ENCYCLOPEDIAS A good encyclopedia or collection of encyclopedias forms the backbone of a great part of the reference work in any library. Such books should be selected with great care and used intelligently with full understanding on the part of the reference assistants of the relative merits and defects of the different works. The making of an authoritative up to date encyclopedia is a very expensive undertaking, calling for heavy outlay for experienced writers, good editorial oversight, and careful and accurate printing and proofreading. Such work can not be done cheaply and reputable publishers recognize this fact and spend what is necessary to produce an authoritative, well edited work. As the immediate profits from cheap work are much larger, however, and as the ordinary buyer often does not discriminate between good and poor encyclopedias, unscrupulous publishers will sometimes utilize cheap hack writers or reprint with only slight changes, old, out of date material and thus produce encyclopedias which are only made to sell, and which from the point of view of any real authority are nearly worthless though perhaps costing the library almost as much as the really good works. An encyclopedia should never be purchased without a full knowledge of its character and rigid examination of the book itself. If the librarian does not have the requisite knowledge, purchase should be deferred until the book has been examined and reviewed by an expert, otherwise library money may be wasted. If the library can possibly afford the initial outlay, a good expensive encyclopedia may be the cheapest in the long run, but if this cannot possibly be afforded, it is better to buy a second hand copy of the next to the last edition of a thoroughly good work than to buy a cheap new encyclopedia, of the hack-work or commercial type. An encyclopedia that was once good is never entirely superseded, and this fact should be taken into account if the publisher of a new work or new edition offers to allow a discount on the new edition for the return of the old. The small library may be justified in giving up its old edition, but the large library which does much reference work should keep one copy of such older works, which will often be useful. Older encyclopedias are helpful: (1) in supplying information as to the condition or view of a given subject, art, or science at the date when the book was compiled, and (2) in supplying minor biographical and other articles omitted from the later edition to make space for other material. The three cardinal points which decide the standing of an encyclopedia are: (1) its authority (including the qualities of accuracy, up-to-dateness and completeness), (2) satisfactory mechanical arrangement, which should be such that information actually included in the work can be found easily, (3) the extent to which the encyclopedia sends the reader on to other sources of information, i. e., its bibliographies. In examining an encyclopedia to determine its standing on these three points, note the following: (1) publisher-is he well known, and reputable, or entirely unknown; (2) date, not of publication but of copyright; (3) editor-is he capable and has he really edited the book or only allowed the use of his name; (4) general appearance of the book, is it cheap and indicative of hasty and inaccurate work or are both paper and typography good; (5) preface-read publisher's or editor's own statement and try to check up his claims by his accomplishment; (7) authority-are the articles by specialists and signed; (8) are the articles full and adequate, or too brief; (9) bibliographies, are these always given, and in such form as to be usable; (10) arrangement of the work, is it clear, easily used, are there enough cross references; if arranged by large subjects, or not alphabetically, is there an alphabetical index of small subjects; (11) quality of illustrations. AMERICAN Encyclopedia Americana; a general dictionary of the arts and sciences, literature, history, biography, geography, etc. Editor-in-chief, F. C. Beach. N. Y. The Americana co. [c 1903-04] 16 v. illus. pl. ports. maps. 26cm. $6 per vol. 031 Covers much the same ground as the first edition of the New international and occasionally supplements that work, especially in the fields of science and technology in which the Americana has been thought to be somewhat stronger. Has signed articles, bibliographies, good illustrations. Unpaged. Less important now than when first issued because now up to date. There have been several partial revisions; the latest partial revision has title Americana, a universal reference library comprising the arts and sciences, literature, history, biography, geography, commerce, etc., of the world. (N. Y. Sci. Amer. comp. co. 1912. 22 v. $122) This revision is printed principally from the same plates as the edition of 1903-06, but with new articles and illustrations added, and some changes in the older articles to include events since 1903 and add a few recent bibliographical references. New articles added are largely in the field of science and technology. not Nelson's encyclopædia; everybody's book of reference. Editors-in-chief, Frank Moore Colby, George Sandeman. N. Y. Nelson [c 1906-07] 12 v. illus. pl. maps. 25cm $42. 031 Nelson's encyclopædia; everybody's book of reference, editors-in-chief: Frank Moore Colby, George Sandeman. [Perpetual loose-leaf ed.] N. Y. Nelson, 1907. 