The ''Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste'' ("Universal Encyclopaedia of Sciences and Arts") was a 19th-century German

encyclopaedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

published by

Johann Samuel Ersch Johann Samuel Ersch (23 June 1766 – 16 January 1828) was a German bibliographer, generally regarded as the founder of German bibliography. Biography He was born in Großglogau (now Głogów), in Silesia. In 1785 he entered the University of H ...

and

Johann Gottfried Gruber Johann Gottfried Gruber (29 November 1774 – 7 August 1851) was a German critic and literary historian. Biography Gruber was born at Naumburg on the Saale, in the Electorate of Saxony. He received his education at the town school of Naumburg a ...

, therefore also known as the "Ersch-Gruber." One of the most ambitious encyclopaedia projects ever, it remains uncompleted. It was designed and begun in 1813 by Professor Ersch to satisfy the wants of Germans, only in part supplied by foreign works. It was stopped by

the Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

until 1816, when Professor

Gottlieb Hufeland Gottlieb Hufeland (29 October 1760 – 25 February 1817) was a German economist and jurist. Biography Born in Danzig (Gdańsk), Royal Prussia, Crown of Poland, Hufeland was educated at the gymnasium of his native town, and completed his univ ...

joined, but he died on November 25, 1817, while the specimen part was at press. The first volume appeared in Leipzig in 1818. The editors of the different sections at various times were some of the best-known men of learning in Germany, including Gruber, M.H.E. Meier,

Hermann Brockhaus Hermann Brockhaus (January 28, 1806 – January 5, 1877) was a German Orientalist born in Amsterdam. He was a leading authority on Sanskrit and Persian languages. He was the son of publisher Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus and brother-in-law to ...

, W. Müller and A.G. Hoffmann of Jena. Naturalist

Eduard Poeppig Eduard Friedrich Poeppig (16 July 1798 – 4 September 1868) was a German botanist, zoologist and explorer. Biography Poeppig was born in Plauen, Saxony. He studied medicine and natural history at the University of Leipzig, graduating with a me ...

wrote most of the articles on the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. All articles bear the authors' names, and those not ready in time were placed at the end of their letter. The work is divided into three sections: # A-G (99 volumes published, complete) : # H-N (only the first 43 volumes published, through ''Ligatur'') # O-Z (only the first 25 volumes published, through ''Phyxios'') From its beginning through 1830, the ''Encyclopädie'' was published at Leipzig by Johan Friedrich Gleditsch. From 1831 until publication ceased in 1889, the ''Encyclopädie'' was published by Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, also of Leipzig. Gleditsch published volumes 1 through 21 of the first section; volumes 1 through 7 of the second, but only the first volume of the third section. Brockhaus published the remaining volumes through 1889. By 1889, when the project was abandoned, the ''Encyclopädie'' had reached 167 volumes. The article about Greece alone covered 3,668 pages, spanning eight volumes.

References

External links

''Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste''
(scanned page images) {{DEFAULTSORT:Allgemeine Encyclopadie der Wissenschaften und Kunste German encyclopedias German-language encyclopedias 1818 non-fiction books Reference works in the public domain 19th-century encyclopedias