Encyclopædia Edinensis

The Encyclopædia Edinensis was a six-volume general encyclopedia published in Edinburgh in 1827, and intended for a popular audience. It was edited by James Millar, who died just before it was complete.^[1]

Editorial staff[]

James Millar, principal editor
and Richard Poole, main editors and contributors.^[2] Poole wrote articles on "Mental Diseases".^[3]
John Sommers, minister at Falkirk, was proprietor and also editor for the last three volumes.^[4]

Work began on the Encyclopædia in 1816.^[5] Millar edited the fourth and parted of the fifth editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica and had contributed extensively to both. His goal with the Edinensis was to create a more popular work. However, his use of a large quarto format, reminiscent of the Britannica hampered the project as duodecimal, miniature formats were then in vogue.^[6]

Phrenology[]

The editorial line was quite sympathetic to phrenology. According to the , Sommers approved the inclusion of the uncritical article "Phrenology".^[7] Poole in 1819 wrote for the encyclopedia an article on education, an early treatment from the point of phrenology.^[8]

Other contributors[]

, etc.
George Buchanan, Astronomy and Dialling
James Couper
John Dick M.D., Midwifery
, Miracle etc.
William Galbraith, Navigation
Patrick Gibson, design
Rev. , Calcutta, Mechanics
Henry Liston, Music
Robert Macmillan
Lockhart Muirhead
Rev. , Religion
Alexander Peterkin
of Leith, Magnetism and Meteorology
, Theology etc.
.^[2]

References[]

^ David Philip Miller (2004). Discovering Water: James Watt, Henry Cavendish, and the Nineteenth Century 'Water Controversy'. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-7546-3177-4. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b James Millar, Encyclopedia Edinensis; or, Dictionary of arts, sciences, and literature vol. 1 (1827), p. vi; archive.org.
^ The Journal of psychological medicine and mental pathology. Churchill. 1851. p. 157. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
^ Scotland; Society for the Benefit of the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy (1845). The new statistical account of Scotland. W. Blackwood and Sons. p. 369. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
^ S. Padraig Walsh Anglo-American general encyclopedias 1703-1967 New York and London; R.R. Bowser Company 1968 p.55
^ Robert Collison Encyclopedias: their history throughout the ages 2nd ed. New York and London; Haffner Publishing Company 1966 p.178
^ The phrenological journal and miscellany. s.n. 1824. pp. 641–3. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
^ The Phrenological journal and miscellany. Printed for the Proprietors. 1826. p. 171. Retrieved 20 May 2012.