History Main / GreatBigBookOfEverything

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is the Playhouse Disney (now Disney Junior) series ''WesternAnimation/{{Stanley}}'', referring to a large book that has info on any animal in the world. ♪Iiiiiiiiiittttttt's the great big book of everything, with everything inside / See the world around us, this book's a perfect guide♪ This song is sung in every episode regardless of location, and annoys Dennis the Goldfish to no end.

** Christianity: Literature/TheBible. Consists of the Old Testament, that overlaps with the aforementioned Talmud, plus the New Testament, that adds UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}'s life, philosophy, and wisdom into the mix. Most denominations supplement the Bible with additional Big Books, the exception being modern Evangelical Protestant sects. Mainline Protestant denominations use the various Confessions and Catechisms written during the Reformation. Catholics use a variety of Catechisms that sum up Church interpretations of the Bible and post-scriptural church teachings such as declarations of Popes and ecumenical councils. The Church of Latter-Day Saints is probably the best known for this, as they have three additional scriptural sources: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrines and Covenants, which are often published in a single volume alongside the Bible in a Big Book of Mormonism known as the "Quad combination."

* Common Law jurisprudence tended to rely heavily on "books of authority" or authoritative compilations of judicial precedents that were the totality of the law. The most famous of these are William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England and Edward Coke's Institutes of the Laws of England. Other Big Books of Law include Justinian's ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' for the Roman Empire, The ''Cotume de Paris'' in France and its successor, the ''Code Napoleon'', and the Chinese ''Great Code of the Qing''.
* [[http://www.thewikireader.com/ The Wiki Reader]] is practically the closest thing on earth to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Being an e-reader whose 8 gigabytes of memory are almost exclusively dedicated to storing an offline (text-only) version of [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]].

* The 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica was thought to be this when it was released, covering practically everything involving scientific and historic study known at the time when the world was seen as static: It was possible to know everything. After 1911 things got... complicated.

* The good old ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Almanac World Almanac & Book of Facts]]'', still updated yearly.

* ''Fanfic/FamilyOfTheShield'' turns ''The Four Cardinal Weapons'' book that Naofumi Iwatani picked up that sent him to the other world as this, [[ForWantOfANail due to him frantically grabbing hold of the book, instead of dropping it when he was teleported]]. With the book in hand, Naofumi was able to learn more about the nature of [[RegularlyScheduledApocalypse The Waves of Catastrophe]], the political landscape of Melromarc, the existence of Dragon Hourglasses, knowledge of [[ALittleBitBeastly Demi-Humans and Beastmen]], learning more about the nature of the Cardinal Weapons such as them being able to unlock new forms and abilities for his Shield based on absorbing materials or [[PowerCopying touching other Shields]], along with warning him about a potential traitor that would seek to divide the Cardinal Heroes. After memorizing the information from the Book, he absorbs it and unlocks '''Prophecy Shield''', which allows for Naofumi to [[SpiderSense detect incoming or hidden danger that would affect him]], an ability [[AdaptationalBadass his Canon Self doesn't possess]] and would prove to be useful early on when it alerted him to [[EvilRedHead Malty]] when she requested to join his Party.

* ''Fanfic/FamilyOfTheShield'' turns ''The Four Cardinal Weapons'' book that Naofumi Iwatani picked up that sent him to the other world as this, [[ForWantOfANail due to him frantically grabbing hold of the book, instead of dropping it when he was teleported]]. With the book in hand, Naofumi was able to learn more about the political landscape of Melromarc, the existence of other Dragon Hourglasses, the existence of [[ALittleBitBeastly Demi-Humans and Beastmen]], learn more about the nature of the Cardinal Weapons such as them being able to unlock new forms for his Shield based on absorbing materials or [[PowerCopying touching other Shields]], along with warning him about a potential traitor that would divide the Heroes. After memorizing the information from the Book, he absorbs it and unlocks '''Prophecy Shield''' which allows for Naofumi to [[SpiderSense detect incoming or hidden danger that would affect him]], which proves useful early on when it alerted him to [[EvilRedHead Malty]] when she requested to join his Party.

* ''Fanfic/FamilyOfTheShield'' turns ''The Four Cardinal Weapons'' book that Naofumi Iwatani picked up that sent him to the other world as this, [[ForWantOfANail due to him frantically grabbing hold of the book, instead of dropping it when he was teleported]]. With the book in hand, Naofumi was able to learn more about the political landscape of Melromarc, the existence of other Dragon Hourglasses, learn more about the nature of the Cardinal Weapons such as them being able to unlock new forms for his Shield based on absorbing materials or [[PowerCopying touching other Shields]], along with warning him about a potential traitor that would divide the Heroes. After memorizing the information from the Book, he absorbs it and unlocks '''Prophecy Shield''' which allows for him to [[SpiderSense detect incoming or hidden danger that would affect him]], which proves useful early on when it alerted him to [[EvilRedHead Malty]] when she requested to join his Party.

