Elkan Harrison Powell (21 November 1888 – 8 May 1966) was a president of Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Powell introduced the policies of continuous revision and of leveraging the ''Britannica's'' fame to market successful spin-off products, such as historical overviews, compilations of good ''Britannica'' articles, children's encyclopedias and

atlases An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditionally been ...

. These policies are still in practice today. Powell was a vice president at Sears Roebuck in 1932, when the publisher of the ''Britannica'', Benjamin J. Cox, resigned. Powell became his replacement and quickly analyzed the factors affecting the profitability of the ''Britannica''. In 1933, he introduced the continuous revision policy.. New ''Britannica''-branded products such as the 12-volume children's encyclopedia, ''Britannica Junior'', appeared a year later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Elkan Harrison Encyclopædia Britannica 20th-century American businesspeople 1888 births 1966 deaths