Encyclopedism

Encyclopedism is an outlook that aims to include a wide range of knowledge in a single work. The term covers both encyclopedias themselves and related genres in which comprehensiveness is a notable feature. The word encyclopedia is a Latinization of the Greek enkýklios paideía, which means all-around education.

Besides comprehensiveness, encyclopedic writing is distinguished by its lack of a specific audience or practical application. The author explains facts concisely for the benefit of a reader who will then use the information in a way that the writer does not try to anticipate. Early examples of encyclopedic writing include discussions of agriculture and craft by Roman writers such as Pliny the Elder and Varro – discussions presumably not intended as practical advice to farmers or craftsmen.

The vast majority of classical learning was lost during the Dark Ages. This enhanced the status of the encyclopedic works which survived, including those of Aristotle and Pliny. With the development of printing in the 15th century, the range of knowledge available to readers expanded greatly. Encyclopedic writing became both a practical necessity and a clearly distinguished genre. Renaissance encyclopedists were keenly aware of how much classical learning had been lost. They hoped to recover and record knowledge and were anxious to prevent further loss.

In their modern form, encyclopedias consist of alphabetized articles written by teams of specialists. This format was developed in the 18th century by expanding the technical dictionary to include non-technical topics. The The Encyclopedia (1751–1772), edited by Diderot and D'Alembert, was a model for many later works. Like Renaissance encyclopedists, Diderot worried about the possible destruction of civilization and selected knowledge he hoped would survive.

The word "encyclopedia" is a Latinization of the Greek enkýklios paideía. The Greek phrase refers to the education that a well-round student should receive. Latin writer Quintilian uses it to refer to the subjects a student of oratory should be familiar with before beginning an apprenticeship. It translates literally as "in (en) the circle (kýklios) of knowledge (paideía)."

The use of the term to refer to a genre of literature was prompted by a line that Pliny used in the preface of Natural History: "My object is to treat of all those things which the Greeks include in the Encyclopædia [tē̂s enkyklíou paideías], which, however, are either not generally known or are rendered dubious from our ingenious conceits." Pliny writes the relevant phrase using Greek letters. Latin printers of incunabula lacked the typeface to render it. Some printers substituted encyclopædia or another Latin phrase. Others just left a blank space. This led to the misunderstanding that Pliny had called his work an encyclopedia.

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