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''Dobson's Encyclopædia'' was the first encyclopedia issued in the newly independent United States of America, published by Thomas Dobson from 1789–1798. ''Encyclopædia'' was the full title of the work, with Dobson's name at the bottom of the title page (see illustration). The encyclopedia was a reprint of the contemporary third edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (published 1788–1797), although Dobson's ''Encyclopædia'' was a somewhat longer work in which a few articles were edited for a patriotic American audience. The term ''Britannica'' was dropped from the title, the dedication to King George III was replaced with a dedication to the readers, and sundry facts about American history, geography and peoples were added. Reproduction of printed pages was not then possible; the entire work was re-set in type, allowing changes to be made throughout. However, the work is largely a reprint of ''Britannica''. The plates were re-engraved from the originals as accurately as possible, but some were changed. For example, the map of North America used in ''Britannicas third edition was the very out-of-date one used in the first and second editions; Dobson's used a larger and much more detailed and updated map, and a slightly improved map of South America. ==History== The 18-volume third edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' was published between 1788 (Volume 1) and 1797 (Volume 18) in Scotland, and was well received. It was by far the best edition of the ''Britannica'' to date. (See History of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' for more details.) A two-volume supplement was added in 1801. In this era, enterprising American printers were matching their British counterparts in quality and quantity, and severely undercutting them in price. A successful master printer, Dobson objected to a British bias he perceived in the Britannica, and resolved to re-edit the ''Britannica'' accordingly. He completed his Encyclopædia in April 1798, a year after the original. It had 16,650 pages, with 595 engraved copperplates, slightly more than the ''Britannica''. In support of Dobson's patriotic initiative, President George Washington subscribed to two sets, one of which now is kept with most of the rest of George Washington's personal library in the Boston Athenæum. Its retail price was five Pennsylvania dollars per volume, about 15% less than the price of ''Britannica'' in America, subject to import tax on British books.〔Sher, Richard B. ''The Enlightenment & the book: Scottish authors & their publishers''〕 Purchasers included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. The original printing of 2,000 copies had sold out by 1818, and another printing was made by the firm of Budd and Bartram of Philadelphia. By the time of Dobson's death in 1823 the Encyclopædia was outdated, and was eventually superseded by the first edition of ''Encyclopedia Americana'' (1829-1833). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dobson's Encyclopædia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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