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44-660: The Penny Cyclopædia published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was a multi-volume encyclopedia edited by George Long and published by Charles Knight alongside the Penny Magazine . Twenty-seven volumes and three supplements were published from 1833 to 1843. The Penny Cyclopædia was originally published in 27 thin volumes between 1833 and 1843. Supplements were issued in 1851 and 1858. Despite its name, each individual volume cost 9d. apiece. The contributors to

88-606: A Quaker and chemist , in a periodical called the Philanthropist . He contributed largely to every issue – his principal topics being Education, Freedom of the Press, and Prison Discipline (under which he expounded Bentham's Panopticon ). He made powerful onslaughts on the Church in connection with the Bell and Lancaster controversy, and took a part in the discussions that led to the foundation of

132-460: A civilising mission for Britain to impose its rule on India. Mill saw his own work for the East India Company as important for the improvement of Indian society. Mill portrayed Indian society as morally degraded and argued that Hindus had never possessed "a high state of civilisation". Mill preferred to take a more theoretical approach to social subjects than the empirical one common at

176-568: A minister of the Church of Scotland , but met with little further success. According to John Stuart Mill's Autobiography, his father, though "educated in the creed of Scotch Presbyterianism, had, by his own studies and reflections, been early led to reject not only the belief in Revelation, but the foundations of what is commonly called Natural Religion." From 1790 to 1802, while supporting himself by various tutorships, he also pursued various historical and philosophical studies. With little prospect of

220-707: A Society for the Diffusion of Useful Ignorance. The archives of the Society are held by University College London, having been deposited by the Society after it closed in 1848. The archive spans 200 volumes and 121 boxes. It includes minutes, financial records, unpublished manuscripts, and correspondence. University College London also holds the papers of the Society's founder, Henry Brougham . The papers consist primarily of Brougham's incoming correspondence, totalling around 50,000 items, and material relating to his legal and political career. James Mill James Mill (born James Milne ; 6 April 1773 – 23 June 1836 )

264-510: A career in Scotland, in 1802, he went to London in company with Sir John Stuart of Fettercairn , then member of parliament for Kincardineshire , and devoted himself to his literary work. From 1803 to 1806, he was editor of an ambitious periodical called the Literary Journal , which tried to give a summary view of all the leading departments of human knowledge. During this time, he also edited

308-557: A family that had suffered from connection with the Stuart rising , resolved that he should receive a first-rate education, and after the parish school they sent him on to the Montrose Academy , where he remained until the unusual age of seventeen and a half. He then entered the University of Edinburgh , where he distinguished himself as a Greek scholar. In October 1789, he was ordained as

352-602: A kind of madness'. Mill also played a great part in British politics, and was a dominant figure in the establishment of what was called " philosophic radicalism ". His writings on government and his personal influence among the Liberal politicians of his time determined the change of view from the French Revolution theories of the rights of man and the absolute equality of men to the claiming of securities for good government through

396-628: A matching change in the author's fortunes, and in the year following, he was appointed an official in India House in the important department of the Examiner of Indian Correspondence. He gradually rose through the ranks until, in 1830, he was appointed head of the office, with a salary of £1900, raised in 1836 to £2000. His great work on economics, the Elements of Political Economy , appeared in 1821 (3rd and revised ed. 1825). From 1824 to 1826, Mill contributed

440-754: A number of articles to The Westminster Review , the organ of the Radical party, in which he attacked the Edinburgh and the Quarterly Reviews, and the ecclesiastical establishment. In 1829, appeared the Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind . From 1831 to 1833, Mill was largely occupied in the defence of the East India Company, during the controversy attending the renewal of its charter, he being in virtue of his office

484-632: A version of this article was issued as a pamphlet entitled Practical Observations upon the Education of the People Addressed to the Working Classes and Their Employers , selling at least 19 editions. In April 1825 Brougham set about trying to found a society to produce cheap educational books, although it was not until November 1826 that the SDUK was formally founded. One of those present at the first meeting

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528-532: A wide extension of the franchise. It was under this banner that the Reform Bill was fought and won. His Elements of Political Economy followed up the views of his friend David Ricardo . By 1911, the Encyclopædia Britannica described it as being of mainly historical interest, "an accurate summary of views that are now largely discarded". Among the more important of its theses are: By his Analysis of

