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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2022
Encyclopedias, with their Pretensions to Comprehensive or Universal knowledge, are by their very nature audacious undertakings. That such exercises in intellectual hubris sometimes fail is not surprising; it is more astonishing how well some of them accomplish their goal. As evidenced by the volumes published to date, the Encyclopaedia Iranica is clearly another such success in the making. One way to appreciate its achievement is to take stock of its place within the encyclopedic tradition by examining the story of its inception and preparation, its vision and purpose, and its general features and strengths as an encyclopedia.
Estelle Whelan died on October 13, 1997. –Eds.
At the time of writing this essay he had no affiliation with the Encyclopaedia other than as an occasional contributor.
1. A list of Persian encyclopedias may be found in Tauer, Felix “Persian Learned Literature to the End of the 18th Century,” in Rypka, Jan History of Iranian Literature (Dordrecht, 1968), 480-81.Google Scholar
2. Collison, Robert Encyclopaedias: Their History Throughout the Ages (New York & London, 1964), 42.Google Scholar
3. Collison, Encyclopaedias, p. 199.