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The editor-in-chief of the Encyclopædia Britannica serves as the editorial leader of the Encyclopædia Britannica, a general reference encyclopedia published since 1768. Since 2012, the encyclopedia is published exclusively on the internet, following 244 years of physical editions. The first editor-in-chief of the Britannica was Scotsman William Smellie, and the current holder of the office is Tracy Grant.

Background

The Encyclopædia Britannica is an English-language general reference encyclopedia, published since 1768. The Britannica was first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in three volumes, with printer William Smellie serving as its principal editor. By 1988, the encyclopedia grew to consist of 32 volumes in total, but later stopped printing physical copies to focus on the online edition in 2012. As of 2024, the current editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia is Tracy Grant, who was formerly the managing editor of The Washington Post.

Editors-in-chief

Portrait	Name (lifespan)	Tenure during publication	Edition		Notable contribution(s)	Ref.
	William Smellie (1740–1795)	1768–1771	Encyclopædia Britannica First Edition		"Abridgement"
	James Tytler (1745–1804)	1776–1784	Encyclopædia Britannica Second Edition
—	Colin Macfarquhar (1745?–1793)	1788–1793	Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition
	George Gleig (1753–1840)	1793–1797
	James Millar (1762–1827)	1801–1810	Encyclopædia Britannica Fourth Edition
—	Thomson Bonar (1739–1814)	1810–1812	Encyclopædia Britannica Fifth Edition
	James Millar (1762–1827)	1812–1817
	Charles Maclaren (1782–1866)	1820–1823	Encyclopædia Britannica Sixth Edition
	Macvey Napier (1776–1847)	1830–1842	Encyclopædia Britannica Seventh Edition
	Thomas Stewart Traill (1781–1862)	1852–1860	Encyclopædia Britannica Eighth Edition
	Thomas Spencer Baynes (1823–1887)	1875–1887	Encyclopædia Britannica Ninth Edition		"Shakespeare, William"
	William Robertson Smith (1846–1894)	1881–1888
	Hugh Chisholm (1866–1924)	1902–1903	Encyclopædia Britannica Tenth Edition
	Arthur Twining Hadley (1856–1930)
	Donald Mackenzie Wallace (1841–1919)				"Russia"
	Hugh Chisholm (1866–1924)	1910–1911	Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
		1922	Encyclopædia Britannica Twelfth Edition
	James Louis Garvin (1868–1947)	1926	Encyclopædia Britannica Thirteenth Edition
		1929–1932	Encyclopædia Britannica Fourteenth Edition
—	Franklin Henry Hooper (1862–1940)	1932–1938
—	Walter Yust (1894–1960)	1938–1960
	Harry Scott Ashmore (1916–1998)	1960–1963
—	Warren Eversleigh Preece (1921–2007)	1965–1967
	William Haley (1901–1987)	1968–1969
—	Warren Eversleigh Preece (1921–2007)	1969–1975
—			Encyclopædia Britannica Fifteenth Edition
—	Philip Whitehead Goetz (1927–2008)	1979–1991
—	Robert McHenry (born 1945)	1992–1997	Encyclopædia Britannica Fifteenth Edition	Britannica Online
—	Dale Hoiberg	1997–2015	Encyclopædia Britannica Global Edition
—	Tracy Grant (born 1964)	2022–current	Britannica Online

Notes

1. As indicated by the period of publication of their respective editions.
2. The biographer of Tytler claimed that he edited the first edition also, although it is generally acknowledged that this is not the case.
3. Macfarquhar died before the edition was finished, leading the remaining volumes to be edited by Gleig.
4. Bonar edited the first five volumes, with the remaining 15 being edited by Millard.
5. Baynes was the sole editor-in-chief of the first 11 volumes of the ninth edition. Due to ill health, he became joint editor of the encyclopedia alongside Smith from 1881, before dying in 1887. Smith saw to the work's completion in 1888.
6. Chisholm, Hadley, and Wallace all served as joint editors of the tenth edition.

