Chandler Belden Beach (1839–1928) was an American entrepreneur and encyclopedist. He founded the publishing company ''C. B. Beach & Company'', later renamed ''F. E. Compton & Co.'' after his associate Frank Compton took it over, Beach also served as a captain in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. As a sales agent in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

for the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

,'' he soon realized there was a market demand for a more light-weight encyclopedia.

Works

Beach was the editor and publisher of ''Youth's Cyclopedia'' (2 volumes, 1892) and the ''Student's Cyclopaedia'' (2 volumes, 1893), which turned into ''The Student's Reference Work'' (1901). ''The New Student's Reference Work'' was published by ''C. B. Beach & Company'' (1909,1911,1912), then by ''F. E. Compton & Co.'' from 1912.

Legacy

Frank Compton was his associate since 1894, and became the general manager of ''C. B. Beach & Company'' in 1905. Compton took over the publishing firm when Beach retired in 1907, and the name of the company later changed to ''F. E. Compton & Co.''. ''F. E. Compton & Co.'' went on to produce ''

Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia ''Compton's Encyclopedia and Fact-Index'' is a home and school encyclopedia first published in 1922 as ''Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia''. The word "Pictured" was removed from the title with the 1968 edition.Encyclopædia Britannica, 1988. The en ...

'' in 1922. Publishing rights to the ''F.E. Compton & Company'' products were acquired by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. in 1961,Encyclopædia Britannica, 1988. and the encyclopedia is still in print as '' Compton's by Britannica''.

Gallery

File:Nsrw1914.jpg, ''The New Student's Reference Work'', 1914 File:Nsrw1914 2.jpg, "Automobile", from the same File:LA2-NSRW-1-0186.jpg, This page digitized at Wikisource

References

External links

*'' The New Student's Reference Work'', 5 volumes, 1914, digitized at

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1839 births 1928 deaths American encyclopedists 19th-century American publishers (people) 20th-century American publishers (people) {{US-publish-bio-stub