List of encyclopedias by branch of knowledge

This is a list of notable encyclopedias sorted by branch of knowledge. For the purposes of this list, an encyclopedia is defined as a "compendium that contains information on either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge." For other sorting standards, see List of encyclopedias.

General knowledge

Catalan

* ''Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana'' – Catalan-language encyclopedia, started in fascicles, and published in 1968 by

Chinese

* ''Encyclopedia of China''
* ''Gujin tushu jicheng'' – Chinese language encyclopedia completed in 1725 (10 million Chinese characters)
* '' Yongle Encyclopedia'' – once contained 11,095 volumes and around 370 million Chinese characters but now contains less than 400 volumes

Czech

*'' Riegrův slovník naučný'' – first Czech encyclopedia published in 1860–1874 with 11 volumes, supplement vol. in 1890
online

* '' Otto's encyclopedia'' – largest Czech-language encyclopedia published between 1888 and 1908 (28 vols) and 1930–43 (12 vols, incomplete)
Volumes 1–28 online
*'' Příruční slovník naučný'' – first post-war encyclopedia. With strong communist ideology. Four volumes, 1962–1967.
*'' Malá československá encklopedie'' – ''Small Czechoslovak encyclopedia'', it was supposed to be forerunner to ''Great Czechoslovak encyclopedia'' that was never published, 6 volumes, 1984–1987.
*''Diderot'' (8 volumes, 1999–2000)
*''Universum'' (10 volumes, 1999–2001)
*''Czech Wikipedia'' (2002–)

Danish

* ''Den Store Danske Encyklopædi''

Dutch

* '' Winkler Prins'' – published in print between 1870 and 1993 and made available digitally to the present day
* '' Oosthoek'' – published between 1907 and 1981
* ''Christelijke Encyclopedie'' – published between 1926 and 2005
* ''Eerste Nederlandse Systematisch Ingerichte Encyclopaedie'' – published between 1946 and 1952
* ''Standaard Encyclopedie'' – published between 1969 and 1974 by Standaard Uitgeverij Antwerpen
* ''Grote Nederlandse Larousse Encyclopedie'' – published between 1971 and 1979
* ''Grote Spectrum Encyclopedie'' – published between 1974 and 1980

English

* '' Academic American Encyclopedia'' – 21-volume work published in 1980, also issued by Grolier under the names ''Barnes & Noble New American Encyclopedia'', ''Global International Encyclopedia'', ''Grolier Academic Encyclopedia'', ''Grolier International Encyclopedia'', ''Lexicon Universal Encyclopedia'', and ''Macmillan Family Encyclopedia''
* '' Chambers's Encyclopaedia'' – published in 1859 by W. Chambers and R. Chambers
* ''The Children's Encyclopedia'' – by Arthur Mee, published 1908–64 in the UK and in the US starting in 1910 as Grolier's ''The Book of Knowledge''
* ''Children's Illustrated Encyclopedia'' – published by Dorling Kindersley
* ''Collier's Encyclopedia''
* ''Columbia Encyclopedia'' – one-volume encyclopedia from Columbia University Press last published in 2000
* ''The Complete Compendium of Universal Knowledge'' (1891)
* '' Compton's Encyclopedia'' – 26-volume encyclopedia
* ''Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia''
* ''Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences'' – 1728 publication by Ephraim Chambers
* '' Dobson's Encyclopædia'' – first encyclopedia printed in the United States, but mostly a reprint of the '' Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition''
* '' Edinburgh Encyclopædia'' – 18 volumes printed and published by William Blackwood and edited by David Brewster between 1808 and 1830
* ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' – one of the best-known encyclopedias in English, online-only since 2010
* '' Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite'' – DVD version of ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
* '' Encyclopædia Metropolitana'' – 39 volumes in 59 parts published between 1817 and 1845
* '' Encyclopedia Americana'' – both a print work and currently a part of Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia
* ''English Cyclopaedia'' – 23 volumes, published 1854–1862
* ''English Encyclopaedia'' – 10 volumes, published in 1802
* ''Everybody's Enquire Within'' – illustrated book of miscellaneous knowledge issued in weekly instalments from 1937 to 1938
* '' Everyman's Encyclopaedia'' – published by Joseph Dent from 1913 as part of the Everyman's Library
* '' Everything2'' – collaborative Web-based database of interlinked user-submitted articles
* '' Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia'' – first published in 1912; changed its name to ''Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Encyclopedia'' in 1931
* ''Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia'' – electronic encyclopedia published by Grolier
* ''Groliers Encyclopedia''
* '' Harmsworth's Universal Encyclopaedia'' – edited by John Alexander Hammerton and published 1921–22
* '' Hutchinson Encyclopedia'' – single-volume work first published in 1948
* '' New American Cyclopedia'' – 16 volumes published between 1857 and 1866
* '' Nupedia'' – peer reviewed, open content online encyclopedia project, currently inactive
* '' Open Site'' – effort inspired by, but not officially affiliated with, the Open Directory Project
* '' Oracle Encyclopædia'' – five-volume encyclopedia published in 1895
* ''An Outline of Modern Knowledge'' – published in 1931 by Victor Gollancz
* ''Pears Cyclopaedia'' – one-volume encyclopaedia published annually in the United Kingdom
* ''Probert Encyclopaedia'' – online topical encyclopedia consisting of almost 100,000 short entries, published by Mathew Probert and based in the United Kingdom
* '' World Book Encyclopedia'' – designed for family use; the world's best selling print encyclopedia