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' has a book about dragons which Hiccup consults that is ''supposed'' to be this when it comes to dragons, but is disappointingly lacking in information. Amusingly, for the dragons it does have information about it lists their capabilities as RPG style statistics.

* The Autobot Code from ''ComicBook/MoreThanMeetsTheEye'' is more than just a set of military guidelines, rather it exists to guide an Autobot through every aspect of their lives. It even includes subsections for threats that were feared but never ended up manifesting.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheEncyclopedists": Creating the ''Encyclopedia Galactica'' was the stated purpose of the Encyclopedia Foundation. Every scientific fact, feat of engineering, and history of the Empire, stretching back for over ten thousand years, is available. However, Hari Seldon appears on their fiftieth anniversary to say, "The Encyclopedia is, and always has been, a fraud". Despite the fraudulent basis to the colonization of Terminus, the Foundation continues to write and publish volumes. [[spoiler:''Literature/FoundationsEdge'' mentions that it became [[TheWikiRule a continually updated electronic database]].]]

* Discussed by Richard in 1980 ''Film/TheBlueLagoon'', when he wishes that one day a book fell from the sky with answers to every question.

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is the Playhouse Disney (now Disney Junior) series ''WesternAnimation/{{Stanley}}'', referring to a large book that has info on any animal in the world. ♪Iiiiiiiiiittttttt's the great big book of everything, with everything inside / See the world around us, this book's a perfect guide♪ This song is sung in every episode, and annoys Dennis the Goldfish to no end.

->''[[TheStinger All other tropes you want to see\\
Are on]] [[Website/TVTropes This Very Wikiiiii!]]''

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':

* Penny's "computer book" in ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'', from which she would obtain vital information about the VillainOfTheWeek.

* [[CatchPhrase According to my research]], Dorothy Ann on ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'' carries a book with answers to every possible scientific question. At least, answers sufficient for an elementary-school kid's needs.

* In the final season of ''Series/{{Angel}},'' Wesley gets access to a set of books which really do have all the information in the universe; however, they are magical (they can, on command, display the text of any book ever written), and their power becomes a plot point in one episode.

* * ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}:''

* Subverted in '' Literature/TheCityOfDreamingBooks'' by Walter Moers. The BigBad gives the hero an old Grimoire and tells him that all the answers to his question are written on page 333. [[spoiler: the page only contains one sentence, over and over again: You have just been poisoned.]]

** [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince The Half-Blood Prince's]] copy of "Advanced Potion Making" contains information on a wide variety of topics, from recipes for better potions, to spells that can kill people. Justified, it was [[spoiler: Snape's]] old text-book which he improved with his personal notes. While it's never stated how good he is at Potion Crafting compared to other experts in the topic, he seems to be quite knowledgeable in it. Said spell was also unique, and the author seemed to take quite some pride in inventing it.

* ''Literature/TheReader2016'' has a book that contains seemingly endless information about the history of the world. It's later revealed that [[spoiler: the book in the story contains everything that has ever happened and everything that ever will, and the actual book the reader is reading is an excerpt from the book in the story. Sefia even has a moment of existential fear that she may one day open the book to find herself reading the book while reading the book.]]

* In ''Podcast/TheFallenGods'', this is the book that Solvin finds in the library. It turns out to be [[spoiler: the Tobril, the book that contains the history of everything that's happened and also Gilean go do the book themself]].

** Subverted in the [[CanonDiscontinuity controversial]] joke ''TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons1stEdition'' module "[[TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}} Castle Greyhawk]]", in which Ye Secret Tome of Inestimable Knowledges turns out to be [[spoiler: Ye Secret Tom of Inestimable Knowledges, a cat with keyholes in his belly into which players may insert magic keys to get clues about the rest of the module]].

* [[spoiler: Mephistopheles]] creates one of these for Faustus in ''Theatre/{{Faust}}''.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'': Dulcinea treats ''The Wee Compendium of Factes and Funne'' as if it was this, but it's actually a collection of moralistic couplets which she'll quote at the slightest opportunity. As the series goes on, the irrelevance and triteness of the ''Compendium'' entries increases, until Season 4 reveals [[spoiler: it was written in a weekend, and then [[CreatorBacklash completely disowned by the author]] after it only sold one copy (Dulcinea's).]] It gets played relatively straighter when the ''Compendium'' has some information about [[spoiler: the Crown of Souls, although even that was cribbed from another book]].

** Also, in one of the choose-your-own-adventure books, Sheila (or better said, the reader) must help the good witch Agnes to recover her stolen spellbook. Said 'book contains, among other incantations, a very powerful spell that can be used to fight the dragon Tiamat [[spoiler: via enchanting her seven heads and turning them against each other]]. Obviously, you have to go through lots of crap for it, which includes going against BigBad Venger alone [[spoiler: and resisting his offer to actually ''[[EnemyMine co-work]]'' to put a stop to Tiamat (which leads to a Bad End in which Tiamat is defeated, but [[TheBadGuyWins Venger still wins]] because you're forced to let him take Agnes's spellbook away.)]]

