BOTH SIDES OF THE GASE 



Is it worth while to Buy th© Encyclcpsedia Britannica ? 



WHEN a man asks himself whether it is worth while to 

 buy a book, the burden of proof rests upon tbe book, 

 and not upon the purchaser. 



The rii inert ice, t lie rule that change and movement, shall 

 not occur without, a cause, is the ckiiiuitiny law that 

 keeps the planet* in their places, and it is as sound a. rule 

 of conduct as of physics. There is the money at the 

 hanker s. cap, hie of transformation into any one of a thou- 

 sand pleasing forms, and di sirable in iiself, without any 



and a sword that does not rust, i,nt urows longer and 

 sharper day by day ; doubling iiself after a few years, if 

 one leaves it nndisturbed. Vet within the last year more 

 than reu thousand of the people of these islands have 

 exchanged money for copies of tbe Encyclopaedia 

 Britannica, believing that ilie hooks are 01 more use to 

 i hem i ban the sovereigns- would have been. 



Why? 



To begin with first principles : everyone re ad9 one thing 

 worth reading, nowadays, the daily newspaper and eTery 

 man who reads- his newspaper, an: thinks about what be 

 reads in it, is using Ins mind io good purpose. If he does 

 not think about it, his time has been wasted; be might as 

 -veil have been > ha ping lie paper in I o boats, like a child, or 

 tearing it with his tee. Ii, like a puppy. 



It is wben he begins to think about his newspaper that 

 he finds the need of book?. The newspape may prim a 

 war map to help in in understand the mm emeu ts in an army, 

 but it cannot print a treatise upon every subject to which 

 the news of the day invites attention. Vet tbe treatise 

 must be accessible if the news is to be cleat ly apprehended; 

 the reader must refresh his recollections in one case, 

 acquire new information in aim- her case, in order intelli- 

 gently to form his opinions. Books aie as indispensable to 

 tbe newspaper reader— and therefore to everyone— as a 

 chart is to a navigator. A library of some sort is a neces- 

 sary of intellectual life. 



The question. I hen, changes. Is it worth while to buy 

 the Encyclopaedia Britannica rather than some other 

 systematised library? A systeniatised library it must be, 

 since itssunction is to answer questions, to meet any one 

 of the doubts that present themselves from day to day. 



Here, again, the consideration of cost, of the other ns^s 

 for money, must be ficed. 1 he " Times" lleprint of the 

 Kintb Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica is a 



much lower -pi iced honk than ihe original inipre.-s corn • 



pleted nearly ten years ago, although it is a verbatim 

 reprint— tbe same wmds in the saint' type, the same illus- 

 trations, no abridgement or curtailment. But, notwith- 

 standing the reduction in price, it costs, even now, in the 

 cloih binding, £it>. or in monthly payments. 16 guineas, at 



• be purchased for less money: 

 ■k of reference, that is certain 

 glish language no other work ol 



because there is-n 

 reference which ; 

 variety of subject 

 Britannica; it 

 com, etitor. 



Cannot a man, however, purchase isolated treatises, 

 dealing with tbe various branches oi knowledge, for bis 

 money ? 



That is a question whicb everyone can answer for him- 

 3 If ; it isa mere matter of figures, and the calculation 

 will, in itself, nirnish agreeable and instructive food for 



UlO 



gilt. 



thousand articles in the work, at least 

 fourteen thousand are brief essays. Th re are certain Ij 

 not, more than two thnusuid subjects which are each im- 

 portant enough to justify the ex-stence of a s nitrate book 

 upon each subject. Of these not more than rice liuntlr, d 

 are long enough to make each a book in itself. Upon 

 nearly every one of these five hundred subjects separate 

 books ha\e been published ; many ol them written by the 

 same men who wrote the articles tor the Encyclopaedia 

 Britannica. Everybody knows roughly what books cost : 

 a good history, so much, a good biography, so much, a good 

 handbook upon any special subject, so much. 



The most satisfactory way i o answer the question at. the 

 head of this announcement is to take pen il and paper and 

 estimate the cost of five hundred good books. 



If the total be more tlran a hundred guineas, as against 

 sixteen guineas, there is very lit le loom for doubt, and 

 the order form which follows prest nts itself opportunely. 



