |
20 volumes, 16,017 pages, 582 plates |
|
James Millar |
Reprint of the 4th edition. Financial losses by Millar and Andrew Bell's
heirs; EB rights sold to Archibald Constable |
| supplement to 5th |
1816–1824 |
6 volumes, 4,933 pages, 125 plates1 |
10,500[94] |
Macvey Napier |
Famous contributors recruited, such as Sir Humphry Davy, Sir Walter Scott,
Malthus |
| 6th |
1820–1823 |
20 volumes |
|
Charles Maclaren |
Reprint of the 4th and 5th editions with modern font. Constable went
bankrupt on 19 January 1826; EB rights eventually secured by Adam Black |
| 7th |
1830–1842 |
21 volumes, 17,101 pages, 506 plates, plus a 187-page index volume |
5,000[94] |
Macvey Napier, assisted by James Browne, LLD |
Widening network of famous contributors, such as Sir David Brewster, Thomas
de Quincey, Antonio Panizzi; 5,000 sets sold [94] |
| 8th |
1853–1860 |
21 volumes, 17,957 pages, 402 plates; plus a 239-page index volume,
published 18612 |
8,000 |
Thomas Stewart Traill |
Many long articles were copied from the 7th edition; 344 contributors
including William Thomson; authorized American sets printed by Little,
Brown in Boston; 8,000 sets sold altogether |
| 9th |
1875–1889 |
24 volumes, plus a 499-page index volume labeled Volume 25 |
55,000 authorized[e] plus 500,000 pirated sets |
Thomas Spencer Baynes (1875–80); then W. Robertson Smith |
Some carry-over from 8th edition, but mostly a new work; high point of
scholarship; 10,000 sets sold by Britannica and 45,000 authorized sets made
in the US by Little, Brown in Boston and Schribners' Sons in NY, but
pirated widely (500,000 sets) in the US.3 |
10th,
supplement to 9th |
1902–1903 |
11 volumes, plus the 24 volumes of the 9th. Volume 34 containing 124
detailed country maps with index of 250,000 names 4 |
70,000 |
Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace and Hugh Chisholm in London; Arthur T. Hadley
and Franklin Henry Hooper in New York City |
American partnership bought EB rights on 9 May 1901; high-pressure sales
methods |
| 11th |
1910–1911 |
28 volumes, plus volume 29 index |
1,000,000 |
Hugh Chisholm in London, Franklin Henry Hooper in New York City |
Another high point of scholarship and writing; more articles than the 9th,
but shorter and simpler; financial difficulties for owner, Horace Everett
Hooper; EB rights sold to Sears Roebuck in 1920 |
12th,
supplement to 11th |
1921–1922 |
3 volumes with own index, plus the 29 volumes of the 11th5 |
|
Hugh Chisholm in London, Franklin Henry Hooper in New York City |
Summarized state of the world before, during, and after World War I |
13th,
supplement to 11th |
1926 |
3 volumes with own index, plus the 29 volumes of the 11th6 |
|
James Louis Garvin in London, Franklin Henry Hooper in New York City |
Replaced 12th edition volumes; improved perspective of the events of
1910–1926 |
| 14th |
1929–1933 |
24 volumes 7 |
|
James Louis Garvin in London, Franklin Henry Hooper in New York City |
Publication just before Great Depression was financially catastrophic[*citation
needed*] |
| revised 14th |
1933–1973 |
24 volumes 7 |
|
Franklin Henry Hooper until 1938; then Walter Yust, Harry Ashmore, Warren
E. Preece, William Haley |
Began continuous revision in 1936: every article revised at least twice
every decade |
| 15th |
1974–1984 |
30 volumes 8 |
|
Warren E. Preece, then Philip W. Goetz |
Introduced three-part structure; division of articles into *Micropædia* and
*Macropædia*; *Propædia* Outline of Knowledge; separate index eliminated |
| |
1985–2010 |
32 volumes 9 |
|
Philip W. Goetz, then Robert McHenry, currently Dale Hoiberg |
Restored two-volume index; some *Micropædia* and *Macropædia* articles
merged; slightly longer overall; new versions were issued every few years.
Last printed edition. |