12 v. col. fronts., illus. col. pl. maps (part double) 26cm. $90. 031 Articles are much briefer than those in either the New international or the Americana and there is much less bibliography. The special feature upon which most stress is laid is the loose-leaf feature which enables the publisher to keep the work up to date by the issue of new pages, supplied regularly to subscribers, to be inserted in the place of, or in addition to, the original pages whenever changed information and new events make new articles necessary. Editors: Frank Moore Colby and Talcott Wil liams. First edition 1902-04, in 17 vols. A later edition not entirely revised but with new material and Annew maps was published in 1907 in 20 vols. other partial revision in 1912 incorporated the population figures of the United States census of 1910. The 2d edition, 1914-16, is thoroughly revised and reset and contains about 80,000 articles as against the 65,000 of the 1st edition. An encyclopedia of the best modern type, with adequate and authoritative articles, many good illustrations, and excellent and very useful bibli ographies. Important articles are by specialists, minor articles by a capable office staff. Articles are all unsigned, but there is at the beginning of each volume a list of the authors of the principal articles in that volume. Many very small subjects, includ ing even titles of famous works of literature, names of fictitious characters, etc., are given separate treatment, pronunciation is marked, and the system of cross references is good. There are many biographical articles, about 20,000 in all, includ ing articles on persons who have come into prominence during the European war and a considerable proportion of Latin-American biography. The numerous maps are of high grade, well to date and mounted on special "insets" in such a way that they can be removed and replaced by new revised maps to be supplied free to subscribers as need of change arises. The strongest feature of the encyclopedia, however, is its excellent and usable bibliographies. A special bibliographical feature which is often very useful is the reference, in articles on foreign authors, to translations of their works as well as to the best editions in the original. On the whole, especially for purposes of ready reference the New international is the most fre quently useful of all encyclopedias in English, although for some English and European subjects and especially for cases where very full and scholarly treatment of a subject is called for the longer articles in the Britannica are to be preferred. A supplementary volume, unnumbered, contains courses of reading and study. Issued in various bindings and on both ordinary paper and India paper. For library use the ordinary paper edition bound in library buckram according to A. L. A. specifications is to be preferred. For annual supplement see New international year book, under Annual encyclopedias, p. 35. Universal cyclopædia and atlas; Charles Kendall Adams, editor-in-chief. Rev. and enl. ed. Rossiter Johnson, editor of reviR sion. N. Y. Appleton, 1905. 12 v. illus. pl. por. maps. $48. 031 Variously known also as Johnson's encyclopædia R and Johnson's universal cyclopædia. A concise, well-edited, practical work, with entry under small subject, signed articles, and bibliographies. Before the publication of the 1st edition of the New international, Johnson's cyclopædia was one of the most useful American encyclopedias, but it has not been recently revised, is now considerably out of date and is superseded for many purposes although still useful for occasional articles. The encyclopedias noted above represent the most used American works of recent or comparatively recent date. An older work which was once an excellent authority, though now superseded for all except occasional uses, is the American cyclopedia, ed. by George Ripley and C. A. Dana (N. Y. Appleton, 1873-1883. 16 v.) An annual supplement to this, entitled Appletons' annual cyclopædia is still useful. For description see under Annual encyclopedias, p. 34. The large standard encyclopedias are to be preferred for most purposes, but some of the many smaller works are occasionally needed, either as substitutes when the large works cannot be afforded, or in addition to the latter for briefer articles or for occasional facts not found in the larger encyclopedias. Appleton's new practical cyclopedia; a new work of reference based upon the best authorities, and systematically arranged for use in home and school, ed. by Marcus Benjamin, assisted by Arthur E. Bostwick, Gerald Van Casteel, George J. Hagar, with an introduction by Elmer Ellsworth Brown. New and rev. ed. N. Y. Appleton, 1915. 6 v. illus. plates (part col.) maps. 25cm. $24. First edition 1910. 031 Fact book, a universal book of reference on current world conditions; editor-inchief, Francis Rolt-Wheeler. N. Y. Current lit. pub. co. 1911. 1299 p. illus. pl. 25cm. subs. 031 Harper's book of facts; a classified history of the world, embracing science, literature, and art; comp. by J. H. Willsey, ed. by C. T. Lewis. N. Y. Harper, 1895. 954 p. il. 27cm. $8. 