Enclyclopædia Britannica (page 1/3)

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[picture: Front Cover of the 1770 Encylopædia Britannica]

Some of the copper-plate engravings by Andrew Bell that appeared in the first edition of the “Enclyclopædia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts and sciences, compiled upon a new plan, in which The different Sciences and Arts are digested into distinct Treatises or Systems; amd The various Technical Terms, &c. are explained as they occur in the order of the Alphabet.”

I have a facsimile of this edition. The original was issued serially (as was common at the time) in sections called “numbers” from 1768 to 1771. It was created by Andrew Bell, an engraver, and William Smellie who edited many of the articles; it was printed by Colin Macfarquhar.

Title: Enclyclopædia Britannica

Author: Bell, Andrew

City: Edinburgh

Date: 1771

Total items: 15

Out of copyright (called public domain in the USA), hence royalty-free for all purposes usage credit requested, or as marked.

Some sample images

[picture: Plate XCIX.---Hydrostatics.---Fig. 1. A quadruple pump-mill for raising water.]

Plate XCIX.—Hydrostatics.—Fig. 1. A quadruple pump-mill for raising water.

The height of modern technology in 1771: a super-efficient pump powered by a water wheel! [more...]

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[picture: Plate XLII.---Astronomy: detail: the face of the sun.]

Plate XLII.—Astronomy: detail: the face of the sun.

This diagram, taken from plate XLII on eclipses, shows the sun as an eight-pointed star with a face in the middle, including eyes, nose and mouth! (Obviously the sun does not have a beard, since the hair would burn away!) [more...]

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[picture: Plate XCIX.---Hydrostatics.---Fig. 8. Cup of Tantalus (no letters)]

Plate XCIX.—Hydrostatics.—Fig. 8. Cup of Tantalus (no letters)

This is a version of the Cup of Tantalus diagram, without the letters that tie it to the text. [more...]

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[picture: Front Cover of the 1770 Encylopædia Britannica]

Front Cover of the 1770 Encylopædia Britannica

My copy is actually a fac-simile bound in full leather. Well, let’s say it’s full leather...

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[picture: Plate XLIII.---Astronomy.---Fig. 3.]

Plate XLIII.—Astronomy.—Fig. 3.

This diagram shows how (and why) the moon appears to grow and shrink at different times of the month. [more...]

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Some of the copper-plate engravings by Andrew Bell that appeared in the first edition of the “Enclyclopædia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts and sciences, compiled upon a new plan, in which The different Sciences and Arts are digested into distinct Treatises or Systems; amd The various Technical Terms, &c. are explained as they occur in the order of the Alphabet.”

I have a facsimile of this edition. The original was issued serially (as was common at the time) in sections called “numbers” from 1768 to 1771. It was created by Andrew Bell, an engraver, and William Smellie who edited many of the articles; it was printed by Colin Macfarquhar.


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