PREFACE. \ 



ft 



not because the author preferred them to their originals, 

 but because he doubted his ability to better them. It is one 

 thing to find 'fault with a translator for his shortcomings, 

 but quite another thing to avoid them in one's own trans- 

 lation. The translators to whom the author of this Biogra- 

 phy is indebted are: TJwmasi?ia Ross, for the "Voyage;" 

 Mrs. Sabine for the "Ansichten der Natur;" Helen Maria 

 Williams, for the " Vues des Cordilleres ;" and John 

 Black for the " Essai politique." The last two works are 

 out of print, though copies are occasionally to be found at 

 the old book stalls ; the " Ansichten der Natur," and the 

 "Voyage," or as it is christened in the translation, the 

 " Personal Narrative," are in print, though scarcely within 

 the reach of the general reader, never having been reprinted 

 in this country. The English edition of the "Personal 

 Narrative" costs three times as much as the present 

 volume. 



The chapter on Central Asia, in Book III., which is the 

 substance of Rose's " Reise nach dera Ural," is rewritten 

 and enlarged from Mr. Taylor's " Cyclopa3dia of Modern 

 Travel." These, as far as the author remembers, are the 

 principal sources to which he is indebted. He shoidd men- 

 tion, perhaps, the various French and English Encyclo- 

 paedias from which he has filled up his sketches of some 

 of Humboldt's contemporaries, but Encyclopaedias have no 

 authors, as everybody knows ; besides, they are made for 

 the very purpose to ichich he has p>ut them. The same 

 may be said of the journals of the day. 



The reader now understands the extent of the authors 



