Low's Encyclopaedia
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''Low's Encyclopædia'' is an early American
encyclopedia An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...
, titled ''The New and Complete American Encyclopædia or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences''. It was published in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, from 1805 to 1811. Consisting of seven volumes
quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
, it is noteworthy among America's earliest encyclopedias for having been written in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, as opposed to being an American reprint of a British work, as were, for examples, '' Dobson's Encyclopedia'' (1789–1798), the
Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
printing (1806–1820) of ''
Rees's Cyclopædia Rees's ''Cyclopædia'', in full ''The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature'', was an important 19th-century British people, British encyclopaedia edited by Rev. Abraham Rees (1743–1825), a Presbyterian minis ...
'' (1802–1820), Samuel A. Mitchell's American printing (1816) of the ''
British Encyclopedia, or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences ''The British Encyclopedia, or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences'', claimed by its publishers to be a work "''Comprising an accurate and popular view of the present improved state of human knowledge''", was published at London in 1809 in six oct ...
'' (1809), or the Birch and Small printing ( A. F. M. Willich and
James Mease James Mease (1771–1846)OAC
- James Mease papers
was an American scientist, horticulturist, ...
,
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, 1803) of the '' Domestic Encyclopedia'' (A. F. M. Willich, London, 1802).


History

The first five volumes of the encyclopedia were published by John Low (1763–1809), and the final two by his widow and successor, Esther Prentiss Low (1762–1816). John Low was born in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and immigrated to America with Esther shortly after the birth of their son John (–1829). By 1795, John Low had established himself as a printer and bookseller in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Upon his death, Esther ran their printing establishment, and the younger John Low carried on in the printing business. She continued issuing the encyclopedia and printing maps posthumously until at least 1831."Auction 22"
on the ''Dorothy Sloan – Books'' website
*Vol. 1 – A (1805) *Vol. 2 – B-C (1806) *Vol. 3 – C-G (1807) *Vol. 4 – G-J (1808) *Vol. 5 – K-M (1808) *Vol. 6 – M-P (1810) *Vol. 7 – P-Z (1811)


Content

''Low's Encyclopedia'' is primarily an American work. Although the title page says it was taken from the ''
Encyclopædia Perthensis The ''Encyclopædia Perthensis'' was a publishing project around the Morison Press in Perth, Scotland undertaken in the 1790s, with the involvement of James Morison. Morison went into partnership with Colin Mitchel and Co. Editions The ''Ency ...
'', this does not appear to be the case, as this work is seven volumes of around 650 pages each, while the latter work was 23 volumes of 800 pages each. Many of the minor definitional entries are borrowed from ''Perthensis'' or ''Britannica'', usually with changes in wording, but a roughly equal number are original, and the articles are disproportionately of American concern:
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
takes up half a page while New York City gets five, when populations at the time were nearly 1 million for the former city and 80,000 for the latter. By comparison, ''Encyclopædia Britannicas fourth edition of 1810 gives the two cities 42 pages versus one and one half, respectively.
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
receives four pages, while each of the
states of the United States The United States, United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 U.S. state, states, a Capital districts and territories#United States, federal district (Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States), five major ...
get equally long articles, and most maps are of the various states. The
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
gets a 30-page treatment, while the British revolution of 1688 gets a paragraph. The article "New York" describes
Sir William Johnson Major-General Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet ( – 11 July 1774), was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Ireland known for his military and governance work in British colonial America. As a young man, Johnson moved to t ...
as being a land jobber and an enemy of the nation, for example. Almost every American
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
,
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
, and
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
is listed, there are many biographies of Americans, and all the maps and most of the plates are original, a few plates being taken from ''Britannica''. They are found with an inconsistent number of maps, usually around 30, and plates. Although the title page says there would be 170 copperplates, the copy in the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
only has 149. Most of the maps appear to have been published earlier by John Low; many are dated 1799 and 1800, and some appear to be even older. The map of
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
and
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
calls Kentucky a state, but Tennessee was called Southwestern Territory. This dates the map to the mid-1790s. It is known that John Low published and sold John Payne's ''A New and Complete System of Universal Geography'' in 1798-1800, with maps that re-appeared in this encyclopedia. From this we can credit Payne as cartographer for the maps which were not updated for the encyclopedia except in the inscriptions, which say "Engraved for the New Encyclopedia" where "Engraved for Payne's Universal Geography" had been. Other maps are newer, such as Pennsylvania, dated 1810, which was engraved and published by Esther Low. A reprint of the encyclopedia by Esther between 1811 and 1815 includes some new maps.


Production and authorship

Plans for the encyclopedia were begun, and subscriptions began being taken, much earlier than the original publication date, as it is known that around 1802,
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
subscribed to a set, which was delivered in 1811 for $75."Correspondent:'Low, John' Correspondent:'Jefferson, Thomas'
on the ''Founder's Online'' website
Its intention was to compete with ''Dobson's Encyclopedia'', as stated in the "Preface", which was written in 1811 by Esther Low:
The motive that produced the publication of this Encyclopædia originated in the general voice of a numerous class of readers; who, although they might have been ever so anxious for the promulgation of literature, were yet induced to express their regret, that another similar work which had been published at
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, was of too voluminous and expensive a nature to answer the beneficial purposes of a general circulation. To remedy this complaint, they chose to decide in favor of another compilation; which, whilst it should embrace all the utility without the diffuseness of the former, would nevertheless, prove equally interesting, and at the same time more conveniently portable, and might be procured at nearly one-fourth of the expense.
No author or editor is mentioned in the preface, only:
...although it may be considered as a compilation of all the best dictionaries and books of science extant, yet it may justly claim in other respects, a right to originality; as a vast mass of matter has been generously supplied by men of the first eminence in the various pursuits of literature, as well natives of America as foreigners of distinction; who were well versed in the Mathematical, Theological, Physical, and other departments. To enumerate their names would be impracticable in the present instance, and to particularise (sic) any, might be thought invidious; they are all of them entitled to the warmest thanks of the publishers for their communications on the several topics on which they have so ably written. The Geographical, Botanical, and Chemical parts are nearly all original; as well as those of Agriculture, Gardening, etc.


Other maps

image:LowsKentuckyMap.jpeg, 1800 "The State of Kentucky and adjoining Territories" image:LowsCTmap.jpeg, 1799 map of Connecticut image:1800LowsNYstate.jpeg, 1800 map of New York


See also

*
Encyclopedia An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...
* Encyclopedists *
List of historical encyclopedias This is a list of encyclopedias, arranged by time period. For other arrangements, see Lists of encyclopedias. Encyclopedias before 1700 * ''Nine Books of Disciplines'' by Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BC-27 BC) * ''Naturalis Historia'' by Pliny the ...


References

Notes


External links

*
Volume One
at
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Vols. 3-7 of the Encyclopedia
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{{Authority control 1805 non-fiction books 19th-century encyclopedias 1805 in literature 1805 introductions Book series introduced in the 1800s English-language encyclopedias American encyclopedias Reference works in the public domain