Frank Elbert Compton (August 7, 1874 – May 13, 1950) was a

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

encyclopedia 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 ...

s and other reference works, most notably ''Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia'' from 1922, later named '' Compton's Encyclopedia''. Compton graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

, and from 1894 he was an associate of publisher Chandler Beach. Compton became the general manager of ''C. B. Beach & Company'' in 1905. He took over the firm when Beach retired in 1907, and the company name later changed to ''F. E. Compton & Co.''. Compton spent his career in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and he died in La Jolla,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. ''The New Student's Reference Work'' was published by ''C. B. Beach & Company'' until 1912, then by ''F. E. Compton & Co.''. Publishing rights to the ''F.E. Compton & Company'' products were acquired by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. in 1961,Encyclopædia Britannica, 1988. and the encyclopedia is still in print as '' Compton's by Britannica''.

References

1874 births 1950 deaths American publishers (people) University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni {{US-business-bio-1870s-stub