Orr's Circle of the Sciences was a scientific encyclopedia of the 1850s, published in London by William Somerville Orr.
William S. Orr & Co.
William S. Orr & Co. was a publisher in Paternoster Row, London. It put out the British Cyclopædia in ten volumes of the 1830s. It also was in business selling engravings (for example the Kenny Meadows illustrations to Shakespeare),British Museum database, Kenny Meadows. and maps, such as a mid-century Cab Fare and Guide Map of London (c. 1853).
The firm was a general commercial publisher, with a specialist area of natural history, and also published periodicals. It was innovative in its use of wood engraving, in its 1838 edition of Paul et Virginie. In children's literature, it published Christoph von Schmid's Basket of Flowers in an English translation of 1848, in partnership with J. B. Müller of Stuttgart.
William Somerville Orr Orr himself was a publishers' agent from the 1830s, and was a close associate of Robert and William Chambers. He printed a London edition of Chambers's Edinburgh Journal by mid-1832. The arrangement used stereotype plates, and brought the circulation up to 50,000. By 1845 the circulation was declining from its peak, and Orr wrote to Chambers explaining that the market was changing. In 1846 Chambers terminated the arrangement with Orr.
Punch magazine, set up in 1841, brought in Orr to help with distribution to booksellers and news agents. Orr died in 1873.
Orr's Circle of the Sciences Orr's Circle of the Sciences was announced first as a part publication, a series in weekly parts, price 2d. beginning 5 January 1854. The series editor was John Stevenson Bushnan, who also wrote the introductory section of the first volume.John Stevenson Bushnan, The principles of animal and vegetable physiology: a popular treatise on the functions and phenomena of organic life: to which is prefixed a general view of the great departments of human knowledge (1854), p. iii; archive.org. VolumeYearTitleContent11854Organic Nature, vol. 1/The Principles of PhysiologyOn the Nature, Connection, and Uses of the Great Departments of Human Knowledge, John Stevenson BushnanOn the Physiology of Animal and Vegetable Life, John Stevenson BushnanOn the Principal Forms of the Skeleton, Richard OwenOn the Principal Forms and Structures of the Teeth, Richard OwenOn the Varieties of the Human Species, Robert Gordon Latham21854The Mathematical SciencesSimple Arithmetic, Algebra and the Elements of Euclid, John Radford YoungPlanes, Spherical Trigonometry, Series, Logarithms, and Mensuration, John Francis TwisdenPractical Geometry, Alexander Jardine31855A System of Natural HistoryVol. 1 Botany and Invertebrated AnimalsBotany, Edward SmithZoology, William Sweetland Dallas41855Elementary ChemistryJohn Scoffern. The author explains in the introduction that the work was based on a revision of William Henry's Treatise on Chemistry.51855Geology, Mineralogy and Crystallography Science of Physical Geography and Geology, David Thomas AnstedCrystallography and Mineralogy, Walter Mitchell and James Tennant6 1855Organic Nature Vol. III/A System of Natural HistoryVol. 2 Vertebrate AnimalsWilliam Sweetland Dallas; Edward Smith's name is on the title page, but for "Botany".7 1856Practical Astronomy, Navigation, Nautical Astronomy and MeteorologyNautical Astronomy and Navigation, John Radford YoungPractical Astronomy, Hugh BreenMeteorology, John Scoffern and Edward Joseph Lowe Lowe's participation is mentioned in his Royal Society obituary.Obituary Notices of Fellows Deceased, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol. 75, (1904 - 1905), pp. 19-380, at p. 102. Published by: The Royal Society. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1167388 1856Practical ChemistryElectro-deposition, George GorePhotography, Marcus SparlingChemistry of Food, translation by Edward Bronner from the German of Jacob Moleschott, Lehre des Nahrungsmittel für das VolkAdulterations of Food, John Scoffern91856Mechanical PhilosophyMechanical Laws, Theory of Equilibrium, Mechanical Powers, Statics, Dynamics, and Hydrostatics, Walter MitchellJohn Radford YoungMechanical Drawing, Strength of Materials, Construction of Machinery, the Steam Engine, and Textile Machines, John Imray
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External links Orr's Circle of the Sciences at archive.org Orr's Circle of the Sciences, vol II. The Mathematical Sciences. at Internet Archive