* The mysterious set of journals from ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''. Written by a visiting scientist, the books are filled with a plethora of knowledge concerning the mysterious stuff in Gravity Falls, [[spoiler: and when brought together, the journals unlock the secret plans to a powerful interdimensional portal.]] Amusingly, the show subverts the "conveniently omniscient" part, as there are some threats the book doesn't state how to conquer such as gnomes and powerful ghosts. It's [[DrivingQuestion a major question]] of the first season-and-a-half as to the exact identity of the journals' writer. [[spoiler: Turns out the author was Grunkle Stan's long-lost twin brother, the ''real'' Stanford Pines.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MuchaLucha'' has the Code of Masked Wrestling, which even detailed what to do when you are [[BoundAndGagged tied up]] in the middle of three bad guys using [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill their signature attacks]] against you. [[spoiler: In a word, [[PrepareToDie say your prayers]].]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', Star's magic wand came with a manual that generally went unused by the titular character; both due to her GenkiGirl nature and because it was more a haphazardly-assembled collection of notes written by previous owners than a true guide, making it almost impossible to find any useful information in it. It eventually got stolen by Ludo [[spoiler: (under the influence of Toffee)]], who attempts to learn some spells from it during the latter half of the second season, [[spoiler: only for Toffee to gain the ability to [[DemonicPossession possess him]] and later trick him into accidentally destroying the book (since possessing him was all he really needed the book for)]].

** The Codex Astartes, is supposed to contain tactical advice for ''every conceivable form of warfare'', and is an important artifact for the Space Marines.

* In Nick Kyme's TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 novel ''Literature/{{Salamander|s}}'', the Salamanders consult the Tome of Fire, left by Vulkan, to determine the [[BecauseDestinySaysSo significance]] of finding an artifact from Vulkan's hand, and an unprecedented eruption on their home planet.
** The Codex Astartes, from the same universe also qualifies for the Space Marines. It's supposed to contain tactical advice for ''every conceivable form of warfare.''

* Downplayed and Justified in ''LightNovel/TheCreationAlchemistEnjoysFreedom'' as Thor's [Mail Order Catalog] is over 500 pages thick, full of nifty gadgets and trinkets from [The World of Heroes] each and every one with a flowery advertisement full of hype, which Thor takes as fact ''and then goes on to make real''. And the book has a nifty index at the front to make it easy for him to find whatever he needs for the plot. The book '''does''' have limits though. When Thor is asked to make a [Cell Phone] for Princess Sophia, he has to turn her down, as even though the book does offer numerous accessories, it doesn't advertise [Cell Phones] themselves.

* It's teenage delusions we're talking about, but Sanae from ''LightNovel/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions'' believes ''Mabinogion'', a tome she "received" from a certain "Forest Summer", is one.

* The Clair Bible in ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}} NEXT'', or at least the manuscripts of it. The actual Clair Bible turned out to be something a little more complex.

[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]

* Creator/HGWells argued for a prototypical version of this (combined with both the GreatBigLibraryOfEverything and a radically transformed education system) in a series of essays and lectures collected in the book ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Brain World Brain]]''. His proposal, however, speculated that microfilm, instead of books, would provide an adequate storage medium.

* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicsUniverse'':

* ''ComicBook/DisneyDuckComicsUniverse'':

** Subverted in the [[CanonDiscontinuity controversial]] joke ''TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragonsFirstEdition'' module "[[TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}} Castle Greyhawk]]", in which Ye Secret Tome of Inestimable Knowledges turns out to be [[spoiler: Ye Secret Tom of Inestimable Knowledges, a cat with keyholes in his belly into which players may insert magic keys to get clues about the rest of the module]].

* One appeared in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis: Superman Beyond'', and was so heavy that Franchise/{{Superman}} and [[Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] working together could barely lift it. And it was only a single page, said to contain every page created in all possible realities. Ultraman read enough of it to be driven insane.

* Creator/NeilGaiman's ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' series features Destiny of the Endless, who has a book chained to his arm that details everything that has ever happened, or ever will happen.

* The ''Encyclopedia Galactica'' from ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' metaseries, being the eponymous Guide's somewhat stuffier main competition. The Guide, however, is more popular because it's slightly cheaper and has the words "DON'T PANIC" inscribed on the cover in large, friendly letters. And the EG still pales in comparison to the Ultra-Complete Maximegalon Dictionary of Every Language Ever, modeled closely on a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary certain real-world dictionary]], which requires a fleet of lorries to transport even in microfiche form, while the Guide is small enough to fit on a device the size of a graphing calculator (or an unusually thick tablet PC in [[Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the movie]]) and would only take up several large buildings if put on paper.

-->It says, -41 is... "\\[[SceneryPorn Sit by a lake]]."