New Submissions
Encyclopedia Geographica VOL I - III, ED I 1572
Encyclopedia Geographica VOL I - IV, ED II 1580
Encyclopedia Geographica ED III 1590 (It is one massive book! A full 10 Kgs, 23 lbs)
Encyclopedia Geographica VOL I-VI, ED IV 1600
A Brief Encyclopedia Geographica ED IVa 1605
Encyclopedia Geographica VOL I-VI, ED V 1610
A Brief Encyclopedia Geographica ED Va 1615 - Accepted as a primary text at the Great College of Collon!
Geographica Historical VOL I-X ED 1618, a complete history of the world known to date. It takes all the historical data collected by the Society and collates it in one place. This series has been banned in one country because it honestly reflects some politically embarrassing history. To be fair, many criticized it in the Order’s home country because of certain notations in its history.
The Encyclopedia Geographica is the seminal work of Civilization. The Books are bound in Geographic Green textured leather, with brass accents along the spine. They also have a green ribbon attached to mark one’s place.
This book has a map of every civilized and most uncivilized places in the known world with articles that explain the peoples, societies, governments, flora, and fauna, found on those maps. It also includes a world map, showing which areas are mapped. While the current edition is very “terse” in its write ups, it is very complete. One can honestly say, you are holding the known world in your hand when holding this book. In fact, governments across the known world “subscribe” to the Encyclopedia, so they can have several copies for government use.
(It is the CIA Factbook of its day http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ )
The Encyclopedia Geographica is the product of the Royal Geographic Order. The Order sponsors fact finding expeditions across the world, exploring new territory and doing research in old ones. The order brings together all this knowledge. Every decade or so they summarize it and publish an Encyclopedia. The Order publishes more books and is one of the largest publishers of books in the Known World.
Editions in various foreign tongues come out one to three years after the primary versions do. They are fairly translated, but some countries do their own translations (sending copies back to the Order).
note: One is currently being produced as a gift for the Warlord of the Marches Nomads, so The Great One can learn all about the rest of the world beyond The Marches.
Additional Ideas (1)
Please register to add an idea. It only takes a moment.Suggested Submissions
- The Marches Locations By: MoonHunter
- The Royal Geographical Order Society/ Organizations By: MoonHunter
December 23, 2005, 11:02
December 23, 2005, 16:33
If there were several groups doing this or a really huge scriptorium, the numbers can be much better.
However, if they had a printing press, early presses could put out one every one to two minutes. (Really early presses have a five minute per page speed). (The delay is setting up a page, which could take a couple of hours. The gig is normally the apprentices do the printing while the master lays tommorows page.) This process allows them to put out approximately 500 copies of a page a day.
Since "print runs" of books before the press was around 50 books, you can see this being an impressive difference. The cost of supporting one master, two apprentices, and buying the paper and ink was vastly less than paying one scribe one year (plus paper and ink) for a single book. The initial books were only half the price as a scribed book (sometimes less), but they costed one tenth to one hundredth the scibe price to make.
Presses would sometimes run 50 copies an hour, and shift to the new page: finishing 10 pages per day for a 50 copy print run. Since the average book had a mere 100 pages, it took them two weeks to put out a print run of a book. Compare the costs: two weeks of 3 printers (one master two apprentices) vs half a year of 50 scribes/ monks.
March 3, 2006, 20:21
March 4, 2006, 3:46
March 3, 2006, 20:24
Big score for certain traveling sects. Priceless to many others. Rumors that it holds locations of gold/silve/etc mines, hidden caverns, ruined kingdoms...
A little too much perhaps, to hold everything, but coupled with the society the claims might be pretty close to the truth.
March 4, 2006, 3:49
Actually, a group of PC's could be given this at their start, the players having the same as a Worldpack.
July 23, 2006, 13:37