The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: fully revised- illustrated- in four volumes, edited by Geofrey W. Bromiley (HC, 3 with DJ in great condition, and one without a DJ. Books themselves are in very good condition except one with three pages attached an extra half inch at the spine area. They have an individual's private seal on the front page, as well as a marking, "The Bookstore", thus probably not a book club edition. $35 for this nice set of 4)
The editor doesn't say how long it took to finish this project, just that it outlived several of the editors. The first edition came out in 1915. At the time there were many Bible dictionaries out there, but no encyclopedias that could be used by "both the more advanced student and yet also 'the average pastor and Bible student'". Though all the editors are from America or Great Britain, Bromiley makes it clear that the articles were authored by writers from all over the world. Contributors were also from a variety of churches, and include articles from different viewpoints. Interesting to me is the note that the RSV rendering of the Bible is now used, instead of the earlier ASV. Also, indexes have been omitted, to keep the encyclopedia more reasonably priced.
Look for this set on the Christian religion blog shelf.
