Encyclopedias everywhere--or at least it would seem. When I was about 9 years old my mother bought our first set of encyclopedias book by book from the grocery store. Over subsequent years she would purchase some newer sets. These encyclopedias helped get me through school as I would use them regularly to research reports and term papers. Then, at other times, our encyclopedias provided me and my friends hours of entertainment as we just perused the pages and read about things that caught our attention. A household without encyclopedias is somewhat literarily empty in my eyes.
Encyclopedias
As soon as you step foot in our home, one of the first things you would encounter is a shelf filled with encyclopedias. My wife's late husband was a professor and author in Ecuador and he liked having an extensive library for his research and entertainment. He had good taste in books. The encyclopedias he chose are decent representations of what was on the market when he purchased them.
On the top shelf is a 1986 printing of the mainstay of many homes: The Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia. This was the line that my mother purchased twice in far earlier editions than we have now. Those have since been discarded. It's a simple set, but it works for general information and reasonable for young people's school research.
The next two shelves have 1990's printings of Encyclopedia Britannica and Hispanica (the Spanish language product put out by the Britannica company). There are excellent in depth articles to be found in these and I refer to the English version with some regularity. Sure, some of the info gets outdated, but there is still solid information that answers questions that I might have.
Taking a look upstairs in our home you will find a few other encyclopedia sets, including one for young readers. Also there are a number of single books that are identified as "Encyclopedias" either of general knowledge or specific fields of study. Pictured below is one such book that I ordered from a book club maybe 20 or so years ago. Like other books of a similar nature, I rarely or never refer to these books but I like the way they look on my shelf.
Eye Mind by Paul Drummond
This is the book I have been currently reading and it's turning out to be one of my favorite books of recent years. This might be no surprise when you consider that this book is about one of my favorite rock groups--The 13th Floor Elevators, their most famous member--Roky Erickson, and the psychedelic era of the later 1960s. Looking at the current Amazon pricing I am apparently not alone in my passion for this book. I better keep this one in good condition as it seems to have some value. So far I give this book a big recommendation for anyone who is interested in Rock and Roll music history or the psychedelic era. Five stars!
Do you own any encyclopedias? Do you find encyclopedias to be useful? Do you keep any books on your shelves just because you think they look good?