Encyclopaedia Britannica

THE reaction of the dictionary and encyclopaedia makers to the results of the world war begins with the announcement of a new edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, upon which Hugh Chisholm, who has been its editor since 1904, is already at work, with the aid of a large staff of whom part are in London and part in New York. This new edition, the twelfth, will consist of the 29 volumes of the eleventh edition and three supplementary volumes uniform with the others in size and amount of matter contained in each. About 70 percent of the new matter will be devoted to the war, its developments and results, and questions connected with it, while advanced social economic and industrial affairs will fill the remaining space. The dates at which the several editions have appeared show curious variations in the lapse of time between them. The first edition was published in 1768, the second in 1777, the third in 1788, the fourth in 1801, the fifth in 1815, the sixth in 1823, the seventh in 1830, the eighth in 1853, the ninth in 1875, the tenth in 1900, the eleventh in 1911, while the twelfth will be ready in 1921.