Collection of Articles (loose sheets) dealing with Ancient History and Archaeology, from the New (11th) Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica

Abstract

IN no department of knowledge has greater progress been made during the last twenty years than in the realms of archæology and ancient history. A glance at almost any volume of the new edition of the “Encyclopædia Britannica” will bring this fact forcibly home to anyone. By means of the supplementary volumes, which were issued as an appendix to the tenth edition, it was attempted to summarise the course of such progress, and the result was certainly a series of interesting monographs by specialists, whose efforts were, however, largely controlled and cramped by the existence of articles on the same subjects in the earlier volumes, which were admittedly out of date. No such disadvantage characterises the eleventh edition. In, fact, this new edition establishes a record of its own by the simultaneous issue of the whole of its twenty-eight volumes. Thus the purchaser has not to wait for years for the work to be completed. On the contrary, he obtains at once a marvellous summary of knowledge, every part of which has been subjected to a final revision by its author at the time of going to press. The amount of labour and organisation which must have been required to bring such a plan to a successful issue is little short of marvellous, and the editor has certainly reason to congratulate himself on the achievement.

Collection of Articles (loose sheets) dealing with Ancient History and Archaeology, from the New (11th) Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

(Cambridge University Press, n.d.)