TEMPORARY PRICES FOR THE 25 VOLUMES. 



Sufficient provision will be made for the filling of Orders promptly posted either from tlte United Kingdom or tlie Colonies; but 

 applicants who hesitate may find that the offer has been withdrawn, or the prices increased, without further notice. 



MONTHLY PAYMENTS. 



TONE GUINEA to bt sent with Order : nothing more to be paid until ihe 25 volumes have been delivered, all at one time, to the 



■ l«r.] 

 CLOTH BINDING, 16 Monthly Payment: 



GUINEA each. 



HALF MOROCCO BINDING liehich we recommend\ 



23 Mo, ui, iv I'anitt-i- of ONE GUINEA each. 



FULL MOROCCO BINDING the ray best binding], 27 Monthly Payments of ONE GUINEA each, 



SO Mont,,,) Payments ot ONE GUINEA each. 



NOTE.— Il" the Purchaser sends a cheque tor ihe full amount at the cash prices: £16 for .he Cloth Binding. £20 for the Half 



Morocco Binding, £27 for the Full Morocco limiting, he will effect a saving of One Shilling m the Guinea, and no Order Form need he 



used. All Cheques should be drawn to Order ui H. E. HOOPER. The Form which follows is for the use of purchasers who prefer to 



make monthly payments. 



[The Cloth binding is of the same quality as that sold by the publishers at £57, 



ONE GUINEA each, or with Bookcase, 19 Monthly Payments of ONE 

 intend]. 20 Monthly Payments of ONE GUINEA each, or with the Bookcase, 



and weight of 



,ly I 



obi 



ihe 





is strong as a cloth binding can be. But 

 the Encyclopedia Britannica in that form or not at all. The 

 iiue of the work, alike call for a solid Half Morocco binding ; and if the price 

 makes a splendid addition to the equipment of a handsome house.] 



MONTHLY PAYMENTS.— Order Form. [i*ne] .' 8 <» 



All Cheques should be drawn to Order of H. E. HOOPER. 



The Manager, "The Times," printing House Square, London, EC. 



(Cloth, price 16 guineas, \Stnke out > ... i_i«__ 



I enclose One Guinea. Pease send me the Times Reprint of the) H:l!f M orocco , price 20 guineas. > two of ™. ., T„„ 



EncvcloP/KOia Britannica oth tditiun, bound 111 \ p u n, Morocco, price 27 guineas. J these Kites. J wn,CB *"** 



f agree to pay you. or anyone you appoint, at the rate of one guinea a month ; my next payment upon delivery of the complete -25 

 volumes, and my succeeding payments- on the corresponding clay of each month following. Until such payments are complete, 1 engage 

 that the' volumes, not being m'v property, shall not be disposed of by sale or otherwise. I further agree that it owing to unforeseen 

 circumstances. 01 winch yon shall be the judge, the volumes cannot be delivered, the return of the deposit of One Guinea to me shall 

 cancel this agreement. 



Please also send a Revolving' Bookcase, for which I agree to make three further monthly \ Strike out if Bookcase 

 payments ot Out Guinea each, alter tne payments lor the book are completed. J not desired. 



[Signed] 



SH4 [Address] 



Orders from Abroad should be accompanied by Cash Payment in full, in order to avoid the expense and complication 



Please address the package to 



If books are to be delivered bevond London postal district, the purchaser should add here 1 

 the name of the railway company 01 shipping agent in London to whom delivery is to be > 



made Beyond the London posta, dis net, can age v,ill be at su bscriber s cost. J , 



A Table of the Principal Contents of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," and a Pamphlet containing 

 Specimen Pages, Coloured Plates, and Brief Extracts from the Work, will be sent, Post Free, 

 upon application to the Manager of "The Times." The name of this Magazine should be 

 H rr stated in the application. 



i-k^ttvpnt-s of the West-End who cannot conveniently visit "The Times" Office may examine. at the establishment 

 ,1 Messrs Cliappell & Co. "am on , -. No. 50. New Bond-street Specimen Volumes of The Times 1 ' 



&£St5 tbe $N0ICLOpi:DI A BRITANNICA; A sample of the Revo vmg Bookcase may be seen, and Orders for 

 i**pi m* 01 tue mv/.i/i, thu Volumes and the Bookcases may be given, at that address 



