TRANSLATORS' PREFACE. 



THE NEED experienced in Germany of an adequate biography of 

 Alexander von Humboldt has perhaps been felt with scarcely 

 less urgency in this country: and there is therefore every 

 reason to hope that this attempt to place before the world in a 

 true light the life and labours of the Author of c Cosmos,' will 

 meet in England with a welcome no less cordial than that which 

 has been granted to the work in its original form. 



In preparing this biography for English readers, it has been 

 deemed advisable to omit the third volume, devoted to a 

 critical investigation of Humboldt's scientific labours, since 

 these are given with sufficient minuteness for the general 

 reader in the biographical portion ; nor has it been thought 

 desirable to include the last section of the second volume, 

 consisting of an elaborate catalogue of his voluminous works. 

 With these exceptions, the omissions consist only of official 

 documents and some passages of purely local interest. 



In rendering quotations from ' Faust,' the translators have 

 followed the metrical version of Mr. Bayard Taylor. The 

 thermometric readings are given according to Fahrenheit's 

 scale. The notes within brackets have been added by the 

 translators. 



RAY LODGE, MAIDENHEAD : March 1873. 