572-401: The Penny Magazine (1832–1845), a lavishly illustrated weekly that achieved unprecedented success, with sales in excess of 200,000 copies in the first year. The scope and scale of the Society's activities expanded further over the following decade, and included the production of a Penny Cyclopaedia (1833–1843) in 27 volumes. Although sales of these publications may have been more among

616-504: The Library of Useful Knowledge imbued different scientific fields with concepts of progress: uniformitarianism in geology, the nebular hypothesis in astronomy, and the scala naturae in the life sciences. According to historian James A. Secord , such works met a demand for "general concepts and simple laws", and in the process helped establish the authority of professional science and specialised scientific disciplines. The first volume of

660-484: The Library of Useful Knowledge , an introduction to the series by Brougham on the "objects, advantages and pleasures of science" , sold over 33,000 copies by the end of 1829. Despite the initial success of the series, however, it soon became clear that it was too demanding for many readers, and the Society began to offer more varied and attractive publications, starting with the Library of Entertaining Knowledge (1829–38) and

704-464: The Penny Cyclopædia were not individually credited with the articles they created, although a list of their names appears in volume 27. The contributors included many notable figures of the period, including the librarian Henry Ellis , the biblical scholar John Kitto , the publisher Charles Knight , the critic George Henry Lewes , the mathematician Augustus De Morgan , the surgeon James Paget ,

748-622: The St James's Chronicle , published by the same proprietor. In 1804, he wrote a pamphlet on the corn trade, arguing against a tariff (or 'bounty') on the export of grain. In 1805, he published a translation (with notes and quotations) of An Essay on the Spirit and Influence of the Reformation of Luther by Charles de Villers on the Reformation , and an attack on the alleged vices of the papal system. About

792-488: The University of London in 1825. In 1814, he wrote a number of articles, containing an exposition of utilitarianism , for the supplement to the fifth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica , the most important being those on "Jurisprudence", "Prisons", "Government" and "Law of Nations". The History of British India was published in 1818, and obtained a great immediate and enduring success. It brought about

836-523: The Diffusion of Useful Knowledge Henry Brougham considered that mass education was an essential prerequisite for political reform. In October 1824 he contributed an article on "scientific education of the people" to the Whig Edinburgh Review , in which he argued that popular education would be greatly enhanced by the encouragement of cheap publications to complement the numerous recently founded provincial mechanics' institutes . The following year

880-480: The Phenomena of the Human Mind and his Fragment on Mackintosh Mill acquired a position in the history of psychology and ethics. He took up the problems of mind very much after the fashion of the Scottish Enlightenment , as then represented by Thomas Reid , Dugald Stewart and Thomas Brown , but made a new start, due in part to David Hartley , and still more to his own independent thinking. He carried out

924-591: The book trade, supported by publications such as the Royal Lady's Magazine , who complained in the early 1830s that: Few persons are aware that the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge have done, and are still doing, more to ruin the Book trade than all the change of times, the want of money, the weight of taxes, and even the law of Libel have accomplished; yet they – a committee of Noblemen and pretended Patriots – are permitted to go on in their unfeeling, nay, considering

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968-622: The derivatives of the Penny Cyclopaedia was the English Cyclopaedia , which would go on to form the basis of Everyman's Encyclopaedia . This was a two volume condensation of the Penny Cyclopaedia specifically regarding the British Empire , published 1850-51. The novelist Herman Melville is known to have used the Penny Cyclopædia while writing Moby-Dick (1851) and other novels, and scholar Paul McCarthy has suggested that

1012-681: The encyclopedia's coverage of moral insanity and monomania may have influenced Melville's characters in Moby-Dick and other writings. Vol. 1. A-And—Vol. 2. And-Ath—Vol. 3. Ath-Bas—Vol. 4. Bas-Blo—Vol. 5. Blo-Buf—Vol. 6. Buf-Cha—Vol. 7. Cha-Cop—Vol. 8. Cop-Dio—Vol. 9. Dio-Ern—Vol. 10. Ern-Fru—Vol. 11. Fue-Had—Vol. 12. Had-Int—Vol. 13. Int-Lim—Vol. 14. Lim-Mas—Vol. 15. Mas-Mur—Vol. 16. Murillo—Organ (1840)—Vol. 17. Org-Per—Vol. 18. Per-Pri—Vol. 19. Pri-Ric—Vol. 20. Ric-Sca—Vol. 21. Sca-Sig—Vol. 22. Sig-Ste—Vol. 23. Ste-Tai—Vol. 24. Tai-Tit—Vol. 25. Tit-Ung—Vol. 26. Ung-Wal—Vol. 27. Wal-Zyg Society for

