Its editors were Angelo Solomon Rappaport, Richard Ferrer Patterson and John Dougall.
The content consisted of brief, unsigned articles and the encyclopedia was considered mediocre in quality.
[3] From 1933 to 1976 it was published in the United Kingdom as Collins Concise Encyclopedia,[4] apparently as a work "of no great reputation", according to Kenneth Kister.
In 1979 an abridged 2 volume pocket sized (8 by 12 cm, 3.25 by 4.75 in) edition was published as Collins Gem Encyclopedia.
[7] In 1993 an abridged version of Collins Gem was published as one volume general encyclopedia.
It kept the name Collins Gem Encyclopedia in the United Kingdom, but was a very different item than its predecessor.
[8] The most notable different was the presence of illustrations - the new edition counted 800 line drawings, tables, charts, cutaways and timelines.