Karl Julius Ploetz (8 July 1819 – 6 February 1881) was a German author of scholarly works, most notably his ''

Epitome of History An epitome (; gr, ἐπιτομή, from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "t ...

'' published in the English language in 1883. Ploetz was born in Berlin. He is credited with the idea of arranging historic data by dates, geographic location, and other factors. As later used in the English language, ''

Encyclopedia of World History ''The Encyclopedia of World History'' is a classic single-volume work detailing world history. The first through fifth editions were edited by William L. Langer. The Sixth Edition contained over 20,000 entries and was overseen by Peter N. Stea ...

'' credited with being one of the most complete and comprehensive academic tools available before the electronic revolution. His work was a compilation of factual world events designed to help the students and the general reader. The first English translation was in the U.S. in 1883 by William H. Tillinghast and published by

Houghton Mifflin Company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Boston Financ ...

. The name of the original work (in a form of a handbook) was ''Auszug aus der alten, mittleren und neueren Geschichte''. Karl Ploetz died in

Görlitz Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...

in 1881.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ploetz, Karl 1819 births 1881 deaths German scholars German male writers