SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



A DICTIONARY ADDED TO 



THE LIBRARY OF REFERENCE. 



Issued by 



THE CENTURY DICTIONARY. 



HALF PRICE TO EARLY SUBSCRIBERS. 



THE annual production ot books worth reading: is quite as 

 larg-e in England as in any other country; the serious 

 reviews are not altogether lost to sight in the Hood of 

 cheap magazines, and our newspapers devote more space 

 to contemporary history and less space to tittle-tattle than do the 

 newspapers published in some parts of the world. So constant a 

 supply of valid mental food must inevitably enrich the mind of 

 the general reader, if it is properly digested. And since there is 

 a steady demand for standard works of reference, it is fair to 

 assume that the British reader takes the trouble to think about 

 what he reads. The unintelligent type of reader is certainly not 

 over fond of enc3''clopa;dias and dictionaries, so that the sale of 

 such works affords a very fair test of the energy or indolence of 

 our assimilation. ' 



£35o;ooo. 



It is known that over eighteen thousand copies of the En- 

 cvcLOP.^DiA Britannica wcre sold in the United Kingdom 

 during the year which ended last Lady Day, a sale representing 

 an investment, by the public, of considerably more than ^350,000 

 in this one work of reference. Within the few weeks which have 

 elapsed since The Times anntunced its issue of the Century 

 Dictionary, more than fifteen hundred copies of that work have 

 been purchased. So keen a demand for works of reference 

 certainly points to the existence of a large class of thoughtful 

 readers, and shows, too, that a good many of us pursue almost 

 unconsciously, acontinuedcourseof secondary education, making 

 headway without any sense of effort. The most cursory 

 examination of such a work as the Century Dictionary is 

 sufficient to prove that it must exert a very real influence for 

 good wherever it is habitually used. 



A WORD-BOOK AND FACT-BOOK. 



At once a word-book and a fact-book, it serves the double 

 purpose of guiding the reader to the accurate use of words 

 and the swift apprehension of facts. Unlike the Encyclopedia 

 Britannica, it deals with isolated facts rather than with facts in 

 groups. Of these two methods of presenting information, each 

 possesses its characteristic advantages. When one desires to 

 have all that there is to learq about any gi^'en branch of know- 

 ledge, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is found to be the most 

 ■ exhaustive, the most readable, and the most authoritative collec- 

 tion of treatises which has ever been formed. When, on the 

 other hand, it is expedient to find one's way as quickly as possible 

 to any single item of information, disregarding the temptation 

 to pause for the consideration of allied subjects, the brief and 

 individualised expositions offered by the Century Dictionary 

 enable the reader to learn what he wants to learn without 

 encountering extraneous facts. The two works of reference are 

 admirable complements one to the other, from this point of view. 



As a word-book the Century Dictionary is incomparably the 

 best in the world. Its vast vocabulary comprises the English of 

 the past and of the present, the whole body of the language, 

 literary, technical, and colloquial, provincial, colonial, and 

 American, all possible usages, and all possible forms of spelling. 

 Its tables of synonyms, its collection of quotations and the 

 copious illustrations, which add not less to the utility than to the 

 beauty of its pages, are all planned and executed with surpassing 

 skill. Its eight volumes— seven thousand pages in all— contain 

 500,000 definitions, 300,000 quotations, and 7,500 illustrations, a 

 Wealth of detail which no other dictionary has as yet approached. 



a bargain for prompt applicants. 



The price at which this marvellous work is offered bj' The 

 Times is, to book-buyers, whose means are not unlimited, a 

 consideration of no little importance. 



In pursuance of the policy adopted by TJic Times in its issue of 

 the Encyclopaedia Britannica, a very great reduction in the 

 price is accompanied by the further convenience of the monthl>" 

 payment system. The Century Dictionary is supplied by The 

 Times at £\2t, in the Half Morocco Binding, a reduction of 45 

 per cent, from the regular price. The work in Three-Quarter 

 Levant Binding — recommended alike by its beautj' and durability 

 — is ;&i5, and the Full Morocco Binding, adapted to the require- 

 ments of connoisseurs is sold for ;^i8. 



the monthly payment system. 



Under the system of serial payments, the eight volumes in any 

 of the three styles of binding, will be promptly delivered, all at 

 one time, for a preliminary payment of only one guinea, the 

 purchase to be completed by further monthly payments of one 

 guinea. The price, under these conditions, is, according to the 

 binding, thirteen, fifteen, or eighteen guineas in all — only 5 per 

 cent, more than the price for payment in cash. 



This remarkable combination of a very large reduction in price 

 with the most convenient terms of payment is the result of a 

 novel theory of bookselling. 



The foundation of all discount prices in the bookselling trade is 

 cash payment, an inconvenience which the purchaser must suffer 

 in order to get the advantage of the discount. 



The Times dispenses with cash payment, and yet gives a far 

 larger discount than is generally allowed for cash payment. 



That is the NEW THEORY OF BOOKSELLING. Perhaps 

 it would be more exact to call it a new theory of advertising. 



Every early purchaser of a new work of reference is. un- 

 consciously, advertising the book. If he is pleased he expresses 

 his pleasure. If he sees that he has made a good bargain he tells 

 his friends about it. That is the best advertising in the world. 

 But a sacrifice must be made in order to obtain it. 



A limited edition of the new work must be sold at a very low 

 price in order to attract a sufficient number of early purchasers 

 without losing time. 



This is the procedure which is now being followed in the case 

 of the Century Dictionary. As soon as the limited edition has 

 been exhausted, the price will be increased. 



When The Times first offered the Encyclop.edia Britannica. 

 it was plainly stated that the price would be increased. Yet half 

 the people who bought the Encyclop.edia Britannica waited 

 until they had lost the benefit of the minimum price. 



Belated purchasers of the Century Dictionary will incur a 

 similar loss. 



Ls it not better to buy the work now ? 



Only one guinea in cash need he paid at once. The second 

 payment of one guinea is not due until the volumes have been 

 deli\ered. If the purchaser is leaving home for the summer, a 

 copy of the Century Dictionary will he reserved for him until 

 he returns, and his second payment will thus be postponed. One 

 guinea, must, however, be paid now, in order to seCure the 

 benefit of the introductory price. 



