The Encyclopedia of Forestry (1959–63, 1980–87) and its characteristics

Abstract

Forests are an important guardian of natural living conditions, a source of economic value and raw materials for the wood industry and many other industries. Forestry is a complex activity that contains biological, ecological, technical, and economic components, and that deserves to be treated encyclopedically. Although a few countries started publishing a special forestry encyclopedia at that time, the extensive work of the Institute of Lexicography (at first the Institute of Lexicography of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia; since 1991 The Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography) covered forestry very soon after its foundation, and published the originally designed The Encyclopedia of Forestry (vols 1–2 of the 1st edition, 1959–63, and vols 1–3 of the 2nd edition, 1980–87; chief editors Aleksandar Ugrenović and Zvonimir Potočić), which may be considered an encyclopedic rarity.

The working methodology included, first of all, (1) finding, selecting, and organising scientific information from primary sources. The archive service of the Department of Human Resources and Legal Affairs of the Institute performs the tasks of keeping archival material, and the necessary material on The Encyclopedia of Forestry was available, extensive, and very diverse. In this paper, it is shown that the stored records of the creation of The Encyclopedia of Forestry thus represent carefully recorded testimonies in the form of correspondence, notes from meetings, preserved original articles, etc. The methodology further included (2) the analysis of archival material and the study and analysis of The Encyclopedia of Forestry itself (both editions) as well as scientific papers from other sources, especially scientific journals.

Considering the aim of the work, which in this paper was twofold, the results include a review of professional editors and authors of articles and illustrations in The Encyclopaedia of Forestry (1), after which the content and structure of both editions of The Encyclopedia of Forestry are analysed and evaluated (2). The results of the analysis show that the first edition of The Encyclopedia of Forestry corresponded in its content to the moment in which it was created, to the then needs of forestry and wood industry technology and professional personnel. In the following two decades, unexpectedly great progress was achieved in a number of professional disciplines that enter the field of interest of forestry and the wood industry. The second edition of The Encyclopedia of Forestry tried to meet the expectations of experts and the public that arose from the needs of this new era. It was to serve as both a textbook and a manual. Thus, the reader received a complete and comprehensive picture of certain contents. The Encyclopedia of Forestry, which was published by the Institute of Lexicography, managed to concisely present fundamental knowledge about forestry to all who were interested, but it also facilitated the making of professional decisions when solving theoretical and practical issues in forestry.