Focus (encyclopedia)
Encyclopedia
Focus is an encyclopedia
first published in Swedish
in 5 volumes 1958–1960, later extended with additional volumes, republished in several editions, and translated to Danish
, Norwegian
, French
, Portuguese
, and Spanish
. Based on inspiration from the richly illustrated 1947 edition of the American World Book Encyclopedia
, the plan for Focus as conceived by Sven Lidman
(born 1921) was based on two principles:
Sven Lidman left his previous employer in 1955 and took this new idea to the Swedish publishing house Almqvist & Wiksell, but only after also getting a letter of intent from German
publisher Bertelsmann
was he able to get his employer started. Being the first richly illustrated encyclopedia in Sweden
(and several other countries), the sales were a given success. The idea of only reusing the illustrations failed, as most contracting publishers chose to translate most of the text as well. A fifth volume containing an index, thesaurus and cross-reference was added to the basic encyclopedia, not least because this increased the total "number of entries" from 40,000 (in the main volumes) to 100,000 (in the index), one of the strongest sales arguments for encyclopedias.
Sven Lidman left A&W in 1963 to continue his revolutionizing work in Swedish lexicography elsewhere. His autobiography Uppslagsboken och jag was published in 1987.
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
first published in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
in 5 volumes 1958–1960, later extended with additional volumes, republished in several editions, and translated to Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. Based on inspiration from the richly illustrated 1947 edition of the American World Book Encyclopedia
World Book Encyclopedia
The World Book Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia published in the United States. It is self-described as "the number-one selling print encyclopedia in the world." The encyclopedia is designed to cover major areas of knowledge uniformly, but it shows particular strength in scientific, technical, and...
, the plan for Focus as conceived by Sven Lidman
Sven Lidman (lexicographer)
Sven Lidman , was a Swedish lexicographer living in Stockholm, son of the writer Sven Lidman.He was the main editor or managing director of several Swedish encyclopedias, including the 5th edition of Kunskapens bok , Focus , Lilla Focus , Combi Visuell ,...
(born 1921) was based on two principles:
- a set of highly instructional and internationally reusable illustrations should be produced first, to which text could be written later in various languages, and
- the basic encyclopedia should be compact (only 3 or 4 volumes) to which specialized add-on volumes from a series (Sports in Focus, This year in Focus, etc.) could be combined ("Kombinationslexikon statt Konversationslexikon"), making it easier to cover different market segments.
Sven Lidman left his previous employer in 1955 and took this new idea to the Swedish publishing house Almqvist & Wiksell, but only after also getting a letter of intent from German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
publisher Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann AG is a multinational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. The company operates in 63 countries and employs 102,983 workers , which makes it the most international media corporation in the world. In 2008 the company reported a €16.118 billion consolidated...
was he able to get his employer started. Being the first richly illustrated encyclopedia in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
(and several other countries), the sales were a given success. The idea of only reusing the illustrations failed, as most contracting publishers chose to translate most of the text as well. A fifth volume containing an index, thesaurus and cross-reference was added to the basic encyclopedia, not least because this increased the total "number of entries" from 40,000 (in the main volumes) to 100,000 (in the index), one of the strongest sales arguments for encyclopedias.
Sven Lidman left A&W in 1963 to continue his revolutionizing work in Swedish lexicography elsewhere. His autobiography Uppslagsboken och jag was published in 1987.
External links
- Focus — information in Swedish about the work and its Swedish editions, from Christofer Psilander's website Svenska Uppslagsverk