CYCLOPAEDIA 607 phens (Paris, 1544) ; and the Dictionarium Historicum et Poeticum, by Charles Stephens (Paris, 1553; enlarged by K. Lloyd, Oxford, 1671, and London, 1686). The Grand dic- tionnaire historique of Moreri (Lyons, 1673), and the Dictionnaire historique et critique of Bayle (Rotterdam, 1696), were the most im- portant of many biographical cyclopaedias of this period, the latter treating also incidentally of many scientific questions. Of larger compass and of less thorough execution were the Lexi- con Universale Historico-Geographico-Ghrono- logico-Poetico-PJiilologicum, by J. J. Hofmann (Basel, 1677; supplement added, 1683; new ed., Leyden, 1698), and fas Bibliotheca Univer- salis Sacro- Prof ana, by Coronelli (Venice, 1701), which was intended to form 45 volumes, but was continued only into the letter C in 7 volumes. The first English cyclopaedia was the "Lexicon Technicum, or an Universal Dic- tionary of the Arts and Sciences," by John Harris (2 vols., London, 1706-'10). It ex- plained both the terms of art and the arts them- selves; but it was in fact limited almost ex- clusively to the mathematical and the physi- cal sciences, and hence was far from fulfilling its purpose. The " Cyclopaedia " of Ephraim Chambers (2 vols. large fol., London, 1728) was also termed a general dictionary of the arts and sciences, and was the first work in which knowledge was subdivided under appropriate heads, which were placed in alphabetical order, and treated so as to exhibit at the same time a complete account of the various branches and of their connections and dependencies. " His view," he says, " was to consider the several matters, not only in themselves, but relatively, or as they respect each other; both to treat them as so many wholes, and as so many parts of some greater whole, their connection with which to be pointed out by reference ; so that by a course of references from generals to par- ticulars, from premises to conclusions, from cause to effect, and vice versa, i. e., from more to less complex, and from less to more, a com- munication might be opened between the seve- ral parts of the work, and the several articles be in some measure replaced in their natural order of science, out of which the alphabetical order had removed them." Yet Chambers re- mained far from attaining his object, for the ramifications are so varied and minute that one would seek in vain in his volumes for anything like a substitute for separate treatises, or for more, under many heads, than short and un- connected elucidations, or mere definitions and incomplete explanations. But with all its de- fects, this work must be regarded as the pro- duction of a mind of superior compass and vigor, and as the fruit of remarkable research and diligence. Five editions were published within 18 years. It was translated into French and Italian, and its plan was highly applauded in the preliminary discourse of the great French Encyclopedic. Its success gave rise to a num- ber of similar works, mostly modelled after it. 244 VOL. v. 39 The first of these was the " New and Univer- sal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences," by John Barrow (1 vol. fol., London, 1751; supplement- ary vol. added, 1754). Its only recommenda- tion, as compared with its predecessor, con- sisted in an enlarged number of articles on mathematical subjects, on the mechanical arts, and on naval affairs ; to make room for which, church history and all scholastic topics were excluded. This was followed in 1754 (2d ed., 1764) by a " New and Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences," comprised in 4 large 8vo vols., written, according to the title page, " by a society of gentlemen," and commonly called, from the name of its publisher, " Owen's Dic- tionary." It is distinguished by the general brevity of its articles, a quality which enabled its compilers to widen its range in the depart- ments of geography, commerce, and natural history. In 1766 was published the " Com- plete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences," in 3 vols. fol., a work compiled under the joint di- rection of Henry Croker, Thomas Williams, and Samuel Clark ; the theological, philosophi- cal, and critical branches being edited by the first ; those of anatomy, medicine, and chem- istry, by the second ; and the mathematical by the last. Notwithstanding this division of la- bor, the work was not marked either by excel- lence in the respective departments, or method in their arrangement. In 1745 Dr. De Coet- logon published in London a " Universal His- tory of Arts and Sciences," which was largely composed of complete treatises on distinct arts and sciences, and may therefore have suggest- ed the plan of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." The latter work made its first appearance in Edinburgh in 1771, in 3 vols. 4to. Instead of attempting to elucidate the sciences by a num- ber of separate articles corresponding to their technical titles or sections, introduced in alpha- betical order, it treated each science completely in a systematic form under its proper denomina- tion ; the technical terms and subordinate heads being also explained alphabetically, when any- thing more than a reference to the general trea- tise was required. This plan was prosecuted on a wider scale and with more maturity of execution in the subsequent editions. The ob- jects aimed at in the early cyclopaedias were in this way reconciled with the lexicographic ar- rangement, while its adaptation to particular topics was in no respect impaired. The editor and principal compiler of this first edition was William Smellie, a scholar particularly conver- sant with natural history, although by profes- sion a printer. The second edition (extended to 10 vols., !776-'83) was chiefly remarkable for the addition of the two popular departments, history and biography. The third edition (18 vols., 1786-'97; a supplement of 2 vols. was added afterward) contained valuable contribu- tions in speculative philosophy, ancient erudi- tion, and physical science, from the pens of Dr. Gleig, Dr. Doig, and Prof. Robison, which at- tracted general attention, and gave to the work
