Прямо под чистую с немецкого?
Какие-то крупные статьи, в особенности - о России, наверняка были написаны заново. Но структура (и наверняка вся мелочь) были взяты с Brockhaus. Считать ли данное действо переводом - личное дело каждого
. Britannica в лице Robert L.Collison (Prof. of Library Science and Information Studies, UCLA) и Warren E.Preece (Member of Britannica's Board of Editors) формулирует именно "перевод":
In later years the more successful encyclopaedias were translated from one vernacular to another. Moréri's encyclopaedia, Le Grand Dictionnaire historique, was translated into both English and German. The German Brockhaus appeared in a Russian translation (1890-1907), and the French Petit Larousse had several foreign-language editions. Nevertheless, an encyclopaedia, however successful in its own country, may find acceptance in another country far from easy, because each nation appears to have its own very individual concept of what an encyclopaedia should comprise
In 1890-1907 a Russian edition of Brockhaus, which subsequently had considerable success, was issued from the St.Petersburg office of Brockhaus
