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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1166 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.

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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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