1797, ISBN: 48e88c9b4b9d736fddf0429ee6630db7

[SC: 9.22], [PU: Edinburgh Printed for A. Bell and C. Macfarquhar -1803], Third edition, 20 vols including 2 supplementary vols; 4to (27.5 x 22 cm); 592 engraved plates and maps (includin… Plus…

[SC: 9.22], [PU: Edinburgh Printed for A. Bell and C. Macfarquhar -1803], Third edition, 20 vols including 2 supplementary vols; 4to (27.5 x 22 cm); 592 engraved plates and maps (including frontispiece, folding plates, two plates partly coloured), plate number CCXXXVIII not used, lacking plate CXXVI but with additional plate II in vol. I, plate CCXII with volvelle, plate LXXVII trimmed at top margin, occasional annotations, isolated spotting, folding chemical table in vol. IV with tear affecting text, a few marginal tears, occasional old worming not affecting text; contemporary speckled calf, panels doubled-ruled in gilt, gilt spine, contrasting red and black morocco lettering-pieces to spine (some labels renewed), boards and corners lightly rubbed, internally generally very clean, and overall a very good set. A handsome set of the 'most famous of all encyclopaedias in the English language' (PMM), illustrated with 592 engraved plates and maps. Found here in the original speckled calf with the two-volume supplement: a rare survival. Originally published in 1777 in three volumes, the third edition marks the appearance of the Encyclopaedia Britannica in the way we know it today. The text was probably compiled by the editor and antiquarian William Smellie (1740-1795), the engraver Andrew Bell (1726-1809), and the printer Colin Macfarquhar (d.1793). Although indebted to John Harris's Lexicon Technicum (1704) and Ephraim Chambers's Cyclopedia (1728), the Britannica diverged from their alphabetical models by arranging entries under subject matter: 'Whoever has had occasion to consult Chambers, Owen, &c. or even the voluminous French Encyclopedie, will have discovered the folly of attempting to communicate science under the various technical terms arranged in an alphabetical order. Such an attempt is repugnant to the very idea of science, which is a connected series of conclusions deduced from self-evident or previously discovered principles'. ESTC N6642; Alston III 563; cf.PMM 218., Books<