Any general encyclopedia will give a decent overview of cheese, including a brief history, principal cheese varieties, and a brief section on how cheese is made. The more useful general encyclopedias will give you further reading lists to set you on the path of cheese. Some good entries from general encyclopedias include:
Encyclopedia Americana. International ed. Danbury, Conn.: Grolier Inc., 2001. [Davis Reference AE5 .E333 2001]
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britcannica, 2002. [Davis Ref AE5 .E363 2002]
Specific encyclopedias on cheese are difficult to locate, instead there are more general food encyclopedias. These range from the very technical side of food and food processing to a general explanation of food.
Coyle, Patrick L. The World Encyclopedia of Food. New York: Facts on File, 1982. [UL Ref TX349 .C69]
This work has different entries for cheese. One main one, then others listed under the individual cheese varieties. This type of encyclopedia entry is not much different from those in a general encyclopedia, but does list taste, color, and texture of common cheeses.
Francis, Frederick J. Wiley Encyclopedia of Food Science and Technology. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley-Interscience Publication, 2000. [HSL Ref QU13 .E56 2000]
This work has two separate entries for cheese. The first one covers cheese, including brief origin notes, cheese making, recent development, microbiology and biochemical process changes during the cheese ripening process. The second entry is about cheese rheology, the study of the flow of cheese. This entry is much longer and more detailed than the cheese entry.
Weidenbörner, Martin. Encyclopedia of Food Mycotoxins. Berlin: Springer, 2001. [HSL Books WA 701 W417e 2001]
This work is extremely specialized. It deals with the degree of contamination,
concentration and origin of mycotoxins in food. There is a general entry for
cheese including several sub-headings for specific cheeses. A work like this
would come in handy when doing a paper about the technical side of cheese.
Harbutt, Juliet and Roz Denny. The World Encyclopedia of Cheese. New York: Lorenz Books, 1998. [North Regional Library 641.8 HARBU]
This is an excellent encyclopedia for cheese and cheese alone. It contains an introduction to cheese, the history of making cheese, types of cheese, the perfect wines for cheese, the perfect cheeseboard and recipes for making cheese and recipes including cheese. The cheese listings are separated by countries of origin and include a brief history of the particular cheese is given.