ON THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCIES OF PERSONALIAS IN RUSSIAN AND BRITISH ENCYCLOPAEDIAS OF THE LATE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURIES

Abstract

The article identifies similarities and differences between the personalias (biographical articles) of the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary and the 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The main aim is to analyse the first 400 biographical articles of each encyclopaedia using a comparative approach in order to identify similarities and differences in the presentation of personalias in the encyclopaedias under consideration while also to determine possible reasons for such similarities and differences. Judging by the aspect under study, these publications have more common features than different ones, which can be explained by the common orientation on the Western European encyclopaedic tradition of the 18th and 19th centuries. The differences are due mainly to the nationally oriented presentation of the content of both encyclopaedias. The results obtained can be used in the preparation of study courses on text theory, as well as in the creation of textbooks and encyclopaedic publications.