031 A concise encyclopedic handbook, once very useful but now somewhat out of date. Based upon Haydn's Dictionary of dates, but revised and enlarged to include more general and more American material than Haydn. Resembles Haydn in the chronological arrangement of information under subjects which permit of such treatment but less well up to date than the latest edition of Haydn. (See under History, p. 161.) A later edition (N. Y. Harper, 1906) contains some changes when the plates could be altered without too great cost, but there are not sufficient additions to make this edition necessary in li braries possessing the earlier one. New Century book of facts; a handbook of ready reference, editor-in-chief: Carroll D. Wright. Springfield, Mass., King-Richardson co. [1912] 1122 p. illus. col. plates. 25cm. $7.50. 031 Young folks' Champlin, John Denison. cyclopædia of common things. 4th ed. rev. and enl. N. Y. Holt, 1916. 932 p. illus. col. pl. 21cm. $3. J 031 - The young folks' encyclopedia of persons and places. 6th ed. rev. N. Y. Holt, 1911. 1105 p. illus. $3. J 031 ANNUAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS Appletons' annual cyclopædia and reg ister of important events. . . Embracing political, military, and ecclesiastical affairs; public documents; biography, statistics, R commerce, finance, literature, science, agriculture, and mechanical industry. v. [1]15, 1861-75; v. 16-35 (new ser., v. 1-20) 1876-95; v. 36-42 (3d ser., v. 1-7) 18961902. N. Y. Appleton, 1862-1903. illus. pl., ports., maps. 25cm. Vol. 1-14 have title: The American cyclopædia and register of important events. No more published. 42 v. 031 annual -A general index to Appletons' annual cyclopædia, embracing vols. I to XV inclusive, and the years 1861 to 1875. N. Y. Appleton, 1876. 442 p. 25cm. - An index to Appletons' annual cyclopædia, 1876 to 1887 inclusive. N. Y. Appleton, 1888. 144 p. 25cm. Other indexes are included in the set as follows: Index to new series v. 1-20, 1876-95, in n. s. v. 20 p. 769-866; Index to 3d series v. 1-7, 18961902, in 3d ser. v. 7 p. 845-66. Originally published as an annual supplement to the American cyclopædia. Of little use now as a supplement, but still very useful as an independent publication, especially for the following: (1) for record of the events of a given year, especially R R از the political, governmental, economic and military events, which are given with greater detail in this year by year record than in later general accounts; volumes covering the Civil War and Reconstruction periods are especially useful to students of American history; (2) for many comparatively minor articles, particularly obituaries and biographies, which are either omitted from later encyclopedias or given briefer treatment than in the annual volume for the year when the person was of especial interest. For somewhat similar record after 1907, see New international year book. International year book; a compendium of the world's progress. 1898-1902. N. Y. Dodd, [1899-1903] 5 v. illus., pl., ports., maps, plans, facsim. 25cm. $4. per vol. 031 Editor: F. M. Colby; consulting editor, H. T. Peck. Covers much the same ground as last five volumes of Appletons' annual cyclopædia, but includes some different material and presents it in a different arrangement, i. e. one straight alphabet. The last volume contains a general index to the set. New international year book; a compendium of the world's progress, 19071915. N. Y. Dodd, 1908-16.* v. 1-9. pl. ports. maps. 26cm. $5. per vol. Editor: F. M. Colby. 031 Planned as a supplement to the New international encyclopædia, volumes 1907-13 supplementing the first edition, volumes 1914-, the second edition. The volume for 1907 contains, in addition to the record for that year, brief summaries of the events of 1903-06. An excellent annual encyclopedia, compiled and arranged on the same plan as the New international encyclopædia and useful both as a supplement to that work and as an annual record of the progress and events in any subject. Especially useful for biography. ENGLISH Encyclopædia Britannica; a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature, and general information. 11th ed. Camb. [Eng.] & N. Y. Univ. press, 1911. 29 v. illus. pl. (partly col.) maps. 30cm 032 Amer. ed. cloth $159.50; half mor. $203.25. V. 1-28, A-Z; v. 29, Index. The most famous encyclopedia in English and for some purposes the best. The first edition was published in 1771 and the ninth edition (the last complete revision before the present eleventh edition) in 1875-88, the tenth edition, published 190203 was not a revision of the whole work but merely a 10 volume supplement to the 9th edition issued to bring that edition more nearly to date and linked to it by a general index, vol. 35. The old Britannica type, which persisted through the 9th edition, called for a collection of important monographs on large subjects, by specialists, often very scholarly and important, with good bibliographies, good illustrations, but with no separate treatment of small subjects and no biographical sketches of living persons. Small subjects were treated only as parts of larger subjects and could be found only through the index. This plan was modified somewhat in the supplementary 10th edition and still more, to meet modern demands, in the present or 11th edition. The 11th is based upon the 9th and 10th editions but revised throughout, rearranged and with much new material added. The features to be noted are: (1) long signed articles by specialists with (2) excellent bibliography appended to most articles; (3) many excellent illustrations, both