Plan of the Cyclopædia.
The American Cyclopædia presents a panoramic view of all human knowledge, as it exists at the present moment. It embraces and popularizes every subject that can be thought of. In its successive volumes is contained an inexhaustible fund of accurate and practical information on Art and Science in all their branches, including Mechanics, Mathematics, Astronomy, Philosophy, Chemistry, and Physiology; on Agriculture, Commerce, and Manufactures; on Law, Medicine, and Theology; on Biography and History, Geography and Ethnology; on Political Economy, the Trades, Inventions, Politics, the Things of Common Life, and General Literature.
The Industrial Arts, and those branches of Practical Science which have a direct bearing on our every-day life, such as Domestic Economy, Ventilation, the Heating of Houses, Diet, etc., are treated with the thoroughness which their great importance demands. Technical terms are here as far as possible avoided, that all the information given may be practically understood and applied.
The department of Biography is full and complete, embracing the lives of all eminent persons, ancient and modern. In American biography, particularly, great pains have been taken to present the most comprehensive and accurate record that has yet been attempted. Special attention is called to an invaluable feature in this department: not only are the lives of the distinguished dead furnished, but also those of the living celebrities of our own and other countries, prepared by writers who, from personal acquaintance or special research, are most competent to do them unbiased justice.
In History, The American Cyclopædia gives no mere catalogue of barren dates, but a copious and spirited narrative, under their appropriate heads, of the principal events in the annals of the world. So in Geography, it not only serves as a general Gazetteer, but it gives interesting descriptions of the principal localities mentioned, derived from books of travel and other fresh and authentic sources.
As far as is consistent with thoroughness of research and exactness of statement, the popular method has been pursued. The wants of the people in a work of this kind have been carefully kept in view throughout. By condensation and brevity, the editors have been enabled to introduce a much greater variety of subjects than is usually found in similar works, and thus to enhance the value of the Cyclopædia as a manual of universal reference.
It is hardly necessary to add that, throughout the whole, perfect fairness to all sections of country, public men, political creeds, and religious denominations, has been a sacred principle and leading aim. Nothing that can be construed into an invidious or offensive allusion has been admitted. The truth, without note or comment, has been our motto.
Distinguishing Excellences.
I. In Accuracy and Freshness of Information.—The value of a work of this kind is exactly proportioned to its correctness. It must preclude the necessity of having other books. Its decision must be final. It must be an ultimatum of reference, or it is good for nothing. In this respect, the publishers invite the most searching examination of the Cyclopædia. It will be found in all its departments to embody the results of the most recent research at home and abroad. The latest authorities on every topic have been consulted, and the information is brought down to the very day of printing.
II. In Impartiality.—The Cyclopædia has undergone the examination of Argus eyes. It is pronounced, by distinguished men and leading reviews in all parts of the Union, strictly fair and national. Eschewing all expressions of opinion on controverted points of science, philosophy, religion, and politics, it aims at an accurate representation of facts and institutions, 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—doing justice to all men, all creeds, all sections.
III. In American Character.—The American Cyclopædia is intended to meet the intellectual wants of the American people. It is not, therefore, modeled after European works of a similar design; but, while it embraces all their excellences, has added to them a peculiar and
