New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-11-05
TIE WORLDS HISTORY.
4acient and Modern Writings
Assembled in One Book.

The encyclopedia Is as characteristic OF our
generation as any OF the mechanical devices
which we have perfected for the saving of time
and trouble in the practical relations Of every
day life. Given 3 multitude of readers. on both
rides Of the Atlantic. TO whom books Of this sort
have become necessary. and the preparation Of
q work like that which is before now would
naturally be only question of time. Yet. now
that IL is actually printed and published. save
for the last six volumes, we must confess that
The Historians History Of the World" excites
q certain surprise. The surprise is all for the
solid merit Of the scheme. for the skill with
which DR.. Williams and his editorial colleagues
here and abroad have solved problem Of very
great difficulty. What they set out TO do might
seem, at first blush simple enough. They
wished TO tell the story of the civilized world
and TO tell Il IN such wise that the layman could
turn to their volumes as TO q convenient inter-
esting and instructive source Of information
But how was this to be accomplished? Could
man i'll the thousands of pages required,
and I'll them soon enough for the book TO be
launched as a sound commercial enterprise or
would Il be necessary TO obtain the services
OF q great staff of experts? The initiators Of
the publication hit upon an .dea more pronis-
ing for immediate results than either Of these
They decided to employ specialists and to set
them at the weaving Of q succession Of MARIA
ttves IN which large part OF the material should
be taken bodily from ancient and modern
thors. They resolved to DO this at once with
reverence for their dead and gone authorities.
and with constant regard for the homogeneity
OF their text. and they have fulfilled their pur-
pose extraordinarily well. The Greek and Rom
an historians have been levied upon, every
modern worker In the field, whose writings are
OF serious consequence, is here represented and
original contributions Of Importance have been
made. The result might be called a brilliant
mosaic, IL II were not that the editorial manpu-
lation Of quotations, the blending Of classical
with original passages. has been deft to
very nearly exclude the idea OF innumerab BILE
fragments put together into one piece. This
notion Of constructive unity is what the reader
first looks for, and. be it said to the credit Of
the editors, what he first discerns But other
clements have entered into the work which are
Of equal Importance. DR.. Williams. in his open
ing pages. speaks OF his desire "to retain as
much as possible of human interest in the broad
est and best sense OF the words" He has every
appreciation Of the value Of the scientific spirit
10 historical writing and he assures US that
pains have been spared to bring the work he
has edited abreast of the latest and most au-
thoritatiye research. But he has clearly real
lied that II publication like this, addressed to
the people ct large. is to succeed and be useful,
It must make Of scholarship firm foundation,
10 the utter discontinue of the ordinary reader.
Thus 1.-The Historians History Of the world''
IS nothing If not animated and readable pro-
duction. Perhaps here and there the effort to
hold the attention OF the reader, to give him
picturesoueness as well as information. is
r1ed shade too far. It is little disconcerting,
for example. to find the story of Waterloo in the
second Of the volumes given to France, told
largely in the words of Victor Hugo. The fame
oe ",
10 the battle is Individually great, but it hardly
prepares US to find the novelist cited in a grave
historical compilation. On the other hand. the
editors might justly urge that Hugo's brilliant
periods are worth any amount Of grave history,
when the object is to give the reader a moving
sense Of what happened that disastrous field.
On the whole. the occasions have been few
which it has been necessary to rely on any save
the most purely historical authorities for the
substance OF this book. The great historians
have always been rich in human interest. Could
any novelist be more luminous in characterize
ton, more effective in the presentation Of an
incident, than Tacitus or Suetonius, than Niche
let or Macaulay2 The fact is that the editors
have only had to turn to these and other
tiers to find an abundance of such dramatic
position as would turn the most solemn record
inno thing of liVeliest interest. We might cite
innumerable illustrations in demonstration of
this point. From the first volume in which the
history Of Egypt is surveyed, to the nineteenth.
IN which earlier England is dealt with the mar
raiye is full Of arresting passages. excerpts.
sometimes small but sometimes ample indeed.
from the greatest figures in historical literature
We must speak. however, of the share which
living writers have had in this publication. DR..
Eduard Meyer. professor OF ancient history In
the University of Berlin, has written for the
FIRST Of the volumes devoted TO Greece a capital
paper on 1.-The Scope and Development of Greek
History" For the next volume DR.. Hermann
DieIs has written an Introductory essay on The
Evolution Of Greek Philosophy" DR.. Meyer and
DR.. Wilhelm SoItau both contribute to the open
ing OF the first Roman volume; Dr. Otto Hirsch-
field has the second in his care, and DR.. Shotwell
looks after the third. The list need not be ex-
tended. It is sufficient TO state that throughout
the work competent scholars assist DR.. Williams
IN carrying IL forward. The many contributors
identified with the history seem to have entered
readily into its spirit striking the right note
where the general tone of the production is con-
cerned. We have not discovered anywhere signs
Of prejudice or freakishness
To the merits of a well grounded text the
editors have added the interest Of a considerable
body OF illustration. In the first plaIe, every
volume has for frontspiece an etched portrait
of some famous historian. Then there are full
page reproductions in half tone OF paintings OF
great historical events, and scattered through
the text are many clever drawings in black and
white, portraits and sketches of architecture
costumes and other things throwing light on one
period or another. Numerous maps are also
included. The volumes. which are not too large
70 be held with comfort. printed in clear
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