What is an encyclopedia

A man of encyclopedic knowledge, a "walking encyclopedia" - this is what they respectfully say about a highly educated universal expert, appreciating his outstanding readiness and broad horizons. They are not born scholars. Reverence for books, for popular science literature, and especially for dictionaries, reference books, encyclopedic editions, is commendable and often vital.

Translated from Greek roots, the words encyclopedia (enkyklios paideia) mean "general education." The most popular interpretation of the term is as follows: this is a reference publication containing information on all branches of knowledge or covering a specific industry. The information in such a book is arranged in alphabetical, thematic or alphabetical-thematic order. The desire to classify the accumulated knowledge arose in people in ancient times. The prototypes of modern encyclopedias were the terminological descriptions in ancient Egypt, the universal works of Democritus and Aristotle. In Western Europe, in the Middle Ages, they tried to publish systematic encyclopedias in the format of reviews, "sums", and glossaries. Among the most famous French publications are called the "Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts", published in 1751-1780. Its compilers all over the world began to be called encyclopedists. In 18th-century Germany, a 68-volume encyclopedia called the "Great Complete Universal Lexicon of all Sciences and Arts" was in demand. It was published by a book dealer from Leipzig, I. G. Zedler. In the English book market of the next century, Stolichnaya and the National Encyclopedia became in demand. Since 1950, the constantly updated "Collier Encyclopedia" has gained popularity in America, the materials of which are actively used in the field of education when mastering curricula. but also geographical, historical, literary and other concepts of the world. Later, the Legal Dictionary, the Geographical Dictionary of the Russian State, the Village Healer, or the Dictionary of Healing and a number of others were published. Then came the “Dictionary of the Memorable People of the Russian Land”, “The Military Encyclopedic Lexicon”, “The Desktop Dictionary for inquiries in all branches of knowledge.” The famous 82-volume “Encyclopedic Dictionary”, compiled by F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron dates from 1890-1907 Its circulation was estimated at 30 thousand copies. Demand in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Pomegranate brothers was also in demand. The event was the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, released in the 20-40s of the XX century. It was reprinted twice: in 1949-1958 and 1969-1978. Most of the reference (non-political, non-ideological) information of these publications is scrupulously verified, reliable and still valuable today. All modern encyclopedias on the specific features of the coverage of the material are traditionally divided into universal, industry and regional. There are also thematic (for example, construction or floriculture), problematic (for example, there is the French "Encyclopedia of Satan" - a collection of literary works that touch upon the topic), personal (the domestic "Lermontov Encyclopedia", Italian "Dantovskaya"). Numerous technical, medical, historical, theatrical, musical and many other encyclopedias enjoy a good reputation among specialists and a wide range of readers. Publishers purposefully take care of clarifying the readers' addresses of their books: special volumes are issued for women, the elderly, children, for family reading. The information in the encyclopedias for each item can be extremely compressed to a brief reference or, conversely, expanded to the form of a fictionalized essay. “A book that has no end” - the encyclopedia is rightly and accurately called - a useful scientific and practical manual, written for centuries.