Compton's Encyclopedia

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Compton's Encyclopedia and Fact-Index is a home and school encyclopedia first published in 1922 as "Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia". The word "Pictured" was removed from the title with the 1968 edition.[1] The encyclopedia is now advertised as Compton's by Britannica.

Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia CD-ROM (1989) was the first multimedia encyclopedia.[2] Grolier's earlier CD-ROM encyclopedia was not multimedia.

The encyclopedia was founded by Frank E. Compton in 1922. Publishing rights to the F.E. Compton & Company products were acquired by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. in 1961.[1]

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. initially owned Compton's Encyclopedia from 1961 to 1993, and later reacquired it in 2002. Britannica had sold its Compton's interests to the Tribune Company in 1993, and for a time Compton's Encyclopedia was a product of The Learning Company, which purchased Brøderbund in 1998. In March 2002 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. "acquired an exclusive license to publish and distribute Compton's Encyclopedia in print and CD-ROM from Broderbund LLC and Success Publishing Group".[3]

Print Editions[edit]

  • Compton's Encyclopedia, 8 volumes, 1922
    • 10 volumes, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930 in two versions 1. plain red boards w/insignia 2. dark brown embossed boards deluxe
    • 16 volumes, 1931
    • 15 volumes, 1933, 1948
  • 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1962
  • Compton's Encyclopedia and Fact-Index, 24 volumes 1969-1971
    • 22 volumes, 1972, 1973
    • 26 volumes, annually 1974-1978 and 1980–1995, 2004
  • Compton's by Britannica
    • 26 volumes, 2009

CD-ROM Editions[edit]

  • Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia, CDROM, 1989, the first "multimedia" CD-ROM[2]
  • Compton's Family Encyclopedia, CDROM, 1991, a "stripped down" version of Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia[2]
  • Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia, CDROM, 1993, 1995 through 2001.

Britannica's 1989 Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia was the first "multimedia" CD-ROM encyclopedia.[2] It won the 1991 Software Publishing Association Excellence in Software Award for Best Education Program.[4]

Grolier's 1985 Academic American Encyclopedia on CD-ROM was text-only. In 1990, when it was called The New Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia (1988–1991), still pictures were added.[2]

Variants of Compton's CD-ROM encyclopedias were Compton's Concise Encyclopedia, Compton's Family Encyclopedia, and Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia.[2]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica, 1988.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kister's Best Encyclopedias,1994
  3. ^ "Compton's Encyclopedia Returns to Britannica" , news release, Encyclopædia Britannica, March 20, 2002
  4. ^ "Celebrating Software". Computer Gaming World. June 1991. p. 64. Retrieved 17 November 2013. 
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