Guide to the Use of This Book.
Those who consult the Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations will do well to notice the following explanations:
The Cyclopedia claims to be a novelty in the abundance of its matter and in that it combines the features of the arrangement of other books of the kind, namely: The quotations are grouped as accurately as possible under subjects or headings. The authority for each quotation is given as fully and accurately as possible, and there is virtually a grouping according to authors, since in the Biographies, after each author’s name will be found the number of the pages whereon he is quoted.
The object of the book is not to treat exhaustively of any subject, but to glean whatever is useful and well known upon that subject. Not one line has been added merely to expand the book, but in a few instances quotations have been purposely retained under more than one heading where they might be of actual service.
There are some subdivisions of the book, but practically there are but two parts, the English and the Foreign. Among the English quotations will be found a chapter of Proverbs, and at the end of the Foreign department a chapter of mottoes from the Latin and French. Translations of the foreign quotations are put in the English concordance, which, when properly consulted, is a sure guide to every phrase of prominence. The Foreign department is divided into Latin and the modern tongues, and is believed to be unusually rich in the verbal treasures of each language. All the foreign quotations and mottoes are included in a new concordance which is as complete as the best efforts of the compiler could make it.
As many lovers of the several poets have expressed a desire to know on which pages the quotations of their favorite poets can be found, and as in some names, such as Shakespeare, Tennyson, Byron, etc., a mere list of pages would convey no information whatever, the plan has been adopted of marking those who are largely quoted with a special sign in the index, the same as was done with Shakespeare in the first edition whose * marks 2,000 extracts. The sign for each is designated at the foot of each page of the concordance. The pages where may be found the quotations from authors not so designated will be given after the author's name in the biographical list. We feel assured that this feature will be appreciated.
A great improvement in this work over the previous edition is the tracing of every Shakespearian quotation, and all others in fact, where possible, to its line in the scene or poem from which it was taken. This involved great labor, but as it included also a verification of each quotation and the rectification of many errors, it was labor well spent. It may not, however, occur to every one that in counting the lines no two editions of Shakespeare will exactly agree, especially in plays in which prose is a dominant feature, as there are no two editions in which the length of lines is the same. The figures given are at least approximately
