between British and foreign writers, contributions having been invited from the men believed to be best qualified to write upon each of the subjects to be treated, and in respect especially of American writers the result has greatly added to the comprehensiveness of the work. Certain fields of applied science and industrial development have of late years owed so much to American initiative, and the subjects in regard to which it was desirable to enlist the co-operation of American writers consequently proved to be so numerous, that an editorial branch office was opened in New York. The names of the American departmental editors and contributors speak for themselves, and for the purpose of this preface it is sufficient to say that, while Le Figaro described the Ninth Edition as "Un monument littéraire auquel l'Europe savante tout entière a collaboré"[1] these supplementary volumes are the product of the New World as well as of the Old.
It has already been observed that readers in the United States form a considerable proportion of the public to which these volumes may be expected to appeal, but it should be noted that the care with which American and Colonial subjects are treated would have been as sedulous if the supplement had been intended for readers in the United Kingdom only. The world beyond our own islands, and especially the English-speaking part of it, has become more intimately associated with our life and thought than it was twenty years ago. Cargoes of wool from Australia, and of cotton from America, are no longer the only enrichment we receive from the descendants of the British who betook themselves to fresh fields of enterprise. They send us new ideas and new inventions, and the fruit of their activities becomes indistinguishable from other portions of the common heritage of the race. In allotting subjects to the various British and foreign writers whose co-operation was invited, the editors were guided solely by the desire to procure the best possible treatises, without regard merely to the measure of reputation enjoyed by individuals, and yet by this process they have associated with the work a body of men whose names will readily be recognized by the general reader. If the collaboration of eminent men can ensure success, an examination of the List of Contributors to these volumes will show that the editors have been greatly favoured. The natural impulse, when contributors are to be chosen, is to enlist the assistance of ready writers and trust to their versatility. But an authoritative work of reference cannot be created by so hazardous a method. Not only men accustomed to literary activity, but those to whom verbal expression is a mere incident of other activities—sailors and soldiers, men busied in commerce and finance, leaders in all the different divisions of life—must bring each his special knowledge to his special subject. That was the policy adopted by the editors of the Ninth Edition, and their example has been followed in the present undertaking.
The editors desire in this connexion to express their great obligation to the departmental editors, whose expert knowledge has been of incalculable service in suggesting the names of the writers best qualified to treat special subjects, and in advising the editors with respect to technical articles. A list of these departmental editors will be found at the beginning of this volume. The editors are also indebted to other eminent authorities for advice with regard to larger aspects of the task. They have not hesitated, in the course of an undertaking so important from every point of view, to ask personal counsel from those whose rank or official position precluded a direct association with the work, and in every instance their requests have met with the fullest acquiescence. More
- ↑ "A literary monument in which all of learned Europe has collaborated" (Wikisource contributor note)
