The Edinburgh encyclopaedia, conducted by David Brewster ... with the assistance of gentlemen eminent in science and literature ... The first American edition, corrected and improved by the addition of numerous articles relative to the institutions of the American continent..

Philadelphia: Joseph and Edward Parker, 1832. 18 volumes text, plus 2 volumes of plates; 4to, original mottled calf, red and black morocco labels on spines; some internal tears, minor rubbing and scuffing, occasional mild to moderate dampstains, some foxing, several flyleaves loose with tears, one partially torn away, but in all a very good, sound, reasonably clean copy, with no chipping, and no breaks at any of the joints or hinges. The plate volumes are generally clean but do exhibit modest offsetting and spotting. Extra engraved title page in vol. I (with a New York imprint), and with 533 (of 539) engraved plates (4 folding, 2 double-page, 1 with an overlay; 1 torn at fold, 1 with a small hole in the middle, several with short tears; some misnumbered, some bound out of order, some with duplicate numbers, and some numbers missing. Whether all 539 listed in the 18 plate lists were published is a matter of conjecture. Additionally, in the text volumes, and not noted in the plate lists, are 10 engraved maps (2 folding), 3 portraits (Franklin, Hamilton, and Fisher Ames), and a nice double-page engraving of Philadelphia by Campbell after Birch. The work was first published in Edinburgh 1808-1830, and appeared in this American edition in 1832. However, in spite of its superb articles, it was a commercial failure, and no further editions were printed. In fact, the plate lists and first page of text in volumes I and II identify this as the second American edition, but no others and the idea of a second American edition seems to have been dropped. The title pages in all volumes state "first American edition." Among the contributors were Charles Babbage, Jacob Berzelius, Thomas Carlyle, John Lizars, Scoresby, Robert Stevenson, and James Watt.