A compendium ( pl. : compendia or compendiums ) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a specific field of human interest or endeavour (for example: hydrogeology , logology , ichthyology , phytosociology or myrmecology ), while a general encyclopedia can be referred to as a compendium of all human knowledge .
6-592: The Compleat Gamester , first published in 1674, is one of the earliest known English-language games compendia . It was published anonymously, but later attributed to Charles Cotton (1630–1687). Further editions appeared in the period up to 1754 before it was eclipsed by Mr. Hoyle's Games by Edmond Hoyle (1672–1769). In the mid-17th century, game literature in England took off. Initially these were translations of French books, for example on piquet , but later more original publications appeared. The most successful of these
12-717: Is a compendium of natural philosophy , metaphysics , language arts, and social science. The single volume Propædia is Encyclopædia Britannica ' s compendium of the many volumes of its Macropaedia . The Bible is a group of many writings of the law, prophets, and writings of the Hebrew Bible held to be comprehensive and complete within Judaism and called the Old Testament by Christianity. Some well known literary figures have written their own compendium. An example would be Alexandre Dumas , author of The Three Musketeers , and
18-679: The Online Etymology Dictionary says "concise, abridged but comprehensive", "concise compilation comprising the general principles or leading points of a longer 'system or work ' ". Its etymology comes from a Medieval Latin use (com+pendere), literally meaning to weigh together. A field guide is a compendium of species found within a geographic area, or within a taxon of natural occurrence such as animals, plants, rocks and minerals, or stars. Bestiaries were medieval compendiums that catalogued animals and facts about natural history, and were particularly popular in England and France around
24-626: The 12th century. A cookbook is a compendium of recipes within a given food culture. An example would be the Catechism of the Catholic Church , a concise 598-question-and-answer book which summarises the teachings of the Catholic Church. Most nations have compendiums or compilations of law meant to be comprehensive for use by their judiciary; for example, the 613 commandments , or the United States Code . The collected works of Aristotle
30-470: The Latin word compeneri , meaning "to weigh together or balance". The 21st century has seen the rise of democratized, online compendia in various fields. The Latin prefix 'con-' is used in compound words to suggest, 'a being or bringing together of many objects' and also suggests striving for completeness with perfection. And compenso means balance, poise, weigh, offset. The entry on the word 'compendious' in
36-499: Was The Compleat Gamester , which was first published anonymously in 1674, but was attributed during the 18th century to Charles Cotton. The 1674 edition included instructions on how to play "all manner of usual and most gentile games either on cards or dice ," as well as "the arts and mysteries" of riding , racing , archery and cock-fighting . Charles Cotton died in 1687, so subsequent editions were edited by other writers. Compendium The word compendium arrives from
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