The Children's Encyclopædia

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The Goblins in the Gold-Mine

The Children's Encyclopædia was an encyclopædia originated by Arthur Mee, and published by the Educational Book Company, a subsidiary of Amalgamated Press of London. It was published from 1908 to 1964. Walter M. Jackson's company Grolier acquired the rights to publish it in the U.S. under the name The Book of Knowledge (1910).

The U.S. edition should not be confused with a British series of alphabetical 8-volume encyclopedias entitled The Book of Knowledge and The New Book of Knowledge (known elsewhere as Cassell's Book of Knowledge) which were printed by Waverley and appealed to adults as well as to children. These British Book of Knowledge encyclopedias were edited not by Arthur Mee, but by a series of different editors including Harold FB Wheeler (The Book of Knowledge, circa 1935), John Alexander Hammerton (The Book of Knowledge, 1955) and Gordon Stowell (The New Book of Knowledge, 1959).

Format and descriptions[edit]

The encyclopædia was originally in fortnightly parts between March 1908 and February 1910. Some readers could have bound their collections, but the first eight-volume sets were published in 1910. Each section contained a variety of articles, developing topics as it progressed. The work could be used as a conventional reference library, as the last volume had an alphabetical index, or each section could be read from start to finish. It was originally organised into sections but there were changes in subsequent editions. Some titles covered scientific subjects such as geology, biology and astronomy but such scientific terms were generally avoided.

  • Familiar Things, by "Many writers"
  • Wonder, by "The Wise Man"
  • Nature, by Ernest Bryant and Edward Step
  • The Child’s Own Life, by Dr. Caleb Saleeby
  • The Earth, by Dr. Caleb Saleeby
  • All Countries, by Frances Epps
  • Great Lives, by "Many writers"
  • Golden Deeds, by "Many writers"
  • Bible Stories, by Harold Begbie
  • Famous Books, by John Hammerton
  • Stories, by Edward Wright
  • Poetry, by John Hammerton
  • School Lessons, by several writers, including Lois Mee, Arthur's sister
  • Things To Make and Things To Do, by "Many writers"

Mee wrote a "Greeting" and a "Farewell". He took a strong interest in the "Book of Wonder", in which the "Wise Man" answered questions by children.

The illustrations were mostly anonymous but some illustrators included Susan Beatrice Pearse, C. E. Brock, Thomas Maybank, George F. Morrell, Dudley Heath, Charles Folkard, H. R. Millar, Alexander Francis Lydon, Arthur A. Dixon and Arthur Rackham. The books used photographs by Frank Hinkins, engravings, maps and graphics.[1]

The Encyclopædia broke ground in the approach to education, aiming to make learning interesting and enjoyable. Its articles were clearly written. It aimed to develop character and sense of duty.

Articles reflected its authors: they were proud of Britain and the British Empire; religion – Christianity was held to be the only true religion; racism – the white race was superior, and there were hints of the eugenic ideas of Caleb Saleeby. Offsetting this was a moderate and liberal standpoint in many areas: other races might be inferior, but they should be treated with respect, and imperialism was justified only if it improved the lot of its subjects. At a time when the relation between science and religion was controversial, the Encyclopædia supported evolution, but it did not admit any contradiction between the two.[2]

It was sold door-to-door. It was used by schools and for teacher training. It gives insight into the social values of the society that created it and was influenced by it. As the initial run ended, it was reissued as the monthly New Children's Encyclopædia. The title changed, becoming Children's Encyclopædia Magazine, Children's Magazine and, finally, My Magazine in 1914. From September 1910, the magazine included a supplement of news entitled The Little Paper, the forerunner of Arthur Mee's Children's Newspaper, launched in 1919.

The Children's Encyclopædia sold 800,000 copies in 12 editions before being extensively revised in the early 1920s. The new 59-part, 7,412-page, 10-volume series debuted in October 1922 as The Children's Encyclopedia, the digraph having been dropped, and went through 14 editions by 1946 under the imprint of The Educational Book Co.. Translations appeared in France, Italy, Spain and China.

New editions of the Encyclopedia continued after Mee's death in 1943; the final, much revised, edition, still entitled Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopedia, appeared in 1964.

Kashmir riots[edit]

In May 1973 riots occurred in Jammu and Kashmir in an area where Jamaat-e-Islami was gaining influence, ostensibly sparked by the discovery that The Book of Knowledge, which had been stored in a local library for decades, contained an image of Archangel Gabriel dictating portions of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad. The riots left four dead and over a hundred wounded. The sale of the encyclopedia was then banned, although it was out of print by then.[3][4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ The Children's Encyclopædia, edited by Arthur Mee (1910), 8 volumes; and later editions.
  2. ^ Cf. Tracy (2008)
  3. ^ Timothy D. Sisk (2011). Between Terror and Tolerance: Religious Leaders, Conflict, and Peacemaking. Georgetown University Press. pp. 212–213. ISBN 978-1-58901-782-5. 
  4. ^ Albert C. Moore (1977). Iconography of religions: an introduction. SCM Press (UK ed.) / Fortress Press (US ed.). p. 226. ISBN 978-0-8006-0488-2. 
  • John Hammerton (1946) Child of Wonder: An Intimate Biography of Arthur Mee.
  • Maisie Robson (2003) Arthur Mee's Dream of England.
  • Michael Tracy (2008) The World of the Edwardian Child, as seen in Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopædia, 1908–1910.[1] Includes more information and a new assessment of Mee and his work, also that of other contributors to the Encyclopædia.
  • The Book of Knowledge edited by Harold FB Wheeler
  • The Book of Knowledge edited by Sir John Hammerton
  • The New Book of Knowledge edited by Gordon Stowell

External links[edit]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Encyclopaedia
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