OF INTEREST TO EVERYBODY!

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 31, 8 February 1900, Page 4

OF INTEREST TO EVERYBODY!

IDE "EHCfOLOPJEOM BRITANNICA": "I COMPLETE LIBRARY IK ITSELF.

The " Encyclopedia Britannica" (9th Edition) is already known to everyone, but it is of interest, in connection with the remarkable offer of the London Timet, to note the proportions of it» component parts. It consists of twenty-four massive volumes, of about 860 pages each, and a twenty-fifth volume containing the elaborate index to the whole. In addition to the 30,000,000 words whjph SB its 21,164 pages of letterpress, it contains 34Qfull-pege plates and some 670 maps and .plans- occupying less fiuaapage'each There are also 7466 othefr Illustrations. Over 1100 writers contributed to tile work, and a sum of more was paid fqc the manuscript don* Its exquisite tainting, and the care with which it is bound, combine with the editorial outlay to make it one of the most costly works eret offered to the public. *And the price flxed by the publishers was necessarily a high one—in" some measure a prohibitive one. But the present offer of The limes has remedied this one defect, overcojpe this one obstacle, and the " book that answers questions " has now become accessible to every thoughtful man who has questions to ask of it The "Encyclopaedia Britannica" embraces all branches of human knowledge, and was written by specialists of the highest distinction. Not only men of learning—scholars, divines, masters of science and philosophy; bat also men of action—statesmen, soldiers and sailors, financiers, jurists and surgeons, artists and engineers, manufacturers, sportsmen, and travellers, have contributed to the pages of this most comprehensive library of reference. To the casual enquirer it presents all the advantages which a library of a thousand chosen volumes, yields to the trained scholar who is thoroughly acquainted with each of the thousand. It may, indeed, be said to be " the essence of all books, ancient and modern, prepared for convenient use." The contents of the • twenty-four volnmes are placed in alphabetical order, and a copious index, occupying the twenty-fifth volume, facilitates cross reference. In the desire to seenre convenient disposition of the contents, the quality of interest has not, however, been sacrificed. The "Encyclopaedia Britannica" is not a mere aid to memory, to be hastily consulted in moments of emergency; it is not only the greatest of works of reference, but it is a library in itself, a collection of admirable totalises upon all conceivable subjects. Even the most recondite branches of learning are treated without a trace of pedantry. The -volumes are eminently readable. The great litterateurs of our day wrote for it, and every one of them was proud to do his best in such goodly company. The literary quality of the "Encyclopedia" gives it rank among our classics. The wide toowledge and keen sense of fitness that guided the editors to their happy choice of specialists may be illustrated by the mention of one exquisite combination. Swinburne, on Keats, writes not only with the authority of scholarship, bnt with the even more distinctive authority of a peculiar sympathy in a common craft. Some, indeed, among contemporary writers may be said to have done their most faultless work in the pages of the " Encyclopedia." Canon Farrar's article on die earthly life of Our Saviour is not DQore than twenty thousand words in length, but its concession brings out to the best advantage the remarkable qualities that made the''Life of Christ" so deservedly esteemed. It is the outcome of a full mastery tuned up to tense expression. Turning to the article on Beranger, a delicate elaboration of phrase bestrays the touch of

Robert Louis Stevenson. When Cable writes on New Orleans, the reader need not be surprised to find in the article passages which have ben quoted a hundred times. Far no writer, not even Dickens, seems so sensitive to impressions of places as the author of " Dr. Sevier " and Old Creole Days.", New Orleans is not only Mr. Cable's home; it is, as it were, his art. Andrew Lang, again, , takes the key which his admirers most appreciate when he writes upon Mythology. No subject, unless it be ghosts (and Mr. Lang brings them before us under the heading "Apparitions"), lies closer to Mr. Lang's heart than folk-lore. With his lasting interest in myths and their origin, and his wide knowledge ranges from Greece to Polynesia, he puts before his readers a complete review of the comparative mythologies of civilised and savage peoples, and his critical faculty enables him to present and discuss with great effectiveness the, systems of Prof. Max-Mullerand Mr. Herbert Spencer.

The late Robert Louis Stevenson used to say that the most difficult of literary tasks was to describe a game of cards so clearly that a party could sit down and play at it by book, and to write upon science and philosophy for the unscientific and unphilosophical reader is a task beset by kindred difficulties. A specialist may so master his subject that it ceases to present to his mind the bristles of its technicality, but it is only the most profound students who can achieve this happy result. To Lord Kelvin, Lord Rayliegh, or Sir William Crookes, for example, the physicist's point of view must have become second nature. To an astronomer liko Sir Robert Ball the paths of the stars and planets seem altogether simple; they move to and fro as perceptibly as the penny steamers that ply on the Thames. The late Professor Cayley said that the value of a treatise on pure mathematics depended rather upon tlia order of its statement than upon its predications; and his article on Functions shows that even the most abstruse discussions may display a beauty of construction that brings their complicated formula; into distinct relation to literary style. There are, indeed, in each field of study but a few specialists who can tell what they know so that he who runs may read with understanding, and it is hardly too much to say that these few are almost all to be found in the ranks of the. "Encyclopsedi® Britannica's" contributors. The "Encyclopedia" gave no hospitality to the sort of " harmless drudges " who used to compile works of reference when the world was younger. Nor is the " Encyclopaedia," indeed, in any sense a compilation. The names given here were selelected because they are at the moment very much before the public. They bring home to the reader's mind the vivid and immediate interest of the work. Men and women distinguished in every field of activity were engaged in the task of preparing this matchless library, and a complete list of their names is 110 bad substitute for a roll of honour in contemporary letters and science. To the student of any special art or science, other names in the full roster might appeal with greater force, but to every general reader even this brief list of acknowledged celebrities will convey some sense of the distinction which characterises the contents of the volumes. The children and the young folks around the fireside will also find much in the pages of the "Encyclopedia Britannica " to prepare them to take their part in cultivated society, or to store their minds with the ample knowledge which constiutcs the richest treasure of life. I

BIZE OF THE VOLUMES AND STYLES OF BINDING. The volumes ef the Encyclopedia Britannica are llf inches in height, 9j inches In depth, and 2J inches in thickness. The f nil Morocco and Half-Morocco bindings are of gennine morocco goat-skins, sumach-tanned. This leather, clear in colour, elastic and soft, yet firm and fine in grain and texture, "resists any other leather." ("Ency. Prit.," vol. xiv„ p 538.) The Color of the Half Morocco is a deep maroon, relieved by the green in color, with rolled gold edges, and the Royal Arms stamped in gold on the gold stamping on the back. The Full Morocco binding is of high-class leather, dark side. The publishers of the " Encyclopedia Britannica" formerly sold the work at £37 a set in cloth binding. The persons who wanted the book more than they wanted £37 bought it at that price. But a greater number who wanted it could not afford to give that much for it, and did without it. They now have the opportunity of buying The Times reprint for 17 Guineas in monthly instalments, and The Times reprint ia in every respect the same as the copies already sold at the higher price; it is what book sellers call a new impression, not a changed edition. There has been no condensation, no abridgment, no omission. Every word, every illustration, every map, every element of value is preserved intact, the paper is as good, the press-work is as good; there is not the_ most minute cheapening of the produot to the offset against the remarkable diminution of the price. SPECIMEN PAGES FREE BY POST. For the convenience of those who desire fuller information in regard to the ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, a pamphlet has been prepared containing spocimen pages and brief extracts from the work. The pamphlet wiH be sent to any address, post free, upon application to The Times (London) New Zealand Office, as under. 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