Pears' Cyclopaedia was a one-volume encyclopaedia published in the United Kingdom. Pears' Soap launched the original Pears' Shilling Cyclopaedia in December 1897, the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
Each edition traditionally featured an atlas, a gazetteer, a chronological list of events, a list of prominent people (past and present), a miniature encyclopaedia of general information and around a dozen or more other sections on various subjects such as cinema, classical mythology, current events, wine, astronomy, ideas and beliefs, gardening, medicine, etc. The selection of subjects varied slightly over the years, and in later years the world atlas section was dropped, leaving a world and European map inside the front and rear covers and with the Gazetteer limited to the British Isles. From 1953, it was published annually. It was published by Pelham Books from 1959 to 1988, and from then until the final, 2017 edition by Penguin Books.
Inner cover illustrated with national flags. Contents encompass The World of Events, Prominent People, Citizen's Guide, Gazetteer of the World, World Atlas, Dictionary, General Information, Business Dictionary and General Compendium, Home & Personal, Medical, Beauty Culture, Cookery, Gardening, Radio, Television & Radar, Photography, Sports & Pastimes, Poultry, Pigeons & Cage Birds, Domestic Pets, Ready Reckoner and Calendars 1951-54.