“The New Britannica.”

Abstract

IN the opening paragraph of the preface to the fourteenth edition of the “Encyclopædia Britannica”, the editor at once strikes the note of innovation which to coming generations will be the distinctive mark of this issue of a great publication. He points out that, from the time of d'Alembert's preface to the great French “Encyclopaèdie” of the eighteenth century, it has been customary to prefix to encyclopædias a general dissertation upon “the body and divisions of knowledge, its life and advancement, its inspiration and utilities”. His own task he has conceived differently. Such a unifying impression, he holds, and all will agree justly, has passed beyond the power of man. He aims now at stating what is the spirit animating “this newest design”, the scope of its contents and the methods by which the whole has been formed.

The Encyclopædia Britannica: a New Survey of Universal Knowledge.

Fourteenth edition. In 24 volumes. Each volume about 1000 pages. (London: The Encyclopædia Britannica Co., Ltd.; New York: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1929.) Cloth, £27 16s. 6d.; Half Morocco, £36 17s. 6d.; Three-quarter Morocco, £49 10s.; Full Morocco, £69; Library Bookcase Table included.