The Library of Entertaining Knowledge was founded by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.[1] The books appeared from 1829 to 1838, published in London by Charles Knight, and complemented the Society's Library of Useful Knowledge, which had not sold as well as hoped.[2] [3] The volumes were priced at 4s. 6d, more expensive than rival non-fiction series.[4]
| Number | Year | Title | Author Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1[5] | 1829 (31 March) | The Menageries. Quadrupeds, Described and Drawn From Living Subjects | James Rennie (anonymous) | |
| 1829 | A Description and History of Vegetable Substances used in the Arts, and in Domestic Economy: Timber Trees: Fruits | Robert Mudie (anonymous) | ||
| 1830 | The Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties[6] | George Lillie Craik (anonymous) | ||
| 1830 | The New Zealanders[7] | George Lillie Craik (anonymous) | ||
| 24 | 1830 | Insect Architecture[8] | James Rennie (anonymous) | |
| 1830 | Insect Transformations | James Rennie (anonymous) | ||
| 1831 | Paris and Its Historical Scenes (2 Vols.) | George Lillie Craik (anonymous) | ||
| 1831 | Insect Miscellanies | James Rennie (anonymous) | ||
| 1831 | The Architecture of Birds[9] | James Rennie (anonymous) | ||
| 35 | 1831–2 | Pompeii (2 vols.) | William Barnard Clarke (anonymous), later expanded[10] [11] | |
| 1831–5 | Historical Parallels (2 vols.)[12] | Arthur Thomas Malkin (anonymous) | ||
| 1832 | Vegetable Substances Used for The Food of Man | |||
| 12 | 1832–3 | Criminal Trials (2 vols.)[13] | David Jardine (anonymous) | |
| 1832-6 | The British Museum. Egyptian Antiquities (2 vols.) | George Long (anonymous) | ||
| 18, 19 | 1833[14] | The British Museum. Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles (2 vols.)[15] | Sir Henry Ellis (anonymous) | |
| 1833 | Vegetable Substances: Materials of Manufacture | |||
| 1833 | The Domestic Habits of Birds | James Rennie (anonymous) | ||
| 1834 | History of British Costume | James Planché (anonymous) | ||
| 1834-5 | The Hindoos (2 Vols.)[16] | Revised by Friedrich August Rosen[17] | ||
| 1835 | The Faculties of Birds | James Rennie (anonymous) | ||
| 1836 | The British Museum. The Townley Gallery (2 vols.) | Sir Henry Ellis (anonymous) | ||
| 1836 | Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (2 vols.)[18] | Edward William Lane[19] | ||
| 1836 | The Chinese. A General Description of the Empire of China and its Inhabitants (2 vols.) | John Francis Davis | ||
| 1836 | The Backwoods of Canada: Being Letters from the Wife of an Emigrant Officer | Catharine Parr Traill (anonymous) | ||
| 1837 | Secret Societies of the Middle Ages | Thomas Keightley
| ||
| 1838 | Distinguished Men of Modern Times (4 Vols.) | Henry Malden (anonymous) |