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A huge thank you to all who donated in 2025; 2026 Q1 Web hosting 0 / $400; planning a move to much cheaper hosting this quarter.
Galleries: index · 
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![[picture: Front Cover of the 1770 Encylopædia Britannica]](https://www.fromoldbooks.org/AndrewBell-EnclyclopaediaBritannica/tn/000-front-cover-410x500.jpg "[picture: Front Cover of the 1770 Encylopædia Britannica]")
Some of the copper-plate engravings by Andrew Bell that appeared in the first edition of the “Enclyclopædia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts and sciences, compiled upon a new plan, in which The different Sciences and Arts are digested into distinct Treatises or Systems; amd The various Technical Terms, &c. are explained as they occur in the order of the Alphabet.”
I have a facsimile of this edition. The original was issued serially (as was common at the time) in sections called “numbers” from 1768 to 1771. It was created by Andrew Bell, an engraver, and William Smellie who edited many of the articles; it was printed by Colin Macfarquhar.
Title: Enclyclopædia Britannica
City: Edinburgh
Date: 1771
Total items: 15
Out of copyright (called public domain in the USA), hence royalty-free for all purposes usage credit requested, or as marked.
![[picture: Plate XCIX.---Hydrostatics.---Fig. 1. A quadruple pump-mill for raising water.]](https://www.fromoldbooks.org/AndrewBell-EnclyclopaediaBritannica/wm/big/804-hydrostatics-xcix-01-pump-for-raising-water-q75-211x200.jpg "[picture: Plate XCIX.---Hydrostatics.---Fig. 1. A quadruple pump-mill for raising water.]")
Plate XCIX.—Hydrostatics.—Fig. 1. A quadruple pump-mill for raising water.
The height of modern technology in 1771: a super-efficient pump powered by a water wheel! [more...] [$]
![[picture: Plate XLII.---Astronomy: detail: the face of the sun.]](https://www.fromoldbooks.org/AndrewBell-EnclyclopaediaBritannica/wm/big/457-astronomy-xlii-detail-sun-q75-200x200.jpg "[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...] [$]
![[picture: Plate XLII.---Astronomy: detail: antique star engraving]](https://www.fromoldbooks.org/AndrewBell-EnclyclopaediaBritannica/wm/big/457-astronomy-xlii-detail-star-200x200.jpg "[picture: Plate XLII.---Astronomy: detail: antique star engraving]")
Plate XLII.—Astronomy: detail: antique star engraving
A copper-plate engraving representing a star from a diagram explaining astronomy; you can also see the full diagram. [more...] [$]
![[picture: Plate XLII.---Astronomy.]](https://www.fromoldbooks.org/AndrewBell-EnclyclopaediaBritannica/wm/big/457-astronomy-xlii-q85-160x200.jpg "[picture: Plate XLII.---Astronomy.]")
![[picture: Plate XLIII.---Astronomy.---Detail--Smiling Sun.]](https://www.fromoldbooks.org/AndrewBell-EnclyclopaediaBritannica/wm/big/468-astronomy-xliii-fig3-detail-smiling-sun-q75-206x200.jpg "[picture: Plate XLIII.---Astronomy.---Detail--Smiling Sun.]")
Plate XLIII.—Astronomy.—Detail – Smiling Sun.
An engraving of the sun with a smiling face in the middle. [more...] [$]
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