References

1. ^ Levy, Michael; Stewart, Donald E. "Britannica Academic". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
2. ^ Hart, James D. (2004-01-01). "Encyclopaedia Britannica, The". The Oxford Companion to American Literature. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195065480.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-506548-0. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
3. ^ Garfield 2022, p. 22.
4. ^ Bosman, Julie (2012-03-13). "After 244 Years, Encyclopaedia Britannica Stops the Presses". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2024-11-21. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
5. ^ Beaujon, Andrew (2022-06-22). "Tracy Grant Leaves the Washington Post". Washingtonian. Archived from the original on 2024-05-27. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
6. ^ Ahmed, Mariam (2022-06-27). "Grant departs the Washington Post for Encyclopaedia Britannica". Talking Biz News. Archived from the original on 2024-05-28. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
7. "William Smellie". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
8. Kerr, Robert (1811). Memoirs of the Life, Writings, & Correspondence of William Smellie, Late Printer in Edinburgh, Secretary and Superintendent of Natural History to the Society of Scotish Antiquaries. Vol. 1. J. Anderson. p. 1.
9. "Education: Rule, Britannica". Time. 1958-06-02. Archived from the original on 2024-11-21. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
10. "James Tytler". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
11. "James Tytler". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
12. "Colin Macfarquhar". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
13. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gleig, George" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
14. ^ "Millar, James" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
15. Oldfield, Paul (2017-11-30). Victoria Crosses on the Western Front, 20th November 1917–23rd March 1918: Cambrai to the Battle of St Quentin. Casemate Publishers. p. 407. ISBN 978-1-4738-8500-4.
16. ^ Lyons, Ponsonby A. "Encyclopaedia". In Baynes, Thomas S. (ed.). Encyclopaedia Britannica (9th ed.). 1902 Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
17. "Charles Maclaren". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
18. "Maclaren, Charles" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
19. "Napier, Macvey" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
20. "MacVey Napier". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
21. "Traill, Thomas Stewart". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27662. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
22. "Thomas Stewart Traill". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
23. "Baynes, Thomas Spencer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1783. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
24. "Thomas Spencer Baynes". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
25. "Smith, William Robertson". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25939. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
26. "William Robertson Smith". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
27. ^ "Hugh Chisholm". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
28. ^ "Chisholm, Hugh". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32404. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
29. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hadley, Arthur Twining" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
30. "Arthur Twining Hadley". The American Economic Review. 20 (2): 364–368. 1930. ISSN 0002-8282.
31. "Wallace, Sir Donald Mackenzie". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36702. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
32. "Garvin, James Louis". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33345. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
33. ^ "Franklin Henry Hooper". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
34. "Walter Yust". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
35. Sawyer, Nathania (2023-09-28). "Harry Scott Ashmore (1916–1998)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
36. ^ "Warren E. Preece". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
37. "Sir William Haley". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
38. "Haley, Sir William John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40156. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
39. ^ Rettig, James (1992-02-04). Distinguished Classics of Reference Publishing. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 84–86. ISBN 978-0-89774-640-3.
40. Kister, Kenneth F. (1994). Kister's Best Encyclopedias: A Comparative Guide to General and Specialized Encyclopedias. Oryx Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-89774-744-8.
41. "Robert McHenry". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
42. Muhlenkamp, Katherine (2014). "Encyclopedic knowledge". The University of Chicago Magazine. Vol. 106, no. 4. Archived from the original on 2024-07-27. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
43. "People You Should Know". SiouxFalls.business. 2017-10-31. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2024-11-21.

Bibliography

• Garfield, Simon (2022-09-08). All the Knowledge in the World: The Extraordinary History of the Encyclopaedia. Orion. ISBN 978-1-4746-1080-3.

Further reading

Notable contributions by editors-in-chief of the Encyclopædia Britannica

• Smellie, William (1771). "Abridgement". In Smellie, William (ed.). Encyclopaedia Britannica; Or, A Dictionary Of Arts And Sciences, Compiled Upon A New Plan. Edinburgh: Colin Macfarquhar and Andrew Bell. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
• Baynes, Thomas Spencer (1875–1889). "Shakespeare, William" . In Baynes, T. S. (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
• Wallace, Donald Mackenzie (1902). "Russia". Encyclopædia Britannica, Tenth Edition. Adam & Charles Black. Retrieved 2024-11-21.

• Contributors to the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Lists of people by company