1056-567: The end of this year, he began work on The History of British India , which was to occupy him for twelve years, rather than the three or four that he had expected. In that year, too, he married Harriet Burrow, whose mother, a widow, kept what was then known as an establishment for lunatics in Hoxton . They took a house in Pentonville where their eldest son John Stuart Mill was born in 1806. In 1808, he became acquainted with Jeremy Bentham , who

1100-675: The feelings of others; the same prostitution and venality" were the conspicuous characteristics of both the Hindoos and the Muslims. The Muslims, however, were perfuse, when possessed of wealth, and devoted to pleasure; the Hindoos almost always penurious and ascetic; and "in truth, the Hindoo like the eunuch, excels in the qualities of a slave". Furthermore, similar to the Chinese, the Hindoos were "dissembling, treacherous, mendacious, to an excess which surpasses even

1144-527: The field of Indian historical studies. Mill was the father of John Stuart Mill , a noted philosopher of liberalism and utilitarianism , and a colonial administrator at the East India Company . James Milne, later known as James Mill, was born in Northwater Bridge, in the parish of Logie Pert, Angus, Scotland , the son of James Milne, a shoemaker and small farmer. His mother, Isabel Fenton, of

1188-534: The hundreds of thousands engaged in the Book trade, we may add brutal, career, without interruption. The SDUK publishing programme began with the Library of Useful Knowledge . Sold for sixpence and published fortnightly, its books focused on scientific topics. Like many other works in the new genre of popular science—such as the Bridgewater Treatises and Humphry Davy 's Consolations in Travel —the books of

1232-506: The long essay "Of the Hindus" comprising ten chapters – is the single most important source of British Indophobia and hostility to Orientalism". In the chapter titled General Reflections in "Of the Hindus", Mill wrote "under the glosing exterior of the Hindu, lies a general disposition to deceit and perfidy". According to Mill, "the same insincerity, mendacity, and perfidy; the same indifference to

1276-437: The middle- than the working-classes, the Society had a significant role in pioneering "the idea of cheap, improving publications, freely and easily available, well produced and distributed on a scale hitherto unknown," and became iconic of the " March of Intellect ". The publisher Charles Knight bears much of the credit for the success that SDUK publications had; he engaged in extensive promotional campaigns, and worked to improve

1320-550: The more prominent Edinburgh Review , to which he contributed steadily till 1813, his first known article being "Money and Exchange". He also wrote on Spanish America, China, Francisco de Miranda , the East India Company , and freedom of the press. In the Annual Review for 1808, two articles of his are traced – a "Review of Fox's History", and an article on "Bentham's Law Reforms", probably his first published notice of Bentham. In 1811, he co-operated with William Allen (1770–1843),

1364-473: The opinion that Indians were an 'inferior race', not only because such a view was wrong but because it made an Englishman's life there a 'moral exile'. One source of such mistaken notions and 'poison' had been, and still was, Mill's History of British India , which in his view was 'responsible for some of the greatest misfortunes' that had happened to India. Those who were going out to rule India 'should shake off national prejudices, which are apt to degenerate into

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1408-505: The principle of association into the analysis of the complex emotional states, as the affections, the aesthetic emotions and the moral sentiment, all which he endeavoured to resolve into pleasurable and painful sensations. But the salient merit of the Analysis is the constant endeavour after precise definition of terms and clear statement of doctrines. He had a great effect on Franz Brentano who discussed his work in his own empirical psychology. The Fragment on Mackintosh severely criticizes

