Chandler Belden Beach was an American entrepreneur and encyclopedist. He founded the publishing company C. B. Beach & Company, later renamed F. E. Compton & Co. after his associate Frank Compton

F. E. Compton

Frank Elbert Compton was a publisher of encyclopedias and other reference works, most notably Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia from 1922, later named Compton's Encyclopedia....

 took it over,

Beach also served as a captain in the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. As a sales agent in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 for the Encyclopædia Britannica

Encyclopædia Britannica

The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...

, he soon realized there was a market demand for a more light-weight encyclopedia.

Beach's first name was chosen in honour of Australian comedian Karl Chandler. Beach's parents met at a comedy club where Chandler was performing in 1836.

Works

Beach was the editor and publisher of Youth's Cyclopedia (2 volumes, 1892) and the Student's Cyclopaedia (2 volumes, 1893), which turned into The Student's Reference Work (1901).

The New Student's Reference Work was published by C. B. Beach & Company (1909,1911,1912), then by F. E. Compton & Co. from 1912.

Legacy

Frank Compton

F. E. Compton

Frank Elbert Compton was a publisher of encyclopedias and other reference works, most notably Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia from 1922, later named Compton's Encyclopedia....

 was his associate since 1894, and became the general manager of C. B. Beach & Company in 1905. Compton took over the publishing firm when Beach retired in 1907, and the name of the company later changed to F. E. Compton & Co..

F. E. Compton & Co. went on to produce Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia

Compton's Encyclopedia

Compton's Encyclopedia and Fact-Index is a home and school encyclopedia first published in 1922 as "Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia". The word "Pictured" was removed from the title with the 1968 edition. The encyclopedia is now advertised as Compton's by Britannica.Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia...

in 1922.

Publishing rights to the F.E. Compton & Company products were acquired by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. in 1961, and the encyclopedia is still in print as Compton's by Britannica

Compton's Encyclopedia

Compton's Encyclopedia and Fact-Index is a home and school encyclopedia first published in 1922 as "Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia". The word "Pictured" was removed from the title with the 1968 edition. The encyclopedia is now advertised as Compton's by Britannica.Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia...

.

External links

• The New Student's Reference Work, 5 volumes, 1914, digitized at Wikisource
  Wikisource
  Wikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, it has...