[lit-ideas] 14th edition
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Lit-Ideas" <Lit-Ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2007 08:34:30 -0800
I ran across a 1932, 14th edition on eBay: "excellent condition! Bindings
are super tight! Pages are perfect! Seldom, if ever read! Shipping is $50
(they're quite heavy!).if shipping ends up costing less I'll refund the
difference via paypal. Also, local pickup is free, I live in Palmdale, work
in Tarzana, either place is fine. No reserve! .99 starting bid! Good
luck!"
I had been reading about Fascism and 1932 was probably an interesting year.
I was prejudiced against the 14th edition, but if the price was right, and
it could be, why not? There was the possibility that I might be able to
talk my son into going to Palmdale to pick it up, so I might not even have
to pay the $50 for shipping; so I bid $29.95. I wasn't going to get in a
bidding war for it, but I would find a place for it for $29.95.
I was already looking around my study to see where I might put it. But
after two days, with the bid remaining at 99 cents because no one had bid
against me, the seller withdrew the item. I didn't know they could do that.
I was merely informed that the seller had withdrawn the item and told I
could go to the bid information to see his or her reason. I did that, but
he or she gave no reason.
Ah well. Who needs a 14th edition anyway:
14th edition (from Wikipedia)
"By 1926, the 11th edition was beginning to show its age, and work on a new
edition was begun. The editors were J. L.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._L._Garvin> Garvin in London
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London> and Franklin Henry Hooper
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Henry_Hooper> in New York
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City> . The 14th edition took three
years to complete, at the then exhorbitant cost of $2.5 million dollars, all
of it invested by Julius <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Rosenwald>
Rosenwald of Sears, Roebuck and Company
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears%2C_Roebuck_and_Company> . It was very
different to the 11th edition, having fewer volumes and simpler articles,
continuing the business strategy of popularizing the Britannica for the
American mass market at the expense of its scholarship.[5]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica#_n
ote-Trivia_Library_1> [11]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica#_n
ote-kister_1994> The 14th edition also drew criticism for deleting
information unflattering to the Roman Catholic Church
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church> .[17]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica#_n
ote-7> Nevertheless, the 14th also included many illustrious contributors,
including eighteen Nobel <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize>
laureates in science, such as Robert
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Millikan> Millikan, Albert Abraham
Michelson <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Abraham_Michelson> and
Arthur <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Compton> Compton. More coverage
was given to popular entertainment,[18]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica#_n
ote-8> with Gene Tunney <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Tunney> writing
on boxing <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing> , Lillian
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Gish> Gish on acting
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acting> and Irene
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Castle> Castle on ballroom dancing
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballroom_dancing> . George Bernard Shaw
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw> contributed a
well-regarded article on socialism <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism>
.[1]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica#_n
ote-kogan_1958> In all, there were roughly 3500 named contributors, of
which roughly half were American.[1]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica#_n
ote-kogan_1958> The 14th edition was again criticized for sexism
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexism> ; for example, less than 6% of its
13,000 biographies were of women <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman> .[1]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica#_n
ote-kogan_1958>
"The 14th edition was published in September 1929, and had 23 volumes with a
one-volume Index that also contained a complete atlas. Unfortunately, the
Great Depression <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression> struck
scarcely a month after the release of the 14th edition, and sales plummeted.
Despite the unfailing support of the Sears Roebuck
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Roebuck> company, the Britannica almost
went bankrupt over the next few years. Rosenwald died in 1932, and General
Robert <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Wood> E. Wood took over; Cox
was removed as publisher and the Secretary-Treasurer of Sears, Elkan
Harrison Powell <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkan_Harrison_Powell> was
installed as the new President of the Britannica."
Lawrence
Other related posts:
