THE Big Four Route The DIRECT LINE to the ASSOCIATION H. M. BRONSON, A. G. P. A., Indianapolis Extremely Low Rates to Boston and Return account National Educational Association via Lake Erie & Western Railroad Tickets on sale July 2d to 5th inclusive, good to return until Septem- by Steamer Buffalo to Cleveland Sleeping car accommodations promptly reserved and any other information freely given by application to Agents L. E. & W. R. R. G. J. GRAMMER General Traffic Manager CLEVELAND, OHIO H. J. RHEIN General Passenger Agent Harper's Encyclopædia of U. S. History IS A MINE OF INFORMATION A good History must possess three qualities, AUTHORITATIVE- are samples of each, taken from the Encyclopædia : Authoritativeness. Our recent departure into the field of colonial expansion brings to the subject of ship building. We must have merchant ships to carry on commerce with our colonies, and we must have warships to protect our merchant ships. Who is best qualified to give us authoritative information on this subject? In our history Charles H. Cramp, head of the ship building firm of Willliam Cramp & Sons, writes on "Ships and Ship Building." Captain Alfred T. Mahan, of the United States Navy, writes on "Naval Ships." John P. Holland, inventor of the Holland submarine boat, writes on "Submarine Boat Building" Henry Sherman Boutell, member of congress from Illinois, writes on the "Maintaining and Building of Ships on the Great Lakes." Lieut. J. H. Gibbons, U. S. N., writes on "The Great Lakes and the Navy." This certainly covers the field exhaustively and authoritatively. On the subject of religion, instead of offering one general article on American religion, we offer four, covering the four trends of religious sentiment in this country, and each article is written by a scholar of eminence. Cardinal Gibbons, head of the Roman Catholic church in America, writes on "Catholicism;" Washington Gladden, author of many, theological books, writes on "Protestantism;" R. J. H. Cottheil, professor of semitic languages at Columbia University, writes on "Judaism;" Goldwin Smith, professor of history at the University of Toronto, writes on "Free Thought." In addition to these special papers there are encyclopædic articles on various denominations. This enables you to study American religion from every side. Completeness. There is nothing which discourages a reader of history more than to find that he cannot find in his high-priced history or encyclopædia the very thing he wants to know. This may be for two reasons: The work may not be complete, or the information not accessible. Here It stands to reason that a work of such magnitude on United States history as Harper's will give eminent satisfaction because of the thoroughness of its execution. In the first place, it gives a complete history of every phase of American life from 458 to the present. Compared with encyclopædias, it devotes seventy times more space to American history than does the most complete encyclopædia published (Britannica). This comparative table will show you at a glance the space allotted to American history in the great encyclopædia and reference books. We exclude the biographical matter in our ENCYCLOPEDIA from this comparison. Number of pages devoted to United States History, Britannica, 62; Johnson's, 14; International, 55; Larned, 423; HARPER'S, 4,000. Compared with histories, the number of words in each of the following works is a sufficient object lesson: Bancroft, 1,707,480; Bryant, 1,083,00; Hildreth, 1,046,520: HARPER'S, 4,000,000. These tables demonstrate conclusively the superiority of our work from the view point of completeness." Accessibility. Accessibility is the key to the store-room of historical knowledge. Information is of no value unless it is accessible. Accessibility has been the aim of our editors. The reader, with this set of books before him, need consider no other authority. Every reference in the work is to some other article in the work. Every vital document, speech or message in the history of the United States is included in this encyclopædia under its alphabetical heading. The system of cross-references enables the reader to exhaustively study every subject. A hint of the great scope of historical information found in the ENCYCLOPÆDIA is suggested in the questions printed in the March number of the Educator-Journal. The ENCYCLOPEDIA is as essential to the study of American history as is the unabridged Dictionary to the study of the English Language. Write at once for special terms to teachers and school libraries. HARPER & BROTHERS Franklin Square New York City |
