PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION T O impartial critics and scholars, no less than to the thousands of its possessors among the general public, the first edition of THE AMERICANA commended itself as a useful work of reference. In many ways, both in its emphasis and in its treatments, it was a departure from the beaten track of earlier works, and experience has shown the wisdom of this departure. The characterization of the work in The Encyclopedia of EducaNotable for its fullness in articles dealing with technical subjects, as mathematics, engineering, and the trades," is true, even if it fails to state the whole truth. In History, Political Economy, Religion, Philosophy, Astronomy, Education, Literature, as well as in topics of general interest, the first edition was not surpassed by any contemporary American work. tion: 66 In view of the tremendous changes that the great world conflict has brought about in every department of human thought and activity, and the vital necessity for a new and up-to-date restatement of the world's knowledge, the publishers determined to issue this new edition, and ordered the work planned upon a scale to make it of still greater utility, retaining whatever features the experience of the past had shown to be excellent, and enlarging and improving wherever necessary to meet present conditions. New departments and thousands of new articles have therefore been added, and the whole work has been revised and reset and is printed from new plates. The maps have been prepared especially for this Encyclopedia by the Rand McNally Company of Chicago, and are late and accurate. The illustrations have been carefully selected and are far superior and more numerous than in the former edition. We are confident therefore that the new AMERICANA will be recognized as the greatest repository of practical universal knowledge in one set of books that has ever appeared in the English language. In the new edition, the Editor has endeavored to limit the work to its legitimate purpose the presentation of knowledge with faithfulness and |