New-York tribune., 1901-10-05
INFINITE RICHES. .
scopE OF THE CENTURY DIcTIoN
.1D CYCLoPEDIA AND ATLAS.

pO--.- -ead from parchment manuscripts writ
sch'-- p heavy Latin, and met with many words
itI rrere beyond their understanding. Then
H"'--- +,raless search among the other books
eaH. ~ nossessed and a cross-examination Of
VIZ s+n5ents until they found the missing
selO" They were always careful to inscribe
nea---9 --9a-,re+atfons in easier Latin on the mar
ms Of the parchment
s-s+ step toward a book OF reference was
1H -, one Of these old scholars made a list
a en- ,1osses or marginal notes and called ii
- Then after a century, came an al
sso,icaI arrangement 10 save searching
80 -be entire list Of giosses- An English
b,,Iarv the work OF Godfrey the
--,a-iau. a Dominican friar OF Norfolk,
appearance in 1440 under the name of
l--a-A--,+rariun-the Children's Storeroom." It
s.,ned about 10000 words. with their Latin
e'l.- -...Isn+s II was in 1904 that Robert
.s-sv q schoolmaster of Okeham decided
dictionary Of English words with their
,rs IN English was necessary, and his
- ,1nbahe+icall Of Hard Words" pub
- More than a hundred years later the
,rr-ed 10 Nathaniel Bailey that an Eng
s.o-iorarv ought 10 contain all the English
and in I72I he published comprehen-
-o-L which not only attempted to give all
:, .,a known words. but as much OF the ety.
.,,sv as possible. IN later edition Bailey first
eyed the stress accent as an aid TO pro-
,.,s+ion Il was on this work that DR.. John
based his famous dictionary, in which quo
.e.,,-s were first used 10 show words differ
eut shades OF meaning
D..as-s were satisfied with dictionaries for
-.-v years. but in time began TO complain that
.s.-s was no book of facts in which the knowl-
- n. the world was condensed and summed
= 7r Trent. then Dean Of London, advocated
-, hook before the Pathological Society Of
-,r5on. The demand grew from this impulse
,,--n the Fact Book made its appearance in the
,-n Of an encyclopedia The articles were long
-5 cumbrous and the facts were hard to find,
,rt they were there and could be located with
..-s,re. Toward the end of the last century
:, Improvement was demanded, something
-oasrn and I'D to date a work in which all Of
+,a worlds knowledge should be summarized in
srcb way that q busy man could put his
snesr on e desired fact at a moments notice.
This demand was met by the Century Diction-
-vsnd Cvclopsedia and Atlas, wherein each fact
ros nlaced under its own heading. Not only
ros the vast treasury of the worlds knowledge
.o arranged as 10 be laid bare at glance, but
.o-rner errors. OF which there were many in the
-,ost carefully prepared works, were corrected.
.Irbough the combination of word books and
fart books as found in The Century would have
been great work. the addition Of an atlas feat
ure makes it a greater one
Nineteen years Of continuous labor IS repre-
seuted in the Century Dictionary and Cyclic
padia and Atlas, ana many OF the most famous
scholars and specialists in the world were in
yolved in its preparation Professor William
Dwight Whitney, Ph. D., Ii. D., was chosen as
editor-in-chie3 and gave his whole time 10 the
work until il was finally in the press. He was
professor of Sanscrit and comparative philol-
ogy at Yale, and nearly every prominent phil
ongist in this country received his training
Under him. He directed the assignment OF the
various departments Of knowledge TO the spe-
caists whose knowledge Of the subjects best
entitled them TO be chosen. These specialists
then secured the assistance Of as many Of their
fellows as was necessary. For example, the
department. Of zoology was placed in the hands
ot Professor Elliott Coues, of the Smithsonian
Institution. author Of many works on birds. He
was assisted by five other scholars. each OF
whom aided him in some part OF the large
fed Of zoology. and each was in turn assisted
by g corps Of helpers. The attempt TO collect
al new words. terms and meanings OF words
was productive OF voluminous results. The fact
thar in work OF twenty-five volumes near
ly ten thousand terms were found which had
never before been recorded in a work Of refer
snce shows how little Of such work had previ-
ousy been done The readers for the enterprise
were Instructed 10 mark all new words, new
senses Of words. and quotations which would
heip Illustrate the meanings. Besides, they
we're 70 make note OF all those names Of per-
sons, places and things which have sprung into
existence or become prominent in the last few
years. over three thousand authors were re-
viewed in this way, every sort OF subject being
entered into. Even trade catalogues and adver-
lsns circulars contributed their share Of new
words and meanings. although they were not
lrolifc in quotations.
Ine terms secured in this way were separated
according TO the department 10 which they be-
hnged and were sent to the editor of that de-
'artrnent for proper description. It took small
Srmy Of typewriters to transcribe the many
Aotes- Then the new words were arranged
alphabetically and united with the literary
matter prepared in the office. After SO much
Nouole had been taken TO get the most accu-
fale knowledge possible in every department
ne proofs could not be handled too carefully.
4 Is sad that no other work ever printed was
50 carefully revised and corrected as was this
Ae Inc story Of the many proofs is interest
As' AFTER all Of the matter had been received
& lhe main Office from the many and varied
s00fces. II was pinned together on slips Of
paper so as TO make trial copy" This was
e'eiuAy gone over by the editorial staff, and
many revisions made. The trial copy was then
paced on big sheets Of brown paper with broad
margins, and became final copy" which was
eeaih revised before going TO the printer In
.ase OF hre no money payment that any in
1hce company would ever agree 10 pay
"Oulo make good the loss. and the problem of
ting the safety OF the final copy was
- o-e- II was solved by photographing each
- ana placing the plates in safe deposit
's- Only once was a plate needed A sheet
copy was lost. but quickly replaced by