First published in Scotland in 1768, and printed every year since, the Encyclopedia once took pride of place in the bookshelves of families around the English-speaking world. It also bit a mighty hole in the wallet for those that succumbed to the salesman’s patter.

Best year for the Chicago based publisher was 1990 when some 120,000 sets were sold, but that represented the peak, and the widespread uptake of the internet in recent years has killed off the reason to own the tome.

The company says ending the print edition of the 32-volume encyclopedia is the latest step in a move toward digital publishing and expanding its range of educational products.  It will continue to publish the encyclopedia, but in digital formats.

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