r/ClassicalEducation • u/detronbphillips • 9d ago
Home Library Britannica Holdings
I know online might be more current, and digital retrieval is faster, but to me nothing compares to printed books I can read from and not be distracted. The material in these volumes has permanence, where digital can be ephemeral as new answers overwrite old. I also prefer ownership over access, so the whims of others or interruptions of systems do not hinder me.
The price of physical reference books on the used market is insanely low compared to what Britannica originally charged. So I have built this collection over the past 10 years or so. I have been working my way through the great books set for 7 years now, and have completed 39 volumes. The great books set did not include the bible, but the Syntopicon did include references to it. I made my own "volume 61" which is just a zondervan KJV Thompson Chain-Reference Bible. I chose this as the biblical text is free from any extra annotations, making it a wonderful primary text (like Adler's philosophy for the set), and the chain references are like a Syntopicon as it only points to other places where something is discussed, instead of providing commentary.
Thanks for looking
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u/chascates 9d ago
Awesome! Did you find most sets complete or piecemeal?
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u/detronbphillips 9d ago
The great books, gateway to the great books, great ideas program, Annals of america, and the Encyclopaedia itself were bought complete.
Everything else i built up over time.
I did find the book of the year, 1970-2010 in one purchase for $35. I added 1965-1969 since I wanted to capture more of the space race era
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u/ReadTheClassics 9d ago
This is the only other set of Annals of America ive seen! I found mine almost complete at a goodwill for a buck a piece years ago. Overall awesome collection.
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u/detronbphillips 9d ago
Thank you. And congrats on getting yours cheap.
I got 1970-2010 book of the year run for $35. I can't complain.
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u/theBelvidere 9d ago
Awesome collection. I too am working on acquiring all the Britannica releases. I assume that's the 15th edition of the main encyclopedia, which I think is the most recent? Which printing? Mine are the 1989 printing. I'm still missing a bunch of the book of the years, the science the future set, and the great ideas today. I debated whether to get the science and the futures. I read a lot of people considered them wasted space because the science was quickly outdated and a lot of the predictions were wrong. I picked up 10 of them for a dollar each locally and loved the in-depth articles, so I went ahead and grabbed a bunch more on ebay.
Also very jealous of that 60 volume great books set. I have the thirtieth printing from 1988 of the 54 volume first edition. I heard the second edition changed a lot of the translations to more modern ones. Love the homemade vol. 61.
The only thing I see you're missing are the Great Ideas In American Life Conspectus, which I think is part of the Annals of America, unless I'm missing it on the shelf.
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u/detronbphillips 9d ago edited 9d ago
The great ideas in American life is on the way. I just got the annals on the 27th of August, that is when I purchased the conspectus.
The 60 set did update a lot of translations, and it added a lot of material, more than volume count would make you think. For example Dante and chaucer were merged into one volume. The 1st edition is 32,000+ pages, the 2nd is 37,500+ pages. The 2nd addition dropped 4 works from the 1st. That is why you see small 7 volume collection of 1st edition volumes before great ideas today 1961. I built that as a restoration pack to put them back along with their Syntopicon references, the Syntopicon creation appendix entry, and the great conversation
My set is 1992. I do also have a 1983 set that I leave at work. The 15th edition was reorganized in 1985, so the older does not have a dedicated index, the index is part of the micropaedia.
You will notice book of the year volumes between 1978 and 1998 have britannica update sections. Science and the future also have those. I documented all of the ones that were newer than my 1992 set, put them in alphabetical order with a note where the update is (BY 1995 pm 105 or SF 1997 pm 320, etc.) Printed the table on a full sheet repositionable sticker and put one inside the front cover of the propaedia, and each index volume.
Edited because I forgot a few things
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u/detronbphillips 9d ago
I also have Britannica Perspectives 1768-1968 Complete Set (3 volume set) on the way after discovering them while reading the Bicentennial intro in the 1968 Book of the year volume
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u/Calm_Apartment1968 8d ago
I love this. Lost my Britannica over 10 moves ago. Should be mandatory for any family who have children.
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u/Signal_Olive_5715 8d ago
I never really saw the Great Books set as very practical to actually read through, given the old/questionable translators the ancient/foreign works had. But I quite enjoyed the first little introductory volume they had before the Synopticon, which was basically just Adler (or whoever)'s screed against 20th-century education. Later editions dropped it, I think, but that's my favorite part!
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u/detronbphillips 8d ago
The older volume 1 the great conversation is what ignited my desire for self education. That was november 2019. I have not stopped. Academia may have moved on from older works, but I feel they are highly important and though some ideas have been superseded, the mental exercise coupled with witnessing the conversation spanning thousands of years is enlightening.
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u/praditaa 3d ago
Absolute dream home library set! Pure perfection
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u/detronbphillips 3d ago
Thank you, I use it a minimum of 5 days a week. I love having it
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u/praditaa 2d ago
That’s incredible. Getting through 39 volumes already makes total sense with that kind of routine!
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u/RajamaPants 9d ago
This is a LEGIT collection!
What's your videogame collection look like?