Confusion about Encyclopedia Britannica offerings

This new prepub showed up recently.

https://www.logos.com/product/259569/encyclopaedia-britannica-11th-edition

It confused me because it says it has 130 volumes vs. the other one I'd already pre-ordered when it was in CP which has 32, and yet they both are the 11th edition. And this new one is a whole lot cheaper than the other one. I was wondering "How could this be?" and "Should I jump on the cheaper one which looks like it must include extra stuff -- but what extra stuff could fill up 98 whole volumes? The Encyclopedia Britannica has never been that many volumes."

Then I saw the small print in the 130 volume version's description:

"Please note, this is not the full collection. Only select entries are included."

So what's the deal? Why say it's 130 volumes? What is the point of doing a Britannica with only "select entries" and how does one know what percentage of the full thing is included when the other one with only 32 volumes look like it's less.

Please explain, or fix the title of this one if that 130 is wrong. Or maybe it's 130 tiny volumes with just a few entries in each?

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Comments

Mitch Snyder (Faithlife)

Hi Rosie,

The newer one that was just posted is only a portion of the set, not the full thing. In regards to the volume count, that was simply the number of files we have received for producing them. So the older (complete set) has more entries per volume. For the new one, the volumes are smaller, but we have more of them. The finished content would be similar between them, but the price is lower due.to it being incomplete.

Matt Hamrick

Hi Rosie,

The newer one that was just posted is only a portion of the set, not the full thing. In regards to the volume count, that was simply the number of files we have received for producing them. So the older (complete set) has more entries per volume. For the new one, the volumes are smaller, but we have more of them. The finished content would be similar between them, but the price is lower due.to it being incomplete.

But is it the same edition that was on community pricing?

Rosie Perera

Hi Rosie,

The newer one that was just posted is only a portion of the set, not the full thing. In regards to the volume count, that was simply the number of files we have received for producing them. So the older (complete set) has more entries per volume. For the new one, the volumes are smaller, but we have more of them. The finished content would be similar between them, but the price is lower due.to it being incomplete.

Why even bother producing something incomplete when you have the full one? It would be irritating for many people who want a reference work. With it being this much less than the other one, it must be very incomplete indeed. I will certainly give it a pass. Thanks for the heads up. I just wonder why FL would waste its valuable book creation time with something like this.

David Wanat

Was this the same one that was on the Noet page? I recall people had objections to it back then too.

DMB

Was this the same one that was on the Noet page? I recall people had objections to it back then too.

Seems like deja vu. Britannica wanted to only deliver a subset of articles. Faithlife sampled them, and looked pretty good. Then, time passed.

John W Gillis

Why even bother producing something incomplete when you have the full one?

I think that's a big "if"!

I get the sentiment of not wanting to drop money on a subset of a resource already in your PP queue, but I'm leaning toward taking what I can get at this point. I believe the EB 11th Edition first hit CP more than 10 years ago, a couple years before the whole Comptons/Noet Edition fiasco unfolded. The PP "progress" graphic today shows barely a blip of interest/commitment, so I don't know how much confidence I have that the full set is ever going to be produced - at least in my lifetime! I'll donate to the cause.

I do think the marketing should be much clearer. Showing the abbreviated version as a 130-volume (!!) edition of the EB-11 seems somewhere between confusing and misleading despite the fine print, and there are no clues as to how small or large a subset it is! The number of "files" used to construct the resource is utterly irrelevant information. This should be designated "Limited Edition" or something else less opaque than "(130 Vols.)".