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The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' First Edition (1768–1771) is a 3-volume reference work, an edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's earliest period as a two-man operation founded by Colin Macfarquhar and Andrew Bell, in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was sold unbound in subscription format over a period of 3 years. Most of the articles were written by William Smellie and edited by Macfarquhar, who printed the pages. All copperplates were created by Bell. The ''Britannica'' was the idea of Colin Macfarquhar, a bookseller and printer, and Andrew Bell, an engraver, both of Edinburgh. They conceived of the ''Britannica'' as a conservative reaction to the French ''Encyclopédie'' of Denis Diderot (published 1751–1766), which was widely viewed as heretical. The ''Encyclopédie'' had begun as a French translation of the popular English encyclopedia, ''Cyclopaedia'' published by Ephraim Chambers in 1728. Although later editions of Chambers' ''Cyclopaedia'' were still popular, and despite the commercial failure of other English encyclopedias, Macfarquhar and Bell were inspired by the intellectual ferment of the Scottish Enlightenment and thought the time ripe for a new encyclopedia "compiled upon a new plan". Needing an editor, the two chose a 28-year-old scholar named William Smellie who was offered 200 pounds sterling to produce the encyclopedia in 100 parts (called "numbers" and equivalent to thick pamphlets), which were later bound into three volumes. The first number appeared on December 6, 1768 in Edinburgh, priced sixpence or 8 pence on finer paper. The ''Britannica'' was published under the pseudonym "A Society of Gentlemen in Scotland", possibly referring to the many gentlemen who had bought subscriptions.〔Kogan, Herman (1958). The Great EB: The Story of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Library of Congress catalog number 58-8379.〕 By releasing the numbers in weekly installments, the ''Britannica'' was completed in 1771, having 2,391〔Vol. I has viii, 697, (i) pages, but 10 unpaginated pages are added between p. 586 and 587. Vol. II has (iii), 1009, (ii) pages, but page numbers 175-176 as well as page numbers 425-426 were used twice; additionally page numbers 311-410 were not used. Vol. III has (iii), 953, (i) pages, but page numbers 679-878 were not used. See: Frank A. Kafker and Jeff Loveland, The Early Britannica: the growth of an outstanding encyclopedia, Voltaire Foundation, Oxford, 2009, p. 22〕 pages. The numbers were bound in three equally sized volumes covering Aa–Bzo, Caaba–Lythrum, and Macao–Zyglophyllum; an estimated 3,000 sets were eventually sold, priced at 12 pounds sterling apiece.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 History of Encyclopædia Britannica and Britannica Online )〕 The First Edition also featured 160 copperplate illustrations engraved by Bell. Some illustrations were shocking to some readers, such as the three pages depicting female pelvises and fetuses in the midwifery article; King George III commanded that these pages be ripped from every copy.〔 The key idea that set the ''Britannica'' apart was to group related topics together into longer essays, that were then organized alphabetically. Previous English encyclopedias had generally listed related terms separately in their alphabetical order, rather like a modern technical dictionary, an approach that the ''Britannica's management derided as "dismembering the sciences".〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Online Encyclopedia )〕 Although anticipated by Dennis de Coetlogon, the idea for this "new plan" is generally ascribed to Colin Macfarquhar, although Smellie claimed it as his own invention. Smellie wrote most of the first edition, borrowing liberally from the authors of his era, including Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson. He later said:〔 The vivid prose and easy navigation of the first edition led to strong demand for a second. Although this edition has been faulted for its imperfect scholarship, Smellie argued that the ''Britannica'' should be given the benefit of the doubt: Smellie strove to make ''Britannica'' as usable as possible, saying that "utility ought to be the principal intention of every publication. Wherever this intention does not plainly appear, neither the books nor their authors have the smallest claim to the approbation of mankind". On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the 1st edition, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. published a facsimile of the 1st edition, even including "age spots" on the paper. This has been periodically reprinted and is still part of Britannica's product line. ==References== 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「Encyclopædia Britannica First Edition」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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