Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary

The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary (Russian: Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона, romanized: Entsiklopedicheskiy slovar Brokgauza i Yefrona, abbr.

The first eight volumes (up to the letter "B"), published under the general editorship of Professor Ivan Efimovich Andreevsky, were almost literal translation with a slight adaptation for the Russian reader.

Having broken its expensive publication by half, the company made it more accessible to a wide audience of readers, thanks to which the circulation was brought to a record for that time – 130,000 copies.

From that moment on, the encyclopaedia begins to replenish with original articles, and the primary attention is paid to issues related to the history, culture and geography of Russia.

The displacement of translated articles by original ones and the appearance of new authors affected the very nature of the publication: from a trivial encyclopaedia it turned into a collection of the latest achievements and discoveries in all fields of science and technology.

The 82nd half-volume ends with the "Portrait Gallery" of the editors and employees of the Encyclopaedic Dictionary, comprising 300 portrait-prototypes: from the editor-in-chief to a simple typesetter.

In 1911, the New Encyclopaedic Dictionary was published, edited by Konstantin Konstantinovich Arseniev, which was supposed to cover the same circle of knowledge as ESBE, but in a more compact and modern processing.