When I was a boy, in the 1970's, I really wanted an encyclopedia but my parents didn't want to spend the money. The various grocery stores sold encyclopedias (not Britannica), they were usually on the endcap of an aisle by the checkout lines, and the "A" volume usually had a promotional price of a dollar or so. The other volumes were priced much higher. I ended up with a few "A" volumes since my parents decided to splurge on them for me over the years. I read those "A" volumes through a bunch of times. lol
I felt like Charlie Brown, I was a kid whose encyclopedia contained only the same three "A" volumes. I think I would have been a lot smarter if I could have got past "A".