The Death Of The Encyclopaedia
@arthurchappell (44941)
Preston, England
December 20, 2015 12:56pm CST
The Encyclopaedia Salesman has now been taken off the endangered species list to join the dodo, pterodactyl and unicorn in extinction. Virtually everyone uses Wikipedia rather than the family encyclopaedia.
I still love book format encyclopaedias and dictionaries, just for general browsing, rather than looking up specific information.
In Ian Fleming’s James Bond story, Dr No, the female leady, Honey Rider (as played by Ursula Andress in the movie) has educated herself by reading her deceased father’s encyclopaedia, and she has only reached the letter T. She may be the least dumb of all the Bond girls.
I use the Encyclopaedia Britannica at the library, and I own a few specialist encyclopaedias & dictionaries too, including ones covering world mythology, and a newly acquired one on Idioms, which is already inspiring my article writing. Wikipedia is all well and good but true reference books deserve pride of place by our computers too.
Arthur Chappell
17 people like this
19 responses
@PainsOnSlate (21845)
• Canada
21 Dec 15
When we moved to this house, our forever home, the kids were grown and on their own. We offered them the encyclopedias but they said no. I gave them away to a young family that showed an interest in them at my downsizing yard sale...
4 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
21 Dec 15
good that it went to an appreciative home in the end
1 person likes this
@HanVanMeegerin (1161)
• United States
21 Dec 15
@PainsOnSlate that was thoughtful.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
24 Dec 15
I have a large biographical Dictionary which is good. I have many other types of dictionaries too, but encyclopaedias, no even when I had my second-hand bookshop a few years ago, you couldn't even give these away. They were comparable to those reader Digest's condensed books, which from the look of people thought were valuable, but really they were worthless.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
24 Dec 15
I ran my own second hand bookstall too - other books that never sold were Bibles and I had a box full of copies of Jaws - once folk saw the film, the book barely sold a copy again
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
27 Dec 15
@innertalks it was sad to see tosh outsell quality - mushy formulaic romance pulp was my biggest seller by far
1 person likes this
@innertalks (23742)
• Australia
25 Dec 15
@arthurchappell I had my shop for several years, until the owner kicked me out one Christmas. I had thought that I could stay here until I was old, but he wanted it back for his own accounting business.
Some types of books moved slowly and steadily too, reference books mainly fitted into this category, good to have in case someone came in looking for one. Books on dogs, car manuals, health, etc. etc.
1 person likes this
@pgiblett (6524)
• Canada
31 Dec 15
I found a specialist encyclopaedia when clearing out my mother's house, this dated from the 1890s and may have been a part of my Grandfather's collection. I did some research on it and found the whole set selling for £8 on amazon.co.uk. OUCH! so much for the value of the humble encyclopaedia.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
31 Dec 15
@pgiblett not everything pre-20th century is worth a lot
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
21 Dec 15
we had encyclopedia americana and encyclopedia britannica and i used them a lot. now i really appreciate wikipedia.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
21 Dec 15
I do use Wikipedia when necessary - it can be a valuable resource
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
30 Dec 15
@Jessicalynnt oh yes, and I still look on wiki if I need to check some basic information or my books don't have what I need
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
30 Dec 15
@arthurchappell I always figured while wiki can't be used in say an academic paper, it is a great place to figure out where you should be looking. like preresearch
2 people like this
@Mike197602 (15504)
• United Kingdom
20 Dec 15
i was going to get rid of all my books, i have several thousand scattered around various storage places, as i really got used to reading stuff on my tablet.
Then my tablet broke so felt glad to still have the books to fall back on.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
20 Dec 15
An entire library on one unbacked electronic devise is bound to be vulnerable to loss
1 person likes this
@Mike197602 (15504)
• United Kingdom
20 Dec 15
@arthurchappell they're allbacked up i just din't have a tablet to read them on and am a bit of a scrooge so want to wait until after xmas to buy another one.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
20 Dec 15
@Mike197602 hope you get to access them again soon
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
28 Dec 15
it is a shame as they were at least promoting the gift of knowledge
1 person likes this
@patgalca (18481)
• Orangeville, Ontario
21 Dec 15
I still have a set of encyclopedias that I can't bear to part with. We also used to have a set of Funk & Wagnall's. Have you heard of them? Sometimes I use Wikipedia depending on what I'm looking for, but I'd rather use a more reliable site. The internet has made a lot of things extinct but I don't think books will be eliminated altogether.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
23 Dec 15
not heard of Funk & Wagnall - I have a few Collins encyclopaedias and special topic ones from Oxford & Penguin presses
@celticeagle (189915)
• Boise, Idaho
20 Dec 15
You don't see them very often anymore. I remember when my mom bought me a set when we moved back here. I loved it. I was so inlove with books then.
1 person likes this
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
21 Dec 15
I loved my World Book Encyclopedias as a kid. There was something about flipping through the glossy pages with pictures and teeny text. In fact my parents still have them thinking they might come in handy for our kids (but I don't know, the encyclopedias are so old now and yep, they have the internet now).
1 person likes this
@41CombedaleRoad (5966)
• Greece
20 Dec 15
I agree, we need reference books on a handy shelf. I had a set of Encyclopaedia Brit. which took up too much space and was rarely opened. I could not sell it because it did not have the right cover (mine had been a special sale offer for students) and I could not even give it away to a school nearby. My brother took it in the end, I haven't asked him if he still has it.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
21 Dec 15
we have Joy encyclopedia, and I like to open them when I have my free time.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
20 Dec 15
I have the same nostalgia about encyclopaedias as you obviously do. The online source is far more convenient and very useful, but will never truly replace the written compilation. There is something very special about the whole aura of such a set.
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70020)
• United States
23 Dec 15
I have had so many sets in my life marie.
I always used them for school of course but that was years ago.
I no longer have any. Encyclopedias are very worthy of mention.
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
30 Dec 15
eh, to many trees taken down by these, but I loved it when the library had a shared copy
@Freelanzer (10782)
• Canada
20 Dec 15
My husband still has a large volume encyclopedia which I refuse to get rid of. He told me how his mom paid for it monthly out of her meager earnings just to help with their education. The are beautiful pieces of work and a part of history. I know I couldn't sell it as event the thrift stores refuse to take them. However, it is a treasure I will keep as long as possible.
1 person likes this
@cindiowens (5120)
• North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
20 Dec 15
We used to have a set called the World Book of Knowledge or something like that. I used to love them. They were illustrated and so exciting.
1 person likes this
