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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1186 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 31, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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We want to register for an encyclopedia. Which encyclopedias do the esteemed autists of the Motte recommend?

What are your goals? Do you want a physical repository of information as insurance against AI sloppification or some kind of catastrophe? Do you want an old-fashioned collector's item with beautiful binding and illustrations to put in your home library? Do you want something to assist with your children's education? Do you want a snapshot of what the world looked like at a particular point in time? You're obviously looking for something more than just general reference information, which can be obtained much more efficiently online.

For most applications, I'd probably recommend a full edition of Britannica from 20 or so years ago: recent enough that most of the information is still good, but old enough to be before the collapse of traditional publishing and all the corner cutting that led to. The older the edition, the higher quality the physical books, illustrations, etc. are likely to be. If you want something current, the World Book is (I think) the only general reference encyclopedia still publishing a print edition every year, so you really don't have many options unless you're interested in something like The Book, which you probably saw youtube or instagram ads for last year, but that's more of a coffee table book than a true encyclopedia.

I definitely don't want current - goal is a reference book for kids so they don't have to go in the Internet to learn everything. I'm fine with it being a bit outdated. The Brittanica seems like a good choice yeah.

In that case, you can find some great deals at estate sales. Nobody wants to lug around 120 pounds worth of outdated reference material, and local libraries won't take them, so you can get entire like-new collections for a fraction of what you'd pay online. Probably for free if you bring your kid.

And even if it's not the one that answers your question, there's apparently one edition of the Britannica that's considered peak. Does anyone remember which it is?

I believe you're thinking of the 11th edition from 1911, the last edition produced before World War I. However I've also heard that the 14th edition from 1929 is held in esteem as the true peak of the old ways before the Depression and WWII changed everything again.

I know that 14th edition of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations is considered peak, but it's not quite an encyclopedia (but should still be part of every household!)

And? Idk I would love and answer here.

I can't find any good community things about this. Could be the 13th? That's got things like Houdini writing about "Conjuring", Marconi writing about wireless telegraphy, etc:

The contributors included Niels Bohr (“Atom”), Marie and Irène Curie (“Radium”), Albert Einstein (“Space-Time”), Henry Ford (“Mass Production”), Sigmund Freud (“Psycho-analysis”), George Bernard Shaw (“Socialism: Principles and Outlook”), and Leon Trotsky (“Lenin”).

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Encyclopaedia-Britannica-English-language-reference-work/Thirteenth-edition

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