MEM AOBK

42875

ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by

D. APPLETON & COMPANY,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of

New York.

PREFACE.

THE work, of which the first volume is now published, is in such an advanced state of preparation for the press, that a brief outline of its purposes and method may be equally appropriate in this place, as on the completion of the series.

It is the design of the NEW AMERICAN CYCLOPEDIA to furnish a condensed exhibition of the present state of human knowledge on the most important subjects of inquiry. The discussion of the controverted points of science, philosophy, religion, or politics, does not enter within the compass of its plan; but it aims exclusively at an accurate and impartial account of the development of opinion in the exercise of thought; of the results of physical research, of the prominent events in the history of the world, of the most significant productions of literature and art, and of the celebrated individuals whose names have become associated with the conspicuous phenomena of their age.

In preparing the materials of the work, neither the Editors nor their collaborators have attempted or desired to make it a vehicle for the expression of personal notions. As far as was consistent with the nature of the case, they have confined themselves to the historical relation of facts, without assuming the functions of advocates or judges. In instances which seemed to demand a positive verdict, they have endeavored to present an illustration of evidence rather than an exhibition of argument. At the same time each subject has been treated in the point of view of those with whom it is a speciality, and not in that of indifferent or hostile observers. In order to secure the most complete

justice, in this respect, the various articles in the work have been intrusted, as far as possible, to writers whose studies, position, opinions, and tastes, were a guarantee of their thorough information, and which furnished a presumption of their fairness and impartiality. Thus, in the different branches of science, the articles have been prepared by men of eminent accomplishments in each of the respective departments; the articles on History, by historical students in special provinces; on Biography, especially of living persons, by those most familiar with the life and character of the subjects; on Military and Naval affairs, by military and naval men; on Technology and Machinery, by practical machinists and engineers; and on the History and Doctrines of the Church, by theologians of the different Christian denominations in the most intimate relations with the topics under treatment.

In a work primarily intended for popular instruction and entertainment, it is obvious that lengthened and exhaustive treatises on the subjects which are brought forward in its pages would be inappropriate; no attempt, accordingly, has been made to furnish the masters of literature and science with new facts or principles in their peculiar branches of study; but, on the contrary, the Editors have aimed at such selections from the universal treasury of knowledge as will place the cultivators of one department of research in possession of the achievements of other departments, and especially to spread before the great mass of intelligent readers a faithful report of the opinions, systems, discoveries, events, actions, and characters that make up the history of the world.

A popular method, however, has not been pursued at the expense of thoroughness of research and exactness of statement in regard to topics which seemed to demand a more elaborate treatment. Ample space has been allotted to articles of this description, especially on subjects connected with modern scientific discoveries, improvements in the practical arts of life, the principles of Physiology and Hygiene, and American History, Biography, and Geography. Still, the condensation and brevity which have been adopted in the treatment of secondary points of interest, have enabled the Editors to introduce a greater variety of titles than is usual in books of similar intent, and thus to enhance the value of the NEW AMERICAN CYCLOPEDIA as a manual of universal reference.

The materials, which have served as a foundation for the work, have been derived from a great variety of sources. The numerous Encyclopædias, Dictionaries of special branches of study, and popular Conversations-Lexicons, in the English, French, and German languages, in which the literature of the last quarter of a century is so singularly rich, have, of course, been

diligently consulted and compared; their contributions to the common stock of knowledge have furnished many valuable facts, statements, and suggestions; recent biographies, histories, books of travel, and scientific treatises, have been put in constant requisition, and their contents carefully digested; while many of the writers employed upon this work have enriched it with the fruit of their personal researches, observations, and discoveries in the branches of science and learning in which their names have attained an honorable distinction.

In the preparation of this volume nearly a hundred writers have taken part, including persons in almost every quarter of the United States, in Great Britain, and on the Continent of Europe. No restriction has been laid on their pens, except that of abstinence from the expression of private dogmatic judgments, and from the introduction of sectarian comments at war with the professed historical character of the work. The great mass of materials thus produced has been critically revised by the Editors, and moulded into as complete unity, both of substance and form, as was, perhaps, either possible or desirable, with such a wide diversity in the original sources. In this fact, it is hoped, will be found a guarantee of the universality and impartiality of the work, impressing upon it a disinterested character, no less by the necessity of the case than by the good faith of individual professions.

Without a more extended enumeration of authorities, the Editors acknowledge their special obligation to the Nouvelle Biographie Générale, published by M. Dmor (Paris, 1855–57), for facts in recent French biography; to the "English Cyclopædia," edited by Mr. CHARLES KNIGHT (London, 1854-57), whose well-digested summaries, in some instances, have been drawn upon for useful information; and to PIERER's Universal Lexikon (Altenburg, 1849-'54, 1857), whose minute and accurate details have furnished essential aid in the verification of uncertain dates and controverted facts and events.

The Editors of this work are unwilling that the first volume should pass from their hands without an expression of their obligations to the corps of contributors and the numerous men of eminence in science and literature, whose effective co-operation has lightened their own labors and laid the foundation for the utility and value of the publication. They would also express their gratitude for the liberality with which their collaborators have been permitted to use the Astor Library, the Mercantile, Society, and Historical Libraries in this city; the Library of the Athenæum, and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in Boston; and the Library of Harvard College, in Cambridge.