Encyclopaedia Britannica: Rare Book of the Week

A 1771 first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica complete with the controversial midwifery plates ordered removed from every copy by George III will be offered by Peter Harrington at Treasure House Fair June 24-30 at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London.

Drawing on Chambers’s Cyclopaedia (1728) and Diderot’s Encyclopédie (1752–72), the Britannica aimed to organize its entries by subject matter and not solely alphabetical order. 

These three volumes include 45 main articles on the principal arts and sciences, 30 supplementary essays, and innumerable smaller entries. The work was compiled by editor William Smellie (1740–1795), engraver Andrew Bell (1726–1809), and printer Colin Macfarquhar (c. 1745–1793). 

Bell, whose previous work involved engraving crests on dog collars, was responsible for the full 160 plates (one folding, 16 printed on double-sided leaves). His three on midwifery, depicting foetuses in the womb and during birth, scandalized many readers in polite society. The three volumes sold for the hefty price of £12. In 1773, the Dilly brothers in London brought out a reprint with new title pages.

It is being offered for £60,000.