“Anticipating Wikipedia: William Smellie and the First Information Revolution” by Stephen Brown
Professor Stephen Brown highlights the first information revolution initiated by Fellow William Smellie in the 18th century.
In the 250th anniversary year of the Edinburgh publication of the first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, the National Library of Scotland and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland co-hosted a public lecture. William Smellie was one of the original founder members of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and editor of the first edition of the Britannica, as well as William Buchan’s Domestic Medicine, the Scots Magazine, and the first transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Professor Stephen Brown is Professor of English at Trent University in Canada, an Affiliate of the Centre for the History of the Book at the University of Edinburgh, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
This lecture was recorded by Mallard Productions for the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland at the National Library of Scotland on 24 July 2018 at 2pm.
With thanks to Society Fellow Sir Angus Grossart QC OBE DL LLD DLitt FRSE FSA Scot for generously supporting the filming of the Society’s 2017-18 lecture programme.