Golden Book Encyclopedia

Last updated
Golden Book Encyclopedia.png

The Golden Book Encyclopedia is a set of children's encyclopedias published by Western Printing and Lithographing Company under the name Golden Press. [1] Advertised with circulars in newspapers, the encyclopedias were sent out in weekly or bi-weekly installments. Supermarket chains, such as Acme Markets, used these encyclopedias as a promotional hook to lure shoppers.

Contents

The front page of every volume describes the books as, "Fact-filled Volumes Dramatically Illustrated with More Than 6,000 Pictures. The Only Encyclopedia for Young Grade-school children. Accurate and Authoritative. Entertainingly written and illustrated to make learning an adventure." [2] Subjects covered in the series included nature, science, history, geography, literature, and the arts.

Editions

The first edition of the encyclopedia was published in a joint venture between Simon & Schuster and Western Printing and Lithographing Company in 1946. The author of the edition was Dorothy A. Bennett and the illustrator was Cornelius De Witt. A 16-volume hardcover edition was published from 1959 to 1969; these sets were written by Bertha Morris Parker, formerly of the Laboratory Schools at the University of Chicago and research associate at the Chicago Natural History Museum. The 1988 edition lists the author as "Golden Press," and contains 4 extra volumes, making it a 20-volume set.

Volumes

1959 Edition

Other versions

Besides publishing an encyclopedia for children, Golden Press has also published similar reference material, which includes The Golden Book Encyclopedia of Natural Science and The Golden Home and High School Encyclopedia.

Sales

60 million copies of individual Encyclopedia volumes were sold between 1959 and 1961. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i> General knowledge English-language online encyclopaedia

The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia which is now published exclusively as an online encyclopaedia. It was formerly published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., and other publishers. It was written by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 contributors. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, which spans 32 volumes and 32,640 pages, was the last printed edition.

Childrens literature Stories, books, and poems that are enjoyed by and targeted primarily towards children

Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are made for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.

Western Publishing Firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books

Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was a Racine, Wisconsin, firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products. The company had editorial offices in New York City and Los Angeles, California. Western Publishing became Golden Books Family Entertainment from 1996 to 2008. As of 2013, Little Golden Books remains as an imprint of Penguin Random House.

<i>Encyclopedia Americana</i> Encyclopedic dictionary written in American English

Encyclopedia Americana is a general encyclopedia written in American English. It was the first major multivolume encyclopedia that was published in the United States. Following the acquisition of Grolier in 2000, the encyclopedia has been produced by Scholastic.

Funk & Wagnalls was an American publisher known for its reference works, including A Standard Dictionary of the English Language, and the Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia.

<i>The Childrens Encyclopædia</i>

The Children's Encyclopædia was an encyclopaedia originated by Arthur Mee, and published by the Educational Book Company, a subsidiary of Northcliffe's Amalgamated Press, London. It was published from 1908 to 1964. Walter M. Jackson's company Grolier acquired the rights to publish it in the U.S. under the name The Book of Knowledge (1910).

<i>The Canadian Encyclopedia</i> Online encyclopedia on Canada

The Canadian Encyclopedia is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage.

Harvard Classics 50-volume anthology of classic works from world literature

The Harvard Classics, originally known and marketed as Dr. Eliot's Five-Foot Shelf of Books, is a 50-volume series of classic works from world literature, important speeches, and historical documents compiled and edited by Harvard University President Charles W. Eliot. Eliot believed that a careful reading of the series and by following the included 11 reading plans in Volume 50 would offer a reader, in the comfort of home, the benefits of a liberal education, entertainment and counsel of history's greatest creative minds. The initial marketing success of The Harvard Classics was due, in part, to the branding offered by Eliot and Harvard University. Buyers of these sets were apparently attracted to the claims that reading the books would provide a liberal education by following the included reading plan and using the General Index containing upwards of 76,000 subject references.

Everymans Library

Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent, who continue to publish Everyman Paperbacks.

Golden Cockerel Press

The Golden Cockerel Press was an English fine press operating between 1920 and 1961.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. American publisher

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. is a British-American company known for publishing the Encyclopædia Britannica, the world's oldest continuously published encyclopaedia, as well as extensive digital efforts—including text and audiovisual—that are aimed at educational tools for primary and secondary schools, and for everyday learners accessing information through online search.

Charles Keeping

Charles William James Keeping was an English illustrator, children's book author and lithographer. He first came to prominence with his illustrations of Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels for children, and he created more than twenty picture books. He also illustrated the complete works of Charles Dickens for the Folio Society.

Little Golden Books

Little Golden Books is a series of children's books, founded in 1942. The eighth book in the series, The Poky Little Puppy, is the top-selling children's book of all time. Many other Little Golden Books have become bestsellers, including Tootle, Scuffy the Tugboat, and The Little Red Hen. Several of its illustrators later became influential within the children's book industry, including Corinne Malvern, Tibor Gergely, Gustaf Tenggren, Feodor Rojankovsky, Richard Scarry, Eloise Wilkin, and Garth Williams.

Partwork

A partwork is a written publication released as a series of planned magazine-like issues over a period of time. Issues are typically released on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, and often a completed set is designed to form a reference work on a particular topic.

The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the largest publishing company in the world, AP employed writers such as Arthur Mee, John Alexander Hammerton, Edwy Searles Brooks, and Charles Hamilton; and its subsidiary, the Educational Book Company, published The Harmsworth Self-Educator, The Children's Encyclopædia, and Harmsworth's Universal Encyclopaedia. The company's newspapers included the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror, the The Evening News, The Observer, and The Times. At its height, AP published over 70 magazines and operated three large printing works and paper mills in South London.

John Cassell

John Cassell was an English publisher, printer, writer and editor, who founded the firm Cassell & Co, famous for its educational books and periodicals, and which pioneered the serial publication of novels. He was also a well-known tea and coffee merchant and a general business entrepreneur. A fervent Christian, he campaigned throughout his life for the temperance movement in Britain, for the reduction of taxes on publishing, and was a social reformer who recognised the importance of education in improving the life of the working class, and whose many publications, both magazines and books, brought learning and culture to the masses.

RR Donnelley American printing and communications company

R.R. Donnelley is an American Fortune 500 integrated communications company that provides marketing and business communications, commercial printing, and related services. Its corporate headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

History of the <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>

The Encyclopædia Britannica has been published continuously since 1768, appearing in fifteen official editions. Several editions have been amended with multi-volume "supplements", consisted of previous editions with added supplements or gone drastic re-organizations (15th). In recent years, digital versions of the Britannica have been developed, both online and on optical media. Since the early 1930s, the Britannica has developed several "spin-off" products to leverage its reputation as a reliable reference work and educational tool.

David R. Godine, Publisher is an American book publishing company, founded in 1970 in Boston, Massachusetts.

As of 2018, several firms in the United States rank among the world's biggest publishers of books in terms of revenue: Cengage Learning, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill Education, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, and Wiley.

References

  1. Western Publishing: Information and Much More from Answers.com
  2. Parker, Bertha M. The Golden Book Encyclopedia. 1st ed. 16 vols. New York: Western, 1959.
  3. Marcus, Leonard S. (2007). "Part Five: Cold War and Magic Kingdom". Golden Legacy . Golden Books. p.  165. ISBN   978-0-375-82996-3. ...the sixteen-volume set sold 60 million copies, making it one of the most commercially successful ventures in modern publishing history.