Meyers Konversations-Lexikon or Meyers Lexikon was a major 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...

 encyclopedia

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....

 that existed in various editions, and several titles, from 1839 until 1984, when it merged with the Brockhaus encyclopedia.

Joseph Meyer (1796-1856), who had founded the publishing house Bibliographisches Institut

Bibliographisches Institut

The German publishing company "Bibliographisches Institut" was founded 1826 in Gotha by Joseph Meyer, moved 1828 to Hildburghausen and 1874 to Leipzig. Its production over the years includes such well-known titles as "Meyers Lexikon" , "Brehms Tierleben" The German publishing company...

 in 1826, intended to issue a universal encyclopaedia meant for a broad public: people having a general knowledge as well as businessmen, technicians and scholars, considering contemporary works like those of Pierer and Brockhaus

Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus

Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus was a German encyclopedia publisher and editor, famed for publishing the Conversations-Lexikon, which is now published as the Brockhaus encyclopedia.-Biography:...

 to be superficial or obsolete.
The first part of das Grosse Conversations-Lexikon für die gebildeten Stände ("Great encyclopaedia for the educated classes") appeared in October 1839.