French

* ''Découvertes Gallimard'' – illustrated encyclopaedia in pocket format, 588 volumes plus 150⁺ volumes of spin-offs, published 1986–present
* '' Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers'' – contributed by the Encyclopédistes, edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert, published 1751–1772

German

* '' Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste'' – very large 19th-century encyclopaedia by Ersch and Gruber
* ''Brockhaus Enzyklopädie'' – best-known encyclopedia in German, online-only since 2014
* '' Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon'' – huge 18th-century encyclopedia by Johann Heinrich Zedler
* ''Meyers Konversations-Lexikon''

Italian

* ''Treccani'' – also known as ''Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti''

Latin

* ''Lexicon Universale'' – published in 1698

Persian

* '' The Book of Healing'' – 30-volume Persian-language encyclopedia published by Avicenna ( fa, ابن سینا) in 1027 ( ar, کتاب الشفاء ''Kitāb al-Šifāʾ'', Latin: ''Sufficientia'')
* '' The Persian Encyclopedia'' ( fa, دایرةالمعارف فارسی, italic=yes) – three-volume encyclopedia edited by Gholamhossein Mosahab, partially based on the early editions of the ''Columbia Encyclopedia''

Polish

* '' Nowe Ateny'' – published in 1745–1746
* ''Universal Encyclopedia'' – 1859, 28 volumes, Orgelbrand
* ''Wielka Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN'' – 1962–1970, 13 volumes, PWN
* ''Wielka Encyklopedia PWN'' – 2001–2005, 31 volumes, PWN

Russian

* ''Brockhaus and Efron'' – imperial encyclopedia in 86 volumes
* ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (''Большая Советская Энциклопедия'') – second largest and most comprehensive encyclopedia in Russian; there were three editions; the third edition of 1969–78 contains 30 volumes
* ''Great Russian Encyclopedia'' – universal Russian encyclopedia, completed in 36 volumes (2004-2017)

Slovak

*'' Slovenský náučný slovník''. 3 volumes 1932. First general encyclopedia in Slovak language.
*'' Pyramída''. Published between 1971 and 1990 in journal form (224 issues).
*''Malá slovenská encyklopédia''. 1 volume 1993
*''Encyclopaedia Beliana''. 20 planned volumes, 1999–, 9 volumes published as of 2021
*''Všeobecný encyklopedický slovník''. 2002, four volumes
*'' Slovak Wikipedia''. 2003–
*''Univerzum – všeobecná obrazová encyklopédia A - Ž''. 1 volume, 2011

Slovenian

* ''Enciklopedija Slovenije''

Spanish

* '' Enciclopedia Libre Universal'' (also known as ''Enciclopedia Libre'') – project to create a Spanish encyclopedia using wiki software, released under the GFDL
* '' Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana'' – largest encyclopedia of its time; also known as ''Enciclopedia Espasa o Enciclopedia Espasa-Calpe''

Swedish

* ''Nationalencyklopedin'' – encyclopedia in Swedish
* ''Susning.nu'' – project to create a Swedish-language encyclopedia using wiki software; an anyone-can-edit encyclopedia until 2004; shut down in 2009

Turkish

* '' Anabritannica'' – published in Turkey and based on the ''Britannica Micropædia''

Ukrainian

* ''Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia'' (''Українська радянська енциклопедія'') – encyclopedia in Ukrainian; its first edition was 17 volumes

Multiple languages

* '' Microsoft Encarta'' – computer-based encyclopedia published by Microsoft, now discontinued
* Wikipedia – world's largest free encyclopedia; a project to create a comprehensive encyclopedia using wiki software

Specialized encyclopedias

National, regional, ethnic or cultural

Australia

* ''Australian Encyclopaedia'' (1925, 1958, 1977, 1983, 1988, 1996)

Austria

* ''aeiou Encyclopedia'' (1996ff.)

Bangladesh

* ''Banglapedia'' – 10 volumes published in 2003; bilingual; English and Bengali

Canada

* ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (1985 and 1988)

Croatia

* '' Hrvatska opća enciklopedija'' (started in 1999 – 7th vol. 2005 of 11)

Ethiopia

* ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica'' – basic reference work for Ethiopian and Eritrean studies

Germany

* ''Deutsche Biographie'' (''Biographical dictionary of Germans'')

Iceland

* '' Icelandic Encyclopedia A-Ö''

Iran

* ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' – on Iranian peoples and Persia
* ''Encyclopaedia Islamica''
* ''Encyclopaedia of Imam Ali''
* ''The Encyclopedia of Iranian Old Music'' – published in Tehran, 2000
* ''Encyclopaedia of Persian Language and Literature'' – published by the Academy of Persian Language and Literature in Persian in Tehran
* ''Encyclopaedia of Shia''

Italy

* ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' (''Biographical dictionary of Italians'') – Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Malaysia

* ''The Encyclopedia of Malaysia'' – published from 1998 to 2007

Morocco

* '' Maelimat al-maghrib'' ( ar, معلمة المغرب) – published between 1989 and 2006 totaling 27 volumes.

New Zealand

* ''The Cyclopedia of New Zealand'' (1897–08) – unofficial; most subjects paid to have their articles appear; online at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
* ''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'' (1966–) – official
* '' Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'' (2005–) – official, incorporating the full text of ''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand''

Poland

* '' Encyklopedia Polski'' (''Encyclopedia of Poland'') – 2005, 10 volumes

Slovakia

*'' Encyklopédia Slovenska''. (''Encyclopedia of Slovakia'') 6 volumes, 1977–1982.

Slovenia

* ''Enciklopedija Slovenije'' – published in 1987–2002

Sweden

* ''Nordisk familjebok'' – encyclopedia in Swedish

Ukraine

* ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' – English five-volume version of the ''Encyclopedia of Ukrainian Studies''
* '' Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' – online version of the ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine ''
* '' Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine'' – multi-volume comprehensive encyclopedia about Ukraine from the 20th and 21st centuries

United Kingdom

* '' The London Encyclopaedia'' – 1007-page reference of the city of London; pub. 1983

United States

* ''Encyclopedia of Chicago''
* '' Encyclopedia of New Jersey''
* '' The Encyclopedia of New York City''
* ''Handbook of Texas''

Yugoslavia

* '' Enciklopedija Jugoslavije''
* ''Opća enciklopedija JLZ'' (1977–82)

Field

Art and architecture

* ''Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World'' – in 3 volumes (1997)
* ''Grove Dictionary of Art'' – in 34 volumes (1996)

Entertainment

* ''Allgame'' – comprehensive online guide to computer and video games created by All Media Guide
* ''Allmovie'' – comprehensive online guide to movies created by All Media Guide
* ''Allmusic'' – comprehensive online guide to music created by All Media Guide
* '' The Aurum Film Encyclopedia''
* ''The Motion Picture Guide''

Environmental science

* '' Encyclopedia of Earth'' (''EoE'') – electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society
* ''Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems'' (EOLSS) – sponsored by UNESCO—an interdisciplinary encyclopedia, inspired by the sustainable development movement

Fashion and dress

* ''Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion'' – edited by Joanne B. Eicher, 10 volumes

Fiction

* '' The Rocklopedia Fakebandica'' – by T. Mike Childs, published in 2004
* ''The Star Trek Encyclopedia''
* TV Tropes

History and biography

* '' African American National Biography''
* '' Africana – The Encyclopedia of the African and African-American Experience''
* ''American National Biography''
* ''Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography'' – 19th-century American encyclopedia
* ''Conspiracy Encyclopedia''
* ''An Encyclopedia of World History'' – single-volume work; First Edition, 1940; Sixth Edition, 2001
* '' Encyklopedia Polski''
* ''Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History''
* ''Lexikon des Mittelalters'' – German encyclopedia of medieval history, published in 1980
* ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'' – despite the name, a one-volume encyclopedia for antiquity

Law

* '' American Jurisprudence''
* '' Corpus Juris Secundum''
* ''Halsbury's Laws of Australia''
* ''Halsbury's Laws of England''
* ''Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia''
* ''Encyclopedia of Law''

=International and comparative law

=
* '' Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law''

Literature

* '' Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia''
* ''Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature''
* ''The Cambridge History of English and American Literature''
* ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' – first published in 1979 by John Clute and Peter Nicholls
* ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature''
* '' Literary Encyclopedia'' (''Литературная энциклопедия'') – 11 volumes, 1929–39 (incomplete; 12th volume draft later published)
* '' The Literary Encyclopedia'' – online encyclopedia started in 2000
* ''The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural'' – published in 1986; edited by Jack Sullivan
* ''The Poets' Encyclopedia'' – edited by Michael Andre
* ''Soviet Concise Literary Encyclopedia'' – Soviet-era encyclopedia of literature; 9 volumes published between 1962 and 1978
* ''Cyrillo-Methodian Encyclopedia'' of the Institute of Literature at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences from 1985 to 2003.

Mathematics

* ''CRC Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics'' – second edition 2002, based on Mathworld
* '' Encyclopaedia of Mathematics'' – published by Springer Verlag in 2002
* ''Encyclopedia of Cryptography and Security'' – published by Springer-Verlag in 2005
* ''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Mathematics'' (''EDM2'') – second edition published in 1993 by The Mathematical Society of Japan
* ''Klein's encyclopedia'' – published 1898–1935
* '' Mathworld'' – online encyclopedia by Eric Weisstein
* ''On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences'' (''OEIS'')
* '' planetmath''

Medicine

* ''Kitab al-Tasrif'' (''The Method of Medicine'') – by Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis)
* '' The Canon of Medicine'' – by Avicenna
* '' Encyclopedia of Public Health''
* ''Medical Compendium in Seven Books'' – by Paul of Aegina in the 7th century CE; it was the most complete medical encyclopedia in its day
* ''Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary''

Music

* ''Eerste Nederlandse Pop Encyclopedie''
* ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''
* ''The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians''
* '' International Encyclopedia of Women Composers''
* ''Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart''
* ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''

Nautical

* List of nautical dictionaries

Philosophy

* '' Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' – edited by Paul Edwards
* ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy''
*''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' – online encyclopedia

Religion

=Christianity

=
* ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' – 1907–12 (15 vls.)
* '' Encyclopædia Biblica''
* ''Encyclopedia of Christianity'' – John Stephen Bowden, ed., 1 vol., Oxford UP, 2006
* ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism''
* ''Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche'' – 1930–38 (10 vls.)
* ''New Catholic encyclopedia'' – 1967–96 (15 vls. and 4 supplementary vls.); 2. ed. 2003 (15 vls.)
* '' Theologische Realenzyklopädie'' (''TRE'') – Hrsg. Gerhard Müller. 38 vls.; Berlin 1977–2007
* ''Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism'' – Hawthorn Books. 150 vls.; New York City 1958–1971

=Islam

=
* ''Encyclopaedia Islamica''
* ''Encyclopaedia of Imam Ali''
* ''Encyclopaedia of Islam''
* ''Encyclopaedia of Shia''
* ''The Hussaini Encyclopedia''
* ''Urdu Encyclopaedia of Islam''
* ''Islami Bishwakosh''

=Judaism

=
* ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' – published 1972–91, second edition 2006
* ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' – published 1901–06; original full 12 volumes
* '' Shorter Jewish Encyclopedia in Russian'' – 11 volumes, published 1976–2005 in Jerusalem
* ''Talmudic Encyclopedia''
* ''The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe'' – Yale University Press, 2008

=Hinduism

=
* '' Encyclopedia of Hinduism'' – published 2012

Science

* '' Encyclopedia Astronautica'' – reference website maintained by space-travel enthusiast Mark Wade
* '' Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry'' – Wiley, 2000, 15 volumes
* '' Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh''
* ''Encyclopedia of Genetics''
* ''Encyclopedia of Life Sciences'' (ELS) – owned by John Wiley & Sons; has both a 20-volume print edition and an online edition
* ''The Illustrated Science and Invention Encyclopedia''
* ''McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology'' – also comes in a one-volume edition
* ''The New Encyclopedia of Snakes''

Engineering

=Chemical Engineering

=

* '' Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry'' – currently in its 7th edition; first edition in German available in the public domain.

Social sciences

* '' International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences'' – edited by Neil Smelser and Paul Baltes, 26 vls., Elsevier, 2001
* '' International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences'' – edited by David L. Sills, New York, New York (etc.); Macmillan, 1968
* '' International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences'' – edited by William A. Darity, Jr., Detroit (etc.); Macmillan Reference USA, 2008

=Economics

=
* ''The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics'' – 2nd Edition (2008)

Sports

* '' The Baseball Encyclopedia''
* '' Total Baseball, The Ultimate Baseball Encyclopedia'' – 2004, by John Thorn et al.
* ''World Sports Encyclopedia'' – 2003, Atena/MBI

Other

* ''Atlas of the Prehistoric World''
* '' Above and Beyond: The Encyclopedia of Aviation and Space Sciences''
* '' Christie's World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine''
* ''Encyclopedia of Cybernetics''
* ''Encyclopedia of Marxism'' – online encyclopedia released under the GNU Free Documentation License, part of the Marxist Internet Archive.
* ''The Grocer's Encyclopedia''
* ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft''
* '' Larousse Gastronomique'' – encyclopedia of food and cooking
* ''A Military Encyclopedia''
* ''Mining Encyclopedia''
* ''MusicBrainz'' – project to create a free music encyclopedia, released under the Open Content License; the first goal is to create a database similar to CDDB
* '' The Oxford Companion to Wine''
* ''Perelman's Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars'' – encyclopedia and history of (Non-Cuban) cigars and their manufacturers (also '' Perelman's Pocket Cyclopaedia of Havana Cigars'')
* '' The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia''

See also

* List of encyclopedias by language (English)
* List of historical encyclopedias
* List of online encyclopedias
* Lists of encyclopedias

References

{{Lists of encyclopedias

Lists of reference books