History of encyclopedias

The history of encyclopedias traces how works that organize knowledge for reference developed from ancient compilations into modern print and digital forms.

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Pliny the Elder: A Roman author whose Natural History compiled information about the natural world and human arts. His Natural History became a major model for later encyclopedic compilations.
Encyclopedia: A reference work that organizes information across a broad range of subjects. The general form whose changing definitions and structures this history follows.
Denis Diderot: A French philosopher and writer who edited the Encyclopédie with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. His editorial leadership made the Encyclopédie a defining Enlightenment project.
Encyclopedia Britannica: A general encyclopedia published in print from 1768 and later distributed digitally. Its shift from printed editions to digital products illustrates adaptation to new media.
Enlightenment: An eighteenth-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason, inquiry, and criticism of inherited authority. The Encyclopédie helped circulate Enlightenment ideas and challenged established authorities.
Natural History (Pliny): A first-century Roman work compiling knowledge of nature, technology, medicine, and art. It exemplifies antiquity’s effort to gather knowledge into a single work.
Diderot's Encyclopédie: An Enlightenment reference work edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert, published from 1751 to 1772. It established a landmark model for systematically arranged, collaborative knowledge.
Jean le Rond d'Alembert: A French mathematician and philosopher who co-edited the Encyclopédie and wrote its preliminary discourse. His organizing essay set out the work’s influential map of human knowledge.
Microsoft Encarta: A multimedia digital encyclopedia published by Microsoft from 1993 to 2009. Encarta brought encyclopedia content into the home through CD-ROM and online editions.
Censorship: The suppression or restriction of information, expression, or publication by authorities. Encyclopedic projects repeatedly faced restrictions over religious, political, and social content.