The Encyclopædia Edinensis was a six-volume general
encyclopedia published in
Edinburgh in 1827, and intended for a popular audience. It was edited by
James Millar, who died just before it was complete.[1]
John Sommers, minister at
Falkirk, was proprietor and also editor for the last three volumes.[4]
Work began on the Encyclopædia in 1816.[5] Millar edited the fourth and part of the fifth editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica and had contributed extensively to both. His goal with the Edinensis was to create a more popular work. However, his use of a large
quarto format, the same size as the Britannica, hampered the project because smaller
duodecimal formats were more easily handled.[6]
Phrenology
The editorial line was quite sympathetic to
phrenology. According to the Phrenological Journal, Sommers approved the inclusion of the uncritical article "Phrenology".[7] Poole in 1819 wrote for the encyclopedia an article on
education, an early treatment from the point of phrenology.[8]
^Scotland; Society for the Benefit of the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy (1845).
The new statistical account of Scotland. W. Blackwood and Sons. p.
369. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
^S. Padraig Walsh Anglo-American general encyclopedias 1703-1967 New York and London; R.R. Bowser Company 1968 p.55
^Collison, Robert (1966). Encyclopedias: Their History throughout the Ages (2 ed.). New York & London: Haffner Publishing Company. p. 178.