Perth Encyclopedia
Though the origins of the encyclopaedia of today can be traced back to classical antiquity, the general alphabetically arranged encyclopaedia in its present multi-volume format dates from the mid-eighteenth century. The French 'Encyclopedie' (1751-65) was one of the earliest of these and had a huge influence throughout Europe. The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica appeared in 1768-71.
The first monthly sections of the Encyclopaedia Perthensis were issued in 1796 and by 1806-07 the work was complete. The advertising at the time suggests that it was intended to rival Britannica and indeed at completion it was larger than the current edition of the Edinburgh-based encyclopaedia. It was printed by R Morison, a member of the family which was responsible for making Perth one of the chief centres of printing and publishing in Scotland in the later eighteenth century. It was a huge undertaking which eventually took its toll on the business.
The encyclopaedia was well furnished with illustrations and diagrams.
