This article contains a list of encyclopedias, including projects to create new works. Because the number of works that can be considered encyclopedias is very large, this list does not attempt to be comprehensive.
Encyclopedias before 1700
- Pliny's Natural History AD 77. Highly influential in the Middle Ages.
- Cassiodorus' Institutiones, AD 560. First Christian encyclopedia.
- St. Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae, AD 636. Christian encyclopedia, most influential encyclopedia of the early Middle Ages.
- Fa yüan chu lin, AD 668, a buddhist encyclopedia of 100 volumes, compiled by Tao-shih
- Adab al-katib (The book of knowledge) by Ibn Qutayba (828–889). Earliest Arabic work that could be called an Encyclopedia.
- Bibliotheke by Patriarch Photius (9th century). Earliest Byzantine work that could be called an Encyclopedia.
- Hrabanus Maurus, 842. De rerum naturis (On the nature of things). Derived from Isidore's text.
- Suda (10th century)
- Bartholomeus de Glanvilla, De proprietatibus rerum, 1240. The most widely read and quoted encyclopedia in the late-medieval period.
- Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum Majus, 1260. The most ambitious encyclopedia in the late-medieval period over 3 million words.
- Yongle Encyclopedia (1403–1408). Ming Dynasty Chinese encyclopedia.
- Pavao Skalic, Croatian philosopher from Zagreb, first to use the term encyclopedia in the current sense. Encyclopediae seu orbis disciplinarum tam sacrarum quam profanarum epistemon, 1559 (Basel, Switzerland), 1571 (Köln, Germany).
- Theodor Zwinger (1533–1588), Theatrum Vitae Humanae, 1588.
- Sir Thomas Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 1646-1672
- Louis Moréri The Great Historical Dictionary, 1671.
- Pierre Bayle Historical and Critical Dictionary, 1695.
- Vincenzo Coronelli publisher of Biblioteca Universale Sacro-Profana early 18th century, the first encyclopedia to be alphabetical.
- John Henry Alsted
- John Jacob Hoffman
Encyclopedias published 1700–1800
French encyclopedias
German encyclopedias
Encyclopedias published 1800–1900
Specialist encyclopedias
American encyclopedias
Dutch encyclopedias
French encyclopedias
Dictionnaires généraux, universels, encyclopédiques, et autres… A bibliography of French encyclopedias up to Larousse.
German encyclopedias
Swedish encyclopedias
Encyclopedias published 1900–2006
Chinese encyclopedias
Dutch encyclopedias
French encyclopedias
German encyclopedias
Iranian encyclopedias
Religious encyclopedias
Russian encyclopedias
General
Printed works
English language
Spanish language
- Diccionario Enciclopédico Espasa
- Diccionario Enciclopédico Hispano-Americano de Literatura, Ciencias y Artes: Barcelona, Montaner y Simón,1887-1899, reprints and appendices up to 1910. Wonderful and very readable articles, many of them written by known Spanish scholars of the day. Reprinted by the London editor Walter M. Jackson (C. H. Simonds Company, Impresores, Boston, Estados Unidos de Norte América). See reference at http://www.filosofia.org/enc/eha/eha.htm
- Enciclopedia Encarta
- Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana; the biggest encyclopedia of its time. Also known as Enciclopedia Espasa o Enciclopedia Espasa-Calpe
- Enciclopedia Labor
- Enciclopedia Libre Universal also known as Enciclopedia Libre
- Enciclopedia Salvat
- Gran Enciclopedia Planeta, 20 volume, DVD and on-line encyclopedia, 2004
- Nueva enciclopedia Durvan
Other languages
On CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and/or the Internet
Website only
- Encyclopedia of Cigarettes: detailed information on cigarettes.
- Enciclopedia Libre: project to create a Spanish encyclopedia using wiki software, released under the GFDL.
- Encyclopedia of Life Sciences
- Encyclopaedia of Turkey: An online encyclopedia about Turkey and Anatolian Culture.
- EncycloZine: an online encyclopedia of books and knowledge.
- Everything2
- Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia: an electronic encyclopedia published by Grolier.
- Hierarchypedia: an online encyclopedia using Wikimedia that is no longer online.
- Internet FAQ archives
- netcyclo: John Anderson's Internet encyclopedia project.
- Nupedia: a peer reviewed, open content encyclopedia project, currently inactive.
- Open Site: an effort inspired by, but not officially affiliated with, the Open Directory Project.
- Probert Encyclopaedia: an online topical encyclopedia consisting of almost 100,000 short entries, published by Mathew Probert and based in the United Kingdom.
- Susning.nu: project to create a Swedish encyclopedia using wiki software.
- Wikinfo: although based structurally on Wikipedia, it is not a Wikimedia project.
- Wikipedia: project to create an encyclopedia in various languages using wiki software, released under the GFDL.
- Wikiweise: project to create a German encyclopedia using wiki software, released under the GFDL.
- WikiZnanie: project to create a Russian encyclopedia using wiki software, released under the BSD DPL.
Specialized
National, regional, ethnic or cultural
Africa
Australian
Austria
Canadian
Croatia
Iranian
London
New Zealand
Poland
Slovenia
South Asia
United States
Subject
Philosophy
Music
- Enciclopedia della musica, 2001-2005, edited by Jean-Jacques Nattiez, in 5 volumes. Collection of in-depth essays rather than brief, dictionary-like entries.
Fiction (or fictional)
History and biography
Judaism
Literature
Mathematics
Medicine
Religion (other)
Sports
- The Baseball Encyclopedia: The Complete and Definitive Record of Major League Baseball, 10th Edition, 1996 ISBN 0028614356
- Total Baseball, The Ultimate Baseball Encyclopedia, 2004, by John Thorn et al
- Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, 2003, by Bud Collins
- The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding
- Baseball 2004, 2004, by David Neft et al
- L'Encyclopédie des sports. Plus de 3000 sports et jeux du monde entier, 2005, Grund
- World Sports Encyclopedia, 2003, Atena/MBI
Entertainment
Other
See also: List of digital library projects
Encyclopedias
Verzeichnis der Enzyklopädien nach Sprachen | Enciclopedias en español | Liste d'encyclopédies sur Internet | 백과사전 목록 | Lista över encyklopedier