Start of Encyclopædia Britannica Second Edition (1777)

The Encyclopædia Britannica's Second Edition began publication in Edinburgh in 1777, with James Tytler serving as its editor. The supplied passages confirm Tytler's editorial role and the Edinburgh setting but do not state the specific start date of June 21, 1777, so that day remains unverified.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. The Britannica was first published in serial instalments between December 1768 and about August 1771 in Edinburgh as the Encyclopædia Britannica, or, A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, compiled upon a New Plan. William Smellie compiled nearly all the articles in the first edition himself, with minor help from James Anderson, who wrote the articles "Dictionary," "Pneumatics," and "Smoke."

Editorial Setting. Despite working in Edinburgh, the centre of the Scottish Enlightenment, neither Smellie nor James Tytler, the editor of the second edition, arranged for contributions from any local luminaries. The Britannica's early editions were thus compiled largely by their editors rather than by outside contributors.

Publication Context. The Britannica has been issued in 15 editions, and its history can be divided into five eras punctuated by changes in management or reorganization. During the period of the second edition, several other encyclopaedias competed with the Britannica, among them editions of Ephraim Chambers' and Abraham Rees's Cyclopædia.

People involved

Sources

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.