The Americana

The Americana: A Universal Reference Library, edited by Frederick Converse Beach and published by the Scientific American Compiling Department in New York, was a major early 20th-century encyclopedic work designed to provide comprehensive reference material across a broad range of subjects—including arts and sciences, literature, history, biography, geography, and commerce. Issued in multiple volumes, it aimed to serve both as an educational tool and as a household reference library, combining accessible text with illustrations, maps, and diagrams. Drawing on authoritative sources and structured for general readership, The Americana was part of a broader movement to democratise knowledge in the pre-digital age. It later evolved into the better-known Encyclopedia Americana, which became one of the leading English-language encyclopedias throughout the 20th century.