Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1863-05-20
REVIEW.

The completion of a work OF such i'm
portance as The New American Cyclic
/ pedia, requires something more than the
passing notice which the press has gener
/ ally given to the successive volumes
/ There are few publishing houses in the
I United States able to embark in an en-.
/ terprise requiring the outlay of a large
fortune, when several years must elapse
before a return could be expected from
the investment and we may add that
there are few literary men in the country
I capable Of conducting such an enterprise
vigorously and successfully TO the end
/ The "Cyclop@dia" began with high aims,
/ and 1t has constantly aimed higher II
promised much, and has more than re-
deemed its promises For all the Ordin-
ary uses of book of reference, we have
no hesitation in preierring it to any 9TH
er in the English language. The longex-
perience of Messrs Ripley and Dana, as
editors of a leading daily newspaper has
taught them that history is not the rec
ord of past centuries only, but the record
of yesterday. The battle of Antietam IS
as certain of place in their book as the
battle of Marathon. Hence, while pre-
yious eyclopsedists seem to have been to-
tally oblivious of all knowlegs except
that which had already been embalmed
in books, the New American Clycopos-
dia' in many points takes rank rs an or
iginal authority. Not only does il con-
tain titles to be found in no other book
of reference-papers on all the new arts,
discoveries and inventions-descriptio
of new places--lives of new menLfhe
the latest popular artists and authors
the living statesmen of our own and 9TH
er countries, and the heroes Of the pres
ent war-but old subjects, enriched with
the results of modern research and i'm
provement, are, in this work, invested
with 4 new interest and importance
1t is the only "Cyclopedia" now in gem
eral use in our language whose editors do
not appear TO have viewed the world
through telescope, and ignored what
was passing under their very eyes
The value Of the book as contenlpo-
rary record IS apparent in ell its depart
ments, but more especially in those of BIZ
ography, history and technology. For
instance, the supplement, embracing
some two hundred pages of the sixteenth
volume, gives short but satisfactory lives
of nearly every general in the Federal
and Confederate armies, tat least near
ly every one that held a commission
at the time the volume went 10 press, 81
and the historical articles are generally
brought down to the moment of printing.
The papers on manufacturing processes,
mostly written by Professor james T.
Hodges of this city, furnish clear and
accounts Of the lttest i'm
proyements The article on the sewing
machine Is AN excellent Illustration of
the truth of our remark.
To say that the book surpaSses all other
cyclopediGs in the extent and variety of
its information on American affairs, is not !
saying enough for every one who has
been N the habit of consulting works OF
this kind, must have felt how utterly bad |
the English, French, and, in q somewhat |
milder degree, the German books, are in |
this particular. II the New American |
Cyclopedia' has u predominant fault, il |
is in the great space which it gives TO /
American subjects; not, indeed, to the 4
exclusion of other matter, for it is full /
enough for ordinary purposes IN all de- |
partments, and the fault, if fault it be, /
VIII therefore be readily overlooked. The
article on the United States" in the IF {
teenth volume, contains as much matter /
as an ordinary doedecimo book of Eve
hundred volumes, and IS by many de I
grees the best account of our country l
that has ever been printed. IL embraces
a full description OF the geography and /
resources ). an outline of the constitution I
and government elaborate statistical ta- 1
bles obtained from the census Office in adj |
vance of publication elsewhere and an /
excellent summary of the history down |
to September, 1862; beside which, the 4
lives and public careers of the Presidents I
and leading statesmen are given with con- 1
fulness in their appropriate pla-
,es. The ''Cyclopedia," therefore, furn-
shes what has never before been publish
TO a limited extent in certain
school books-a connected political histo-
" of the United States from colonial
times to the present day. Mr.. Charles 5.
Weyman contributes a complete and well
written history of American literature,
which, at least until Mr.. Duychinck's
veil known but now rather antiquated
work is revised, must be our standard au-
hority for the subject of which it treats.
Taken in connection with the separate BIZ
notices, to which it may be
aid to serve rs an index, this comprehen-
i've article, occupying not more than sew
snteen or eighteen pages, gives in very
and, we may add, q very graf
flying idea of the progress and present
tate Of American letters.
The biographies Of American Artists,
most of which are also from the pen of
dr Weyman, form a valuable feature of
he book which has not hitherto received
he notice it deserves. Short sketches of
Ihurch, Page, Hicks, Gignoux, Houly,
nd many others, appear here in print
or the first time. i,
Scientific subjects have been confided
o distinguished experts: law. TO Profes-
or Theopholis Parsons, of Harvard, and
\. H. Dana, of New York; medicine, to
Professor B. w. McCready, of the Belle
-ue Hospital Medical College; physiolo-
", to DR.. E. Brown Seduard, Professor
Dalton, Dr. S. Kneeland, Jr., of the Bos-
on Society of Natural History, Dr.W H.
THE NEW AMERICAS CYcLoPRDIA; Popular
Of General knowledge. Edited By Geo.
Ripley and Chas. A. Dana. Sixteen volumes, roy
Il octa7o. New York D. Appleton x Co. ''l \