Specimen Pages, Prospectus, & Opinions of the Press THE FOUNDATION, LAWS, AND GOVERNMENTS OF COUNTRIES-THEIR PROGRESS IN ARTS, THE BRITISH EMPIRE. NEW EDITION, BEING THE THIRTEENTH. 1868. BY BENJAMIN VINCENT, ASSISTANT SECRETARY AND KEEPER OF THE LIBRARY OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF PREFACE TO THE THIRTEENTH EDITION. THIS Volume is once more presented to the Public, with gratitude for the favourable reception of the long-continued labour bestowed upon it, shown by the frequency with which New