
''The Penny Cyclopædia'' published by the
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was a multi-volume
encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...
edited by
George Long and published by
Charles Knight alongside the ''
Penny Magazine''. Twenty-seven volumes and three supplements were published from 1833 to 1843.
Editions
The ''Penny Cyclopædia'' was originally published in 27 thin volumes between 1833 and 1843. Supplements were issued in 1851 and 1858. Despite its name, each individual volume cost 9d. apiece.
Contributors
The contributors to the ''Penny Cyclopædia'' were not individually credited with the articles they created, although a list of their names appears in volume 27. The contributors included many notable figures of the period, including the librarian
Henry Ellis, the biblical scholar
John Kitto, the publisher
Charles Knight, the critic
George Henry Lewes
George Henry Lewes (; 18 April 1817 – 30 November 1878) was an English philosopher and critic of literature and theatre. He was also an amateur Physiology, physiologist. American feminist Margaret Fuller called Lewes a "witty, French, flippan ...
, the mathematician
Augustus De Morgan
Augustus De Morgan (27 June 1806 – 18 March 1871) was a British mathematician and logician. He is best known for De Morgan's laws, relating logical conjunction, disjunction, and negation, and for coining the term "mathematical induction", the ...
, the surgeon
James Paget, the statistician
George Richardson Porter, the sanitary reformer
Thomas Southwood Smith, and the art historian
Ralph Nicholson Wornum.
Derivatives
A number of mid-to late 19th century encyclopedia were published based on the ''Penny Cyclopaedia''
''National Cyclopedia of Useful Knowledge''
The ''National Cyclopedia of Useful Knowledge'' was published by Charles Knight in 12 volumes between 1847 and 1851. A second edition in 13 volumes was published between 1856 and 1859 by
George Routledge
George Routledge (23 September 1812 – 13 December 1888) was a British book publisher and the founder of the publishing house Routledge.
Early life
He was born in Brampton, Cumberland on 23 September 1812.
Career
Routledge gained his early ex ...
. The work was then sold to the firm of
W. Mackenzie who published it as the ''National Encyclopedia'' in 14 volumes in 1867, the final volume of which was a
world atlas. Further editions of the ''National Cyclopedia'' were published in 1875 and in 1884-8. The last was a "revised" edition edited by
J. H. F. Brabner.
There was also apparently an American edition of the ''National Cyclopedia of Useful Knowledge''
''English Cyclopaedia''
The most famous of the derivatives of the ''Penny Cyclopaedia'' was the ''English Cyclopaedia'', which would go on to form the basis of ''
Everyman's Encyclopaedia''.
''Imperial Cyclopedia''
This was a two volume condensation of the ''Penny Cyclopaedia'' specifically regarding the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
, published 1850-51.
Influence
The novelist
Herman Melville
Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
is known to have used the ''Penny Cyclopædia'' while writing ''
Moby-Dick
''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'' (1851) and other novels, and scholar Paul McCarthy has suggested that the encyclopedia's coverage of
moral insanity
Moral insanity referred to a type of mental disorder consisting of abnormal emotions and behaviours in the apparent absence of intellectual impairments, delusions, or hallucinations. It was an accepted diagnosis in Europe and America through the s ...
and
monomania
In 19th-century psychiatry, monomania (from Greek , "one", and , meaning "madness" or "frenzy") was a form of partial insanity conceived as single psychological obsession in an otherwise sound mind.
Types
Monomania may refer to:
* Erotomania ( ...
may have influenced Melville's characters in ''Moby-Dick'' and other writings.
Volumes
Vol. 1. A-And—Vol. 2. And-Ath—Vol. 3. Ath-Bas—Vol. 4. Bas-Blo—Vol. 5. Blo-Buf—Vol. 6. Buf-Cha—Vol. 7. Cha-Cop—Vol. 8. Cop-Dio—Vol. 9. Dio-Ern—Vol. 10. Ern-Fru—Vol. 11. Fue-Had—Vol. 12. Had-Int—Vol. 13. Int-Lim—Vol. 14. Lim-Mas—Vol. 15. Mas-Mur—Vol. 16. Murillo—Organ (1840)—Vol. 17. Org-Per—Vol. 18. Per-Pri—Vol. 19. Pri-Ric—Vol. 20. Ric-Sca—Vol. 21. Sca-Sig—Vol. 22. Sig-Ste—Vol. 23. Ste-Tai—Vol. 24. Tai-Tit—Vol. 25. Tit-Ung—Vol. 26. Ung-Wal—Vol. 27. Wal-Zyg
References
External links
*
The Penny cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge' London : C. Knight, 1833-1843. Original 27 vol. ed.
*
The Supplement to the Penny cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.' London : C. Knight, 1846-1851.
*
Penny cyclopaedia of the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge. Supplement.' London, C. Knight, 1851.
*
Penny cyclopaedia of the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge. Second supplement.' London, Knight & co., 1858.
*
The national cyclopaedia of useful knowledge.' Boston : Little, Brown & Co., 1853.
{{Italic title
Publications established in 1833
1833 non-fiction books
British encyclopedias
English-language encyclopedias
19th-century encyclopedias