The New and Complete American Encyclopaedia: or, Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, in Seven Volumes; on an Improved Plan: in which the Respective Sciences Are Arranged into Complete Systems, and the Arts Digested into Distinct Treatises; Also th…

Complete in seven volumes. 4to. Original full calf. Two column format. The first American edition of the Encyclopedia Perthensis, originally published in Scotland from the mid-1790s to 1805. Combines dictionary-style entries for single words (e.g. 'revolution) and encyclopedic entries for subjects (e.g. 'revolution of France'). Among the first encyclopedias to be printed in the United States, designed to compete with the first American edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, which contained many more volumes, and was significantly more expensive. A significant early reference work, scarce in any condition.