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Encyclopædia Britannica
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editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica Andrew Bell first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica Antique illustrated plate from the first edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica showing sixteen labeled diagrams of watch and clock mechanisms, including gears, springs, and assemblies. William Smellie title page of the second edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica James Tytler Portrait of Archibald Constable standing beside a table with books, one hand resting on an open book and the other inside his coat. advertisement for the Encyclopædia Britannica William Robertson Smith
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editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica
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Encyclopædia Britannica

Written by
Michael Levy
Michael Levy was political science editor (2000-06), executive editor (2006-11), editor of Britannica Blog (2010-11), and director of product content & curriculum (2011-12) at Encyclopaedia Britannica....
Michael LevyAll
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History

The 11th edition brought a change in both plan and method of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Previous editions had consistently planned to provide comprehensive treatises on major subjects as well as detailed information on particulars and had inevitably lacked coherence because of the method of printing, whereby they appeared in parts over a considerable period of time. (An exception was the 10th edition, which lacked coherence for another reason: it was partly a supplement.) A selection...

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