The first edition was started in 1929 by Baltiska förlaget AB,^[1] but publishing was taken over by Svensk uppslagsbok AB in 1931. This edition consisted of 30 volumes and one supplement volume, and was completed in 1937.^[2] The articles in Svensk uppslagsbok were written by subject matter experts and signed.^[1]

On the market, it competed with Nordisk familjebok in its third, condensed edition (1923–1937), and it aimed at being affordable for a large audience.^[1]

A second, completely revised edition was published between 1947 and 1955,^[2] and consisted of 32 volumes. The publisher Svensk uppslagsbok AB was renamed Förlagshuset Norden AB in 1945.^[3]

For the rest of the 1950s and until the early 1970s, only significantly smaller Swedish encyclopedia projects were started.^{[citation needed]} The second edition of Svensk uppslagsbok thus remained the most recently published large Swedish-language encyclopedia until the first edition of Bra böckers lexikon was published in 1973–1981,^[4] and its size was only truly matched when Nationalencyklopedin was published in 1989–1996.^[5]