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Encyclopedism

For the 18th century French movement, see Encyclopédistes.
Natural History, written by Pliny the Elder in the first century, was the first book to be called an encyclopedia. It was highly regarded in the Middle Ages. This profusely illustrated manuscript was produced in the 13th century.

Encyclopedism is an outlook that aims to include a wide range of knowledge in a single work.[1] The term covers both encyclopedias themselves and related genres in which comprehensiveness is a notable feature. The word encyclopedia is a Latinization of the Greek enkýklios paideía, which means all-around education.[2] The encyclopedia is "one of the few generalizing influences in a world of overspecialization. It serves to recall that knowledge has unity," according to Louis Shores, editor of Collier's Encyclopedia. It should not be "a miscellany, but a concentration, a clarification, and a synthesis", according to British writer H. G. Wells.[3]

Besides comprehensiveness, encyclopedic writing is distinguished by its lack of a specific audience or practical application. The author explains facts concisely for the benefit of a reader who will then use the information in a way that the writer does not try to anticipate. Early examples of encyclopedic writing include discussions of agriculture and craft by Roman writers such as Pliny the Elder and Varro – discussions presumably not intended as practical advice to farmers or craftsmen.[4]

The vast majority of classical learning was lost during the Dark Ages. This enhanced the status of encyclopedic works which survived, including those of Aristotle and Pliny. With the development of printing in the 15th century, the range of knowledge available to readers expanded greatly. Encyclopedic writing became both a practical necessity and a clearly distinguished genre. Renaissance encyclopedists were keenly aware of how much classical learning had been lost. They hoped to recover and record knowledge and were anxious to prevent further loss.[5]

In their modern form, encyclopedias consist of alphabetized articles written by teams of specialists. This format was developed in the 18th century by expanding the technical dictionary to include non-technical topics. The Encyclopédie (1751–1772), edited by Diderot and D'Alembert, was a model for many later works. Like Renaissance encyclopedists, Diderot worried about the possible destruction of civilization and selected knowledge he hoped would survive.[6]

  1. ^ Smiraglia, Richard (2014). The Elements of Knowledge Organization. Cham (Switzerland): Springer.
  2. ^ "encyclopedia," Encyclopædia Britannica, 2013.
  3. ^ H. G. Wells, World Brain.
  4. ^ Marco Formisano, "Late Latin Encyclopedism: toward a new paradigm for practical knowledge," in Jason König and Gregg Wolf (eds.), Encyclopaedism from Antiquity to the Renaissance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 197–218: "Roman encyclopaedism and practical knowledge", pp. 199-204. ISBN 9781107038233.
  5. ^ Blair, Ann, "Revisiting Renaissance Encyclopedism," Encyclopaedism from Antiquity to the Renaissance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 381-382. ISBN 9781107038233.
  6. ^ "Encyclopedists", Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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