The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1878-04-11
Johnson's Cyclop@dia.


Mr.. II. A. Brown, of Iowa City, agent
for Johnson's New Illustrated Universal
Cyclopedia is now in Toledo and will
canvassour town and Surrounding county
for this truly noble work. 1t is pub
lished in large volumes of over 1900
double column pages each, and is just
such work as every family of culture
wants. 1t is not rehash of other Cyclic
pedias, but is original, fresh, reliable,
concise, and valuable. The names of its
editors and associate editors is sufficient
guaranty of its reliability. The editors
in-chief are President f A. P. Barnard,
of Columbia College, New York, and Prof.
Arnold Guyot, of the college of New Jer
sey. Associated with them are such men
as Theo. W. Dwight, Asa Gray, Thco. II.
Woolsey, Roswell D. Hitchcock, John Lee
Conte, Geo. P. Marsh, William Parker,
Philip Schaff, julius Fl. Seelye and some
rs other gentlemen noted for their emin-
ence in various professions, sciences
and callings.
We have examined the several volumes
of this Cyclopgdia, and although from
numerous reviews and criticisms from
eastern papers we had beer led to expect
great things, we were not at all dissapoin-
ted. We have in our library a copy of
Zell's, Chambers and the Britannica, las
far as the latest edition is completed
Cyclopadia, and are free so say that we
consider Johnson's for practical, every.
day use the equal of either of these three,
and in many respects even superior We
have also had occasion to examine at va
rious times the well-known American
Observation-Disclosures we prefer
Johpson's to that. The Encyclopedia
Britannica is a more elaborate work than
Johnson's but it costs about five
times as much, and is therefore compar-
atiyely limited in Its circulation. Where
ever Johnson's work has been introduced
it has received the highest words of praise
from those best qualified to judge of its
merits, and is meeting with great success
everywhere. President Magoun, of Iowa
College at Grinnell speaks as follows con-
corning it.
Having used the successive volumes
of this useful book as fast as they haye
been published, and observed its con-
slant use by others, / have formed a
very definite idea of its value. Individ-
uals and members of families who use a
cyclopedia-and every family needs one
in this age of the world, absolutely--care
less for the comparative merits of the
competing cyclop@dias, than they do fol
the adaptedness of u particular one TO
eide competing claims-save either the
experience Of some one who had used
them all for all purposes or the aggre gate
experience of all who had used them ALL
None of us can wait for either Every
body understands that some few things
can be found in inferior cycloyedias that
cannot be found in that which is, after all,
by far the best We must form our
Judgment of such work for daily in
diyidual and family use on very different
grounds from such an accident as this.
Such q work should not consist of too
many volumes. Many family has room
for the four compact volumes of johnson
that has not room for the sixteen of APP
pieton's or.the twenty-five of the great
Encyclopaedia Britannica.
1t should cost but moderate sum- 1t
cannot be bought for song''-to be
be sure-if it is good for any thing. But
it should come within the limited means
of the great majority of us. The differ
ence between forty dollars and one or two
hundred, is the difference between the
power to have such treasury of know
ledge in ones house and going without 1t.
Ii should be exhaustive of.all the ele-
ments OF information on all sub jects that
come within its scope. No one can de-
mand more than this, (nor that it should
give in minutest detail every thing that is
known or thought,) but be may require
this. A few omissions, especially of things
important to hardly anyone can be excused
They are good economy.
1t should be abreast with the last and
best rules of investigation. Those who
supprintend each department must
| know what these are, and see that nc
| So many of these gentleman--nearly
thirty Associate Editor" who are res.
| ponsible for work divided among ovel
| 800 collaborateurs, and distributed under
| twenty-five departments in Johnson's
Cyclop9dia, were personally known tt
me, that had cofidence beforehand thai
the thing would be done as perfectly as il
we'll could be. 1t is more completely anc
satisfactorily done than expected. The
| condensation, accuracy, and fullness of thu
work in such Of the $4,000 articles as
have examined, are far greater. To say
nothing of departments in which as /
i teacher am most interested-in which
| many would not be--the growing and al