Chandler Beach

Chandler Belden Beach (1839–1928) was an American entrepreneur and encyclopedist.

Beach & Company, later renamed F. E. Compton & Co. after his associate Frank Compton took it over, Beach also served as a captain in the American Civil War.

As a sales agent in Chicago for the Encyclopædia Britannica, he soon realized there was a market demand for a more light-weight encyclopedia.

Beach was the editor and publisher of Youth's Cyclopedia (2 volumes, 1892) and the Student's Cyclopaedia (2 volumes, 1893), which turned into The Student's Reference Work (1901).

Compton & Company products were acquired by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. in 1961,[1][full citation needed] and the encyclopedia is still in print as Compton's by Britannica.