153. A & C Black - Encyclopaedia Britannica 1877

The first Encyclopaedia Britannica appeared in three volumes in 1768-71 under the auspices of a Society of Gentlemen. Andrew Bell (1726-1809) founded the Encyclopaedia Britannica with Colin McFarquar. On Bell’s death Archibald Constable bought the Encyclopaedia and published the 5^th and 6^th editions. When he went bankrupt in 1826 the Blacks bought the copyright (1828) and published the 7^th edition 1830-1842. The 8^th edition was published 1853-1860 and the 9^th, and arguably the best, 1875–1888. Although John Bartholomew had acquired the privilege to print the Encyclopaedia maps in 1839 it was not until the 9^th edition that English county maps were included.

The Americans appreciated the Encyclopaedia in a big way and soon Blacks were selling more copies there than in Britain. The firm of Little, Brown of Boston were official agents with Charles Scribner's Sons (New York) covering subscription volumes. The latter reported sales of 18,000 sets as early as 1879. However, there was also a flourishing pirate trade (British authors were not given full copyright protection until 1957!). Indeed, the Encyclopædia Britannica first appeared in the United States in the form of a pirated edition printed in Philadelphia in 1790 by one Thomas Dobson. Among its purchasers were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. Its American success resulted the Blacks being approached by James Clarke & Co. for the rights to reprint and sell 5000 copies in 1897.

In 1898 a full-page advertisement for The Encyclopaedia Britannica. A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature appeared in The Times. The success was astonishing with new reprinting being needed immediately. By 1899 James Clarke & Co. had bought the copyright.¹ A K Johnston must have taken over printing of the maps at about this time.

In 1892 Black’s Handy Atlas of England & Wales appeared using the Britannica maps. The Devon map was also used in Black's Guide To Torquay in 1901

Size: 250 x 200 mm.                                                                                                                                               Scale of Miles (12 = 33 mm). 

DEVON (CaOS). VOL VII (AaOS). PLATE III (EaOS). Imprints: ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, NINTH EDITION. (CeOS). Signature:  J Bartholomew Edin^r (EeOS). Railways shown to date.