The Canadian Encyclopedia (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, originally published by Hurtig Publishing and online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada. Described as "The Biggest Publishing Project in Canadian History", the original publication was compiled by more than 2,500 scholars and specialists, with more than 9,000 articles. It has received positive reviews and praise for its creation.

First published in 1985, the consistently updated version has been available for free online in both English and French since 2001. By 2013 over 700,000 volumes of the print version of TCE have been sold and over 6 million people visit TCE<nowiki/>'s website yearly. The publication is a non-partisan, non-political initiative by a not-for-profit organization with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada.

History

Background

While attempts had been made to compile encyclopedic material on aspects of Canada, Canada: An Encyclopaedia of the Country (1898–1900), edited by J. Castell Hopkins, was the first attempt to produce an encyclopedic work entirely on the subject of Canada. This was followed by W. Stewart Wallace's The Encyclopedia of Canada (Macmillan, 1935–37), which was then sold to an American publisher, the Grolier Society, providing the core of John Everett Robbins' Encyclopedia Canadiana (1957).

More common, however, were encyclopedic works focused on particular qualities of Canada. For instance, in 1911, Arthur Doughty and L. J. Burpee compiled the Index and Dictionary of Canadian History as a companion to the Makers of Canada series; Doughty and Adam Shortt edited the 23-volume Canada and Its Provinces (1913–17); Norah Story's The Oxford Companion to Canadian History and Literature was published in 1967; the comprehensive Encyclopedia of Music in Canada was published in 1981 and revised in 1992; and a new Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature, edited by William Toye, was published in 1983. Over 3,000 people contributed to the content and accuracy of the encyclopedia's entries.

First editions

thumb|150px|Printed edition 1985, coverBy May 1984, Hurtig Publishers had received over 105,000 in pre-sale orders for the first edition of The Canadian Encyclopedia, Costing $125 per set, this first edition sold out within days of publication and became a Canadian bestseller; nearly 150,000 sets sold in six months.

A revised and expanded edition of TCE was released in 1988 (), selling out just as the first. This edition would add a fourth volume and around 500,000 new words.

1990s

In September 1990, Hurtig published The Junior Encyclopedia of Canada (), illustrated with over 3000 photos, drawings, and maps. Soon, a vice president at M&S would be the first to usher in the first real electronic version of the encyclopedia in 1995: The Canadian Encyclopedia Plus, published as a digital CD-ROM (), with searching capability, hot links to related articles, and multimedia.

The 1998–99 Canadian Encyclopedia on CD-ROM came in three separate versions:

  1. an updated World Edition with a new interactive quiz called Canucklehead
  2. a new Student Edition with the updated and revised text of the Junior Encyclopedia of Canada
  3. a Deluxe version, which included all the material on “World” and 5 additional disks

The Canadian Encyclopedia was able to become fully bilingual through a grant from Heritage Canada, which helped to complete the project of translating the over-4-million pieces of text into French. By 2000, the electronic encyclopedia included a fourth version: "National". The TCE<nowiki/>'s editor-in-chief was Bronwyn Graves from 2013 to 2021. Erin James-Abra is the current managing editor.

Organization

As the President and CEO of Historica Canada since 2012, Anthony Wilson-Smith is also the publisher of the encyclopedia. As of 2021, the encyclopedia has over 5,000 scholars and specialists that contribute.

TCE is funded by SOCAN as well as the federal Department of Canadian Heritage. Its partners include the Canadian Children's Book Centre, Musée des grands Québécois, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, and Maclean's.

Digitized copies

  • – vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3.

See also

  • Bibliography of Canada - mainly compiled in 2011 from the Canadiana : the national bibliography with random additions since then
  • Bivouac Mountain Encyclopedia
  • Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
  • Encyclopedia of Canadian Biography
  • Encyclopaedia Metallum
  • PlanetMath
  • List of online encyclopedias

; National historic significance

  • Events of National Historic Significance
  • National Historic Sites of Canada
  • Persons of National Historic Significance

References

  • Official website
  • Site officiel