Ruth
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Ruth. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a canonical book now placed in the Hagiographa of the Old Testament, between the Song of Solomon and the Lamentations. The English Bible, following the Septuagint and the Vulgate, arranges it between the Books of Judges and Samuel. During the times of the Judges, a certain Elimelech, of Bethlehem-Judah, i. of Bethlehem in Judah, as distinguished from Beth-lehem in Zebulun (Josh. xix. 15), to escape a famine then raging, g. went to Moab with his wife Naomi, and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, who married two Moabitesses, Orpah and Ruth. There all the male members of the family died, and the widowed Naomi, hearing that the famine was over, thought of returning home. Orpah, after starting with her, was prevailed on to return; Ruth, the heroine of the narrative, could not be persuaded to go back, and having, after reaching Bethlehem, gone into the fields as a gleaner, she attracted the notice of Boaz, an aged kinsman, with whom she made a romantic marriage, ultimately becoming the great-grandmother of King David and an ancestress of Jesus Christ (Matt. i. 5). The Book of Ruth is a beautiful idyllic composition. It was penned not earlier than the time of David (ch. iv. 22), and probably much later, for there had been time for customs existent in the days of Boaz and Ruth to change. The narrative is in pure Hebrew, but there are Aramæanisms in the dialogues. Most critics place its composition before, but Ewald during, the Exile. Its canonicity has never been doubted.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a book of the Old Testament. The name is Hebrew, meaning a friend. The authorship and date of its composition are unknown, but it belongs evidently to the period in which Hebrew literature was at its best. In modern literature it would be considered a charming romance. The central figure is Ruth, a Moabitess, who becomes attached to her mother-in-law, Naomi, in the land of Moab. On the death of her husband and Naomi's decision to return to Palestine, Ruth declares that she will return with her. "And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy my God. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me." Here she attracted the attention of her husband's kinsman, Boaz, who later took her to wife. Ruth was the great grandmother of David, and thus the ancestor of Mary, the mother of Christ. See Bible