St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-06-11

It's vast superiority 10 the original ana
genuine edition is yociferously asserted.
Upon the soundness of these claims
and pretentions the justification for the
Americanized version must depend.
Ii these claims are not sound; if the
pretentions to literary Improvements
are false; in fact, if the judicious labor,
selection, elimination and retention that
are claimed for it have no existence
anywhere but in the advertisers fancy;
if, in short, it can be proven that the
only literary work expended on its
preparation has been an indlscriminate
and ignorant cutting and slashing into
the very heart of the most valuable sub
jects, the necessary conclusion is that
the so-called AmericaniZed edition
is an imposition, an imposter and a
fraud-a mangled thing, having not only
no value in itself. but possessing ele-
ments of conceit and positive injury by
its silence and omissions.
A short comparison with the original
will therefore be made in order to test
the truth of these pretentionS. 1t is fair
to assume that the first few volumes of
the "Americanized' edition are at least
as good as any of the subsequent vol
umeS. The examination Will accordingly
be confined to these volumes.
The claim made by the Pioneer Press
that in the so-called "Americanlzed"
work 1.-The extensive articles on the sci
ences have been retained intact" proves
false, for upon examination we find
that the article on Astronomy" writ
ten by Prof. Richard A. Proctor. has
been mutilated and cut down from so
pages to 30; ''Anatomy'' from ITO
pages to 90; Agriculture" from 126
pages to 43 lit would seem that Ameri-
cans are not particularly interested in
the subject of agriculture); "Aeronaut-
les" is cut from 241a pages to IL;
Acoustics" from 90 pages to 2; "Alge-
bra" from 104 pages to 10 (all OF the
equations and formul@-the most i'm
portant part-being omitted entirely;
Architecture Is cut from "a pages to
"A; 'Aqueduct'' from IL pages to 80.
And comparison shows that the multi
alton has been carried On in similar
manner and to like extent all the way
through, without adding anything new.
and invariably rendering the matter
treated unintelligible and unreliable.
The Pioneer Press again claims that
s'the biographies of men whose work
was a heritage of all ages, as well as the
pride of the land Of their nativity. are
kept for the American people, who COM
prise in themselves every nation and
out may be seen in the fact that the BIZ
ography of Benjamin Franklin has been
cut from pages to 31s pages; Horace
Greeley from 211s pages to l page; Prof.
Agassiz from 81 pages to 1-16 pages;
Joseph Addison from AZ pages to II
pages; Oliver Cromwell from pages to
81 pages; Demosthenes from pages
to AZ pages; Aristotle from IA pages to
pages; John Adams from 3 columns
to column; John Quincy Adams cut
down one-haif. In this article
in the original Adams seven years
diplomatic career in the service of
the then young and growing public is
fully dwelt upon; but in the so-called
'.Americanized' work, the only recog-
milton of that fact in his career, is in the
allusion that ION Jefferson becoming
president in 1901 Adams was recalled"
Where from? There is nothing in the
article to show that he was at any place
to be recalled from.
Additional instances of SciSSOrS-W0rk.
uncontrolled by any Intelligent thought,
could be multiplied indefinitely. For
instance, alabama" has been reduced
two-t thirds, ALASKA" one-half, car
kansas one-half, Andes Mountains"
one-half, American Literature two
thirds. The treatment of these particu-
larly American subjects shows the gen
eral lopping-off process used i'll nearly
all American subjects, for no other pur-
fhoy, n and thl ah-
surdlty of the undertaking of few OBJ
scure Chicago literary hacks to revise
and amend the ''EncycOpedia Britain
tended comment.
To christen this deformed and bas-
tard offspring Britannica" is simply a
dishonest attempt 10 foist worse than
useless set of books upon an unSuSpect-
ing and confiding public in lieu of a
work whose value all Intelligent men
recognize.
The genuine edition was completed a
few months ago at an expense of about
$4,000, 900, and is the result OF the labor
of 1900 of the greatest scholars of the
world. This StupendOus achievement
requires no commentator. Its name
| alone is a synonym for all that is excel
lent wherever the English language is
known, and particularly in America.
A genuine desire on our part to save
those who may be gulled and taken
in" by the deceptive but plausible in
ducementS of the Pioneer Press to pur-
chase a work that they will regret as
long as they live, or which they will
| soon be sure to discard as utterly worth
| less, has prompted us to make thor
ough examination of the same.