The British Encyclopedia.

The British Encyclopedia was the product of the Scottish Enlightenment movement. In 1768, the Edinburgh bookkeeper and print worker Colin Macfarquhar and the sculptor Andrew Bell decided to publish an encyclopedia for academic and enlightenment services under the name of the Gentlemen¡¯s Association. They hired the then 28-year-old scholar William Smiley to edit a three-volume, 100-chapter Encyclopedia. The first volume was published in December 1768 for six pence, and the three volumes were completed in 1771.

As the first edition was successful, they decided to publish the second edition with a larger capacity. Smiley refused to continue as an editor, so McFaul was the editor himself. The second edition had a total of 10 volumes, 8595 pages, and was published successively from 1777 to 1784.

However, the third edition of EB, published between 1788 and 1797, did not really meet the standards of the Encyclopedia. This edition was initially edited by McCarthy, and after McCarthy's death was edited by George P. Gregor. This edition was 18 volumes, plus two supplementary volumes, totaling more than 16,000 pages. This edition also included experts and scholars hired by Gregor who wrote articles specifically for the Encyclopedia. This edition laid the foundation for the Encyclopedia, which later became one of the most important tools in the world.