Low's Encyclopaedia

Many of the minor definitional entries are borrowed from Perthensis or Britannica, usually with changes in wording, but a roughly equal number are original, and the articles are disproportionately of American concern: London takes up half a page while New York City gets five, when populations at the time were nearly 1 million for the former city and 80,000 for the latter.

The article "New York" describes Sir William Johnson as being a land jobber and an enemy of the nation, for example.

Plans for the encyclopedia were begun, and subscriptions began being taken, much earlier than the original publication date, as it is known that around 1802, Thomas Jefferson subscribed to a set, which was delivered in 1811 for $75.

[7] Its intention was to compete with Dobson's Encyclopedia, as stated in the "Preface", which was written in 1811 by Esther Low: The motive that produced the publication of this Encyclopædia originated in the general voice of a numerous class of readers; who, although they might have been ever so anxious for the promulgation of literature, were yet induced to express their regret, that another similar work which had been published at Philadelphia, was of too voluminous and expensive a nature to answer the beneficial purposes of a general circulation.

To remedy this complaint, they chose to decide in favor of another compilation; which, whilst it should embrace all the utility without the diffuseness of the former, would nevertheless, prove equally interesting, and at the same time more conveniently portable, and might be procured at nearly one-fourth of the expense.No author or editor is mentioned in the preface, only: ...although it may be considered as a compilation of all the best dictionaries and books of science extant, yet it may justly claim in other respects, a right to originality; as a vast mass of matter has been generously supplied by men of the first eminence in the various pursuits of literature, as well natives of America as foreigners of distinction; who were well versed in the Mathematical, Theological, Physical, and other departments.

To enumerate their names would be impracticable in the present instance, and to particularise (sic) any, might be thought invidious; they are all of them entitled to the warmest thanks of the publishers for their communications on the several topics on which they have so ably written.