Compton's pictured encyclopedia: To inspire ambition, to stimulate the imagination, to provide the inquiring mind with accurate information told in an interesting style, and thus lead into broader fields of knowledge, such is the purpose of this work. The set was originally published in 1922 in 8 volumes as Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia by F. E. Compton and Company of Chicago. It was titled "Pictured" because no other encyclopedia at the time had as large or as diverse a collection of illustrations. The encyclopedia was expanded to 10 volumes in 1924 and 15 in 1932. In 1940 the title was expanded to Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia and Fact Index to emphasize its "Fact-Index" feature which combined a general index with dictionary type entries and tables. The general editor from 1922 to 1961 was Guy Stanton Ford