''Harris' Minor Encyclopedia'' is a small

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 ...

compiled by the Rev.

Thaddeus Mason Harris Thaddeus Mason Harris (July 7, 1768 – April 3, 1842) was a Harvard librarian, Unitarian minister and author in the early 19th Century. One of his most noted books on theology was ''The Natural History of the Bible'' first published in Boston in ...

in 1803 in Dorchester,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and published that year in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

by West and Greenleaf. The full title on the title page is ''The Minor Encyclopedia, or Cabinet of General Knowledge: Being a Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Polite Literature. In Four Volumes.'' The book was a revised American edition of '' Kendall's Pocket Encyclopedia'', edited extensively by Harris. It consists of four volumes of approximately 300 pages each in

duodecimo Paper size refers to standardized dimensions for sheets of paper used globally in stationery, printing, and technical drawing. Most countries adhere to the ISO 216 standard, which includes the widely recognized A series (including A4 paper) ...

( inches by 7 inches). There are no plates. Harris covers the

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

and

sciences Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

, and topics of

general knowledge General knowledge is information that has been accumulated over time through various media and sources. It excludes specialized learning that can only be obtained with extensive training and information confined to a single medium. General know ...

, but there are no

geographical Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

, or

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

articles. The editor states, "Articles of local geography have been purposely omitted. The publications of Dr. Morse supersede the necessity of their introduction here...Biographical dictionaries, particularly those of Watkins and Jones, are in general circulation; and the public are expecting an elaborate and complete "Universal Biography", compiled by a Society of Literati in Albany. Nor was it possible to make these volumes the vehicle of HISTORICAL INFORMATION. It is a subject too extensive for our plan."The preface, ''Minor Encyclopedia'', Boston, 1803

References

Notes

External links

The first volume
available at

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...

1803 non-fiction books 19th-century encyclopedias Encyclopedias in English American encyclopedias Reference works in the public domain {{US-culture-stub

See also

References

External links