The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-09-29
A
origin es the Same and . Pew Facts Absus
Encyciopa-ftas.

Origin % the Name and . Few Facts AbSui
E-ncycaeprdtss.
One hundred and ninety-seven year ago
. German In Leipzig began the publication
Of -four little books designed 10 give the
reader Information about many things
Of general interest. Three OF the~e vol
uncs. Issued from the press Of Mr.. Hdbner.
we're each re~trictedto aspecisl line Of topics.
The -Stattslexikon.- for example. was de-
voted to political geography and the public
Affairs q the various nations. But one Of
the volumes was a sort Of catch-all Tor a
great variety Of topics. such a. were likely
70 be subjects OF daily conversation IL
was a handy volume. designed by the pub
lisber to be helpful To everybody In :ea-table
talk and all ordinary social intercourse.
II gave the reader at least n smattering
Of information on many topics and helped
him. even II he did not know much Of the
subject under discussion. to ray something
about Il and pass AZ a person With a con-
siderable range 81 facts ut his command
This was the origin OF the book title 'kon-
vcrsationslexikon.- which long ago came
10 have n much wider meaning than was
At first attached 10 II.
Hinety-one years after the appearance
Of the fret -Konverrationslexikon- a yo ne
Germsl publisher appropriated the title
for a work 81 broad scope which had been
complied for him by a number Of assistants
The plan Of this work was To give To the
general public a brief review Of history
and Of man phase Of human develop
ment. scientific. artistic and technical
The worN n, ated IN a popular manner
a great many Glasses 81 Information AID
was calculated To be- very useful Ia students.
writer's a q everybo v who desired TO be
generally well informed So tho title
-Konversationslexikon.- first used for a
little volume that might be carried In ones
coat pocket. came 90 be applied In Ger
many "a compilations Of universal informA-
ton. filling many large volumes. The title.
since that time, a little more than leo years
ago. has been the German equivalent for
the English word : encycloredia
The name OF this young publisher was
Friedrich Arnold ~Brockhaus. who may be
called the father Of German e~ncyclopadias
KonverrationsleNikon IL a rather long
word and u not often used In German
conversation. Every n IL Understood "
he quotes -BrockhAus- or refers another
% -Brockhsus' as an authority on any
question. But the idea OF the modern
encyclopedia was not original with Brock
haus Rich a. GERMANY IL to-day In schol-
ars. SPECIALISTS and reference books II
seems strange that the Germans should
have Jagged b"hind some other nation Ia
the product on Of encyclopedias, which
were already common In switzerland.
France and England before the first edit
ton Of Brockhaus appeared But no M
ton sUrpas-ss Germany now In the numirr
and value Of IT, encyclopedias. the most
important 81 all reference books for popular
every-dav use. and almost every wear
thess works i~ncrea-. In sire and fulneSs
Of matter The Brockhau- of a century
ago, for example, has grown from fiv"
small volumes G. seventeen large volumes.
and others published IA Germany arr
equally as large or larger.
A man who has one Of the best Of reCent
encyclopedias on his shelves has AZ his
command a whole library 81 Information
written In large part 10y specialists 4
number Of the leading encyclopedias now
treat many subjects almost II not quite ~
fully a. reference books specially devoted
To one topic. The .Npuv,Iu DictionuAira
de Geographic Univer-'lle. bv Nivlen de-
Saint Martin. In eight large volumes IL per-
hap- the greatest of geographic r'f"rrno"
books. but Their" are general "ncvclopoedlas
that In their treatment 81 geography give
Saint Martins -Dtctionnair' a hard race.
We may compare Brockhaus Will tho
French work, and Bruckhau- does no,
excel several other encyclopedias In its
treatment Of geography. We find that
the great French work has a much larger
number Of geographical articles. for there
are many small towns. rivcrs, mountains
and 30 on that Brockhaus does not men
ton: hut II h. easy to see that the moro
important geographical topics, such AZ
the various COUNTRIES. continents, nc.
have even more exhaustive treatment
In Brockhaus than In the Dictionaire and
thar they nv written 10y men equally dis
tinguished a. geographical authorities.
The encyclopedia makes a larger contn-
button also To the history Of the growth
Of geographical knowledge In IN" hun
dreds 81 biographies II prints 81 geographers
and explorers. and II has another advantage
over the French dictionary In the fact
that IL prints over 40 fine maps. plans ~
cities. &c. In addition Ia many small sketch
maps In the text while the work II Vivien
de Saint Martin contains no mare
We have 10 thank the nineteenth century
for the great improvements In encyclo-
padias which have made them among
the most useful features 81 our libraries
The largcr, elements Of Improvement
have been the fuller, more adequate treat
ment 81 topics and the enlistment, In the
preparation 81 each editioQ, Of a large
number 81 specialists who speak with
authority on the subjects of which they
write Some of the bsSt encyclopedias ara
revised every four or Ave year-, and ~
rapid IL the growth 81 knowledge In nearly
all it, departments that these works ~
reference need to lie rewritten almost en-
tirely every fifteen or twenty years.