启蒙的畅销书——《不列颠百科全书》早期编纂史探源

The Bestseller of Enlightenment:A Review of the Early Compilation History of the Encyclopedia Britannica

论文主要从思想史和书籍史等视角入手,对《不列颠百科全书》前三版的编纂出版历程和主要特点进行研究。论文试图指出对苏格兰启蒙精神的继承,以商业利润为导向的改良,促进知识在社会中的传播的愿景,是该书最终超越法国《百科全书》,成为当今最具影响力和权威性的百科全书之一的几个最重要因素。同时该书早期的体例创新和编纂方式创新,也为现代百科全书的编纂工作树立了重要的风向标。

This paper mainly studies the compiling and publishing process and main characteristics of the first three editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica from the perspective of ideological history and book history. The paper tries to point out that the inheritance of the spirit of Scottish Enlightenment, the improvement of a commercial profit-oriented vision, and the promotion of the spread of knowledge in society, are several of the most important factors, which led the Encyclopedia Britannica in transcending the Encyclopé die and becoming one of the most influential and authoritative encyclopedias in the world. At the same time, the early innovations and compilation methods of the Encyclopedia Britannica also set a important vane for the compilation of modern encyclopedias.