The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1880-07-09
THE AMERICAN CYCLOP1 1EDIA, AS COM
PARED WITH OTHERS.

The AM ERlCAN C1CLOP-EDlA, AS COM-
PARED WITH OTHERS.
Solomon wrote, of the making of books
the present day, he might have written, "of
the making OF cyclopedias there is no end
The world is full of cyclopedias OF all kinds,
both general and special. Every profession,
from the cook to the clergyman has its special
cyclopedia in fact, the word cyclopedla has be-
come so popular that every author who writes
a book OF general information concerning any
general or particular subject, thinks he must
call it cyclopeda" in order to insure liberal
patronage. But il is only o. one OF these classes
of cyclopedas that we wish to write,-those
that are called general" Everyone who pos
sesses good universal cyclopef has within
easy reach the answers 10 all the important
questions that are constantly arising in the fam
lily or IN business life. Not only that, but the
book once in hand the idle moments are profit
ably disposed OF, great deal OF valuable enter
tainment and solid comfort can be derived from
such work, and our minds, instead OF becom-
ing weaker and narrower, are constantly grow
ing stronger and broader.
Now, the question narrows itself down to
this: Which of the existing cyclopedias is the
hest (the best is always the cheapest.) There
are cyccpedias, claiming to be universal, rang
ing in price from 80 to more than 5000 set.
OF course no cyclopedla can contain everything
in human knowledge,-even our most extensive
libraries do not do that, neither can they be alb
solutely perfect: but with proper editorial skill
they can be made to give US a synopsis OF all
important subjects, aud possessed Of so few
and trivial errors as TO make them reliable
Some OF these works attempt to give us every
word in the English language, and description
Of every subject in science, literature and All
biographies of all eminent men and women of
all times, and host OF other matters in a book
OF only 500 more pages than Webster's dctlon
airy. OF course, the work az a cyclopedia must
be inadequate. Then there is the other ex-
treme: very large, voluminous works. filed with
a few elaborate treaties on handful OF the
leading topics Of the day. One OF these which
we have examined some has an average Of one
half of each volume thus far issued taken up
with twelve subjects to the volume, while the
other half is divided up among from 900 to !, ,0C0
topics. These extensive articles are a we'll
enough in the library OF scientist, but for ev
cry day. practical life, there is altogether too
mach surplusage of language to ever become
popular among the people. Another serious
objection to such work is, that these long ar
ticles are too technical for any but L. L. Ds.,
Ph. Ds., etc. etc., and are not cacu' 'ated for the
use OF the great mass Of the people.
Between these two extremes comes the Am
erican Cyclopeda. Its articles are so written
as to be easily comprehended by all classes OF
people. II is neither a general dictionary.
gazetteer, nor directory. II takes equal pains
to exclude unimportant titles and to embrace
those OF importance. 1t is intended to furnish
agreeable and attractive reading TO fami' es and
young people, so that the possession OF it is
equivalent to liberal education.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage says: The articles
are all condensed into as brief space as is
consistent with proper statement uf the facts,
and of great many it ls safe to say that they
are az interesting as a novel. Never was more
really valuable information. packed in the same
space, go available for ready reference and i'm
IlSuLdlO use
Hon. George Bancroft says: 1t treats the
greatest variety OF subjects, and always with
candor, and is sIpguarly rich in all that per-
tains to America. It's scientific articles hit the
happy medium between too little technicalty
and too much of it.
Some OF the cyclopedlas that are asking the
patronage Of the American people were origin
ate1 in Great Britain. by British writers, and
contain but very little but what pertains to
Great Britain: while great majority of artl-
cles on geography, biography, history, law, ed
ucation, invention, and social customs per ain
ing particularly to America, are either entirely
ignored or, il treated at all, are treated very
meagerly and it is not an uncommon thing to
find gross Misrepresentation. OF the American
it is quite different. 1t is American in charac-
ter, as its name indicates, but it does not at
tempt to belittle the rest of the world because
it is published in America. Among its contrib
utors are Prof. r. A. Proctor, Of London, Prof.
T. II. Huxley, Of London, Dr. Ernst II. Hack
ell, OF Germany, G. E. Brown Sequard, NJ. D. of
Paris, Dion Boucicault, o, London, A. Wyle,
d. d., China, j. G. Hepburn, NJ. D., japan, An
tonic Bachiller Morales, Havana, Limerick
Szabad, Denmark, VIM. III. Huntington, Paris
Moncure d. Conway, London, and many other
foreign writers. a saving Of ten cents day
will secure this great work.
correspondent OF the Cincinnati Gazette