1452-474: The printers, and finally distributed the publications; profits were used to continue the Society's work. By using the new technologies of mass production, such as steam presses and stereotype , the Society and its printers kept costs low and were able to sell the books at much cheaper prices than was usual. The Society was not without opposition, and the Literary Gazette mounted a campaign on behalf of

1496-432: The readability of the sometimes abstruse material. The Society's continuing commitment to the high intellectual standards with which it was conceived probably contributed to its ultimate decline, as subscribers and sale of publications fell away. The Biographical Dictionary begun in 1842 was immensely ambitious and contributed to the Society's demise. An independent Boston Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge

1540-572: The spokesman of its Court of Directors. For the London Review , founded by Sir William Molesworth in 1834, he wrote a notable article entitled "The Church and its Reform", which was much too sceptical for the time and injured The Westminster Review . Mill himself was an atheist . His last published book was the Fragment on Mackintosh (1835). Mill was a proponent of British imperialism, justifying it on utilitarian grounds. He considered it part of

1584-539: The statistician George Richardson Porter , the sanitary reformer Thomas Southwood Smith , and the art historian Ralph Nicholson Wornum . A number of mid-to late 19th century encyclopedia were published based on the Penny Cyclopaedia The National Cyclopedia of Useful Knowledge was published by Charles Knight in 12 volumes between 1847 and 1851. A second edition in 13 volumes was published between 1856 and 1859 by George Routledge . The work

1628-667: The successive stages of the conquest and administration of India to severe criticism. The work itself, and the author's official connection with India for the last seventeen years of his life, effected a complete change in the whole system of governance in the country. Mill never visited the Indian colony, relying solely on documentary material and archival records in compiling his work. This fact has led to severe criticism of Mill's History of India by notable economist Amartya Sen . According to Thomas Trautmann , "James Mill's highly influential History of British India (1817) – most particularly

1672-568: The time. His best known literary work is his History of British India , in which he describes the acquisition of the Indian Empire by England and later the United Kingdom . In the work, he characterises Indian society as barbaric and Indians as incapable of self-government. He also brings political theory to bear on the delineation of the Hindu civilization, and subjects the conduct of the actors in

1716-421: The usual measure of uncultivated society". Both the Chinese and the Hindoos were "disposed to excessive exaggeration with regard to everything relating to themselves". Both were "cowardly and unfeeling". Both were "in the highest degree conceited of themselves, and full of affected contempt for others". And both were "in physical sense, disgustingly unclean in their persons and houses". Max Müller argued against

1760-488: Was a Scottish historian , economist , political theorist and philosopher . He is counted among the founders of the Ricardian school of economics. He also wrote The History of British India (1817) and was one of the prominent historians to take a colonial approach. He was the first writer to divide Indian history into three parts: Hindu, Muslim and British, a classification which has proved surpassingly influential in

1804-549: Was founded as part of the Lyceum movement in the United States in 1829. It sponsored lectures by such speakers as Ralph Waldo Emerson and was active from 1829 to 1947. Later, an independent American Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was founded, which published a fifty-volume set of books called The American School Library . Henry David Thoreau cites the Society in his essay "Walking" in which he jestingly proposes

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1848-690: Was the philosopher James Mill , and the founding committee included many Fellows of the Royal Society and Members of Parliament, as well as twelve founding committee members of the newly formed University College London . SDUK publications were intended for the working class and the middle class, as an antidote to the more radical output of the pauper presses. The Society set out to achieve this by acting as an intermediary between authors and publishers by launching several series of publications. Its printers included Baldwin & Cradock, later succeeded by Charles Knight . The SDUK commissioned work and dealt with

1892-550: Was then sold to the firm of W. Mackenzie who published it as the National Encyclopedia in 14 volumes in 1867, the final volume of which was a world atlas . Further editions of the National Cyclopedia were published in 1875 and in 1884-8. The last was a "revised" edition edited by J. H. F. Brabner . There was also apparently an American edition of the National Cyclopedia of Useful Knowledge The most famous of

1936-525: Was twenty-five years his senior and, for many years, his chief companion and ally. He adopted Bentham's principles in their entirety, and determined to devote all his energies to bringing them before the world. Between 1806 and 1818, he wrote for the Anti-Jacobin Review , the British Review and The Eclectic Review ; but there is no means of tracing his contributions. In 1808, he began to write for

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