in the text and in black and white plates and some colored plates; (4) inclusion of many smaller subjects not separately treated in earlier editions and (5) inclusion of biographical articles on persons still living; (6) very detailed index of small subjects; (7) almost equal up-to-dateness of all parts of the alphabet due to a nearly simultaneous completion and publication. Pronunciation is not marked. In general the articles are excellent but a few show insufficient revision of earlier material especially in the bibliographies. A point which makes for inaccuracy in quick reference work, unless the reference worker uses the index constantly, is the omission of all "see references" from the body of the book and their inclusion in the index only, although "see also" references are given at the ends of articles. There are some minor differences between the English and American edition, e. g. the English edition has clearer impression of most of the illustrations, especially the plates, and the American edition gives for American cities the population statistics of the 1910 census instead of the figures of the 1900 census given in the English edition. Issued in two forms, on ordinary paper and on India paper, the latter not recommended for libraries on account of its tendency to cling and fold. The ordinary paper edition was issued in three bindings, ordinary cloth and in three special library bindings: (1) buckram, A. L. A. specihalf fications (2) morocco, Lib. assoc. [Eng.] specifications (3) half morocco special Chivers binding, this latter for English edition only, and now out of print. A "handy volume edition" was published in 1915-16 and is sold by Sears, Roebuck and co., Chicago. This edition is an exact photographic reproduction, reduced one-third in size, of the standard edition described above, and the text is not revised or altered in any way. The type is small but very clear, and is usable. The illustrations in the text are reduced in proportion and lose somewhat in the process but the maps and plates are not reduced at all, as it was found possible, by folding the maps and dividing the illustrations which were formerly grouped on one plate, S to keep these illustrations of the same size as in the original edition. This reduced edition is planned for the private purchaser and is not recommended for a library which can afford to purchase the work in its original form, but to the small library with a book fund which does not admit the purchase of the original edition this reproduction offers a fairly satisfactory substitute. It is published in several bindings and on both India paper and ordinary paper but for library purposes the ordinary paper edition at $48 is to be preferred. Everyman encyclopædia, ed. by Andrew Boyle. Lond. Dent, N. Y. Dutton, [1913]. 12 v. illus. 17cm. 18s. $6. 032 A good small encyclopedia for the private library or small library which cannot afford a larger work. The articles are concise and generally accurate, although American subjects are treated somewhat less adequately than English. Bibliographies often omitted but when given are generally good. Few illustrations. An excellent work for the price but not a substitute for one of the larger standard encyclopedias. Among the old English encyclopedias occasionally used may be mentioned: English cyclopedia, ed. by Charles Knight (1854-62, 22v. and Suppl. 1869-73, 4v.) Penny cyclopedia (1833-43, 27v.) Encyclopædia Metropolitana (1817-45, 30v.) 28 Rees's cyclopædia; or, Universal dictionary of arts, sciences, and literature (1802-19, 45v.) 34 ANNUAL ENCYCLOPEDIA Hazell's annual. A record of the movements of the time. [1st]-30th year; 18861915. Lond. Hazell, Watson & Viney, 1886-1915*. v. 1-30. maps. 19cm. 3s. 6d. per vol. Subtitle varies. Editors: 1886-1891, E. D. Price; 1895-1909, William Palmer; 1910-13, Hammond Hall; 1914-. T. A. Ingram. FOREIGN DANISH Salmonsens store illustrerede konversationsleksikon; en nordisk encyklopædi. Under medvirkning af bibliotekar J. B. Halvorsen, som særlig redaktør for Norge, og henved 200 nordiske fag- og videnskabsmænd redigeret af Chr. Blangstrup. Kjøbenhavn, Salmonsen, 1893-1911. 19 v. La grande encyclopédie, inventaire raisonné des sciences, des lettres et des arts, par une société de savants et de gens de lettres; sous la direction de MM. Bertheetc. lot, Hartwig Derenbourg, Paris, R Lamirault, 1886-1902. 31 v. illus., col. pl., maps (partly col.) 31cm. 700 fr. 034 Secrétaire général: v. 1-18, F. Camille Dreyfus; v. 19-22, v. 23-31, André Berthelot. Vol. 23-31 published by Société anonyme de La grande encyclopédie. The most important French encyclopedia and one of the best encyclopedias in any language. Hai authoritative signed articles, excellent bibliographies, many entries under small subjects. Somewhat out of date now for sciences, etc., in which there have been recent developments, but an excellent authority for other subjects, especially for mediaeval and renaissance subjects, and for literature, history, biography, etc., of continental Europe. Very good for French and other continental biography. The bibliographies are especially important. Has fewer illustrations and plates than recent English ог American encyclopedias, but what there are, are good. Larousse, Pierre Athanase. Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle français. R Paris, Larousse, 1866-90. 17v. 32cm. 750 fr. 034 |