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''Compton's Encyclopedia and Fact-Index'' is a home and school
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 ...
first published in 1922 as ''Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia''. The word "Pictured" was removed from the title with the 1968 edition.Encyclopædia Britannica, 1988. The encyclopedia is now advertised as ''Compton's by Britannica''.


History

The set was originally published in 1922 in 8 volumes as ''Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia'' by F. E. Compton and Company of
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. It was titled "Pictured" because no other encyclopedia at the time had as large or as diverse a collection of illustrations. The encyclopedia was expanded to 10 volumes in 1924 and 15 in 1932. In 1940 the title was expanded to ''Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia and Fact Index'' to emphasize its "Fact-Index" feature which combined a general index with dictionary type entries and tables. The general editor from 1922 to 1961 was Guy Stanton Ford. He was succeeded by Charles Alfred Ford, and then Donald Lawson in 1964. In the early 1960s, F. E. Compton Co. was purchased by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. In 1968 the title was changed to simply ''Compton's Encyclopedia'' and expanded to 24 volumes. It expanded to 26 volumes in 1974. The 1985 edition had 26 volumes, 11,000 pages, 10,000 articles, and 8.5 million words. There were 35,500 cross-references and an index with 150,000 entries, including 30,000 dictionary style fact entries. There were 20,500 illustrations, about 20% in color and 2,000 maps. Articles averaged 850 words, or more than a full page. Most of the main articles were not signed and none of the fact entries were. 600 editors, advisors, artists and contributors were listed at the front of Vol. 1. Potentially difficult technical terms were italicized and defined in context, and articles used a "pyramid structure", beginning in simple, elementary terms and gradually becoming more complex and detailed. Despite being continuously revised, by the late 1970s it was being criticized for being out of date, particularly with regard to its illustrations. However, in the early 1980s the publishers began a thorough revision under Michael Reed and the contents were brought more up to date. This included a more egalitarian approach to women's roles in society and revisions of articles such as
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
,
adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...
,
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
. Controversial issues like abortion were handled carefully, giving both sides of the argument, while other issues such as
circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...
and
homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...
were not mentioned at all. The 1993 print edition of ''Compton's Encyclopedia'' had 26 volumes, 9 million words, 10,590 pages, 5,250 articles, 28,750 Fact Index definitions, 450 bibliographies, 22,510 illustrations and maps, 35,500 cross references and 154,000 index entries. Only 1,100 articles were signed, but a list of nearly 600 contributors, advisors and editorial staff were listed at the front of Vol. 1. By this time Britannica had invested $13.5 million in revamping the encyclopedia, now under the direction of Dale Good, who became general editor in 1986. It had risen again in the eyes of encyclopedia critics and was considered a first-rate example of an encyclopedia in its class. Controversial issues such as
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
, abortion, adoption,
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
,
drunk driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is in ...
,
euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...
, homosexuality, race relations,
missing children A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, o ...
,
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
, sexually-transmitted disease and
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
, were given greater coverage. Illustrations were brought up to date and were 65% in color. The pyramid style article format was retained, but italicization of potentially unfamiliar words was dropped for esthetic purposes, though potentially difficult words such as palaeographic,
miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...
and
recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a period of broad decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be tr ...
were still defined in context. Major articles such as
computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
and
genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...
had glossaries for technical terms. After 1992 the "Fact-Index" was moved to volume 26 - it had previously been divided between each volume. Subjects that were considered too trendy, ephemeral or minor, that did not have articles in the main text, but did have "Fact-Index" definitions included
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
,
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
, electric automobiles,
Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist Painting, painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of th ...
,
motion sickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include ...
, Moral Re-Armament and
Moultrie, Georgia Moultrie is the county seat and largest city of Colquitt County, Georgia, United States. It is the third largest city in Southwest Georgia, behind Thomasville and Albany. As of the 2020 census, Moultrie's population was 14,638. It was origina ...
. Incidentally, the "Fact-Index" definitions themselves were not indexed. ''Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia''
CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
(1989) was the first multimedia encyclopedia.Kenneth Kister
''Best Encyclopedias''
1994
Grolier's earlier CD-ROM encyclopedia was not multimedia. The encyclopedia was founded by Frank E. Compton in 1922. Publishing rights to the F.E. Compton & Company products were acquired by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. in 1961. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. initially owned ''Compton's Encyclopedia'' from 1961 to 1993, and later reacquired it in 2002. Britannica had sold its Compton's interests to the
Tribune Company Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
in 1993, and for a time ''Compton's Encyclopedia'' was a product of
The Learning Company The Learning Company (TLC) was an American educational software company founded in 1980 in Palo Alto, California and headquartered in Fremont, California. The company produced a grade-based line of learning software, edutainment games, and ...
, which purchased
Broderbund Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits '' Choplifter'', '' Lode Runner'', '' Karateka'', and ...
in 1998. In March 2002 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. "acquired an exclusive license to publish and distribute ''Compton's Encyclopedia'' in print and CD-ROM from Broderbund LLC and Success Publishing Group".


Print editions

*''Compton's Encyclopedia'' **8 volumes, 1922 **10 volumes, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, in two binding styles: one with plain red boards with insignia, the other with dark brown embossed boards de-luxe. **16 volumes, 1931 **15 volumes, 1933, 1935, 1939, 1948 **20 volumes, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1962 *''Compton's Encyclopedia and Fact-Index'' **24 volumes 1969–1971 **22 volumes, 1972, 1973 **26 volumes, annually 1974–1978 and 1980–1995, 2004 *''Compton's by Britannica'' **26 volumes, 2009


Yearbooks

Compton's has also published a yearly supplement, ''The Compton yearbook'' from 1958 to the present.Catalog entry of The Compton Yearbook (archived)
in
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...


CD-ROM editions

*''Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia'', CD-ROM, 1989, the first "multimedia" CD-ROM *''Compton's Family Encyclopedia'', CD-ROM, 1991, a "stripped down" version of ''Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia'' *''Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia'', CD-ROM, 1993, 1995 through 2001. Britannica's 1989 ''Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia'' was the first "multimedia" CD-ROM encyclopedia. It won the 1991
Software Publishers Association The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) is a trade association dedicated to the entertainment, consumer and business software industries. Established in 1984 as the Software Publishers Association (SPA), the SIIA took its new nam ...
Excellence in Software Award for Best Education Program. The product was invented by Britannica's Michael Reed who served as its Creative Director during its production. Reed coordinated with a team from Jostens Company out of San Diego that actually built the product. Grolier's 1985 '' Academic American Encyclopedia on CD-ROM'' was text-only. In 1990, when it was called ''The New Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia'' (1988–1991), still pictures were added. Variants of Compton's CD-ROM encyclopedias were ''Compton's Concise Encyclopedia'', ''Compton's Family Encyclopedia'', and ''Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia''.


Environments in ''Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia''

*Grandma's Attic (top left) *Madcap Music (top right) *Compton's Newsroom (middle left) *Kaleidescape (middle right) *Compton's Skyship (bottom left) *Wild and Free (bottom right)


See also

*
Lists of encyclopedias For lists of encyclopedias, see: * List of encyclopedias by branch of knowledge * List of encyclopedias by date * List of encyclopedias by language * List of online encyclopedias See also * Bibliography of encyclopedias * List of almanacs * ...
*
List of online encyclopedias This is a list of well-known online encyclopedias that are accessible or formerly accessible on the Internet. The largest online encyclopedias are general reference works, though there are also many specialized ones. Some online encyclopedias ar ...


References


External Links

* The first edition (1922) of ''Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia'' is now in public domain, and is fully available in color scan o
Library of Congress
and
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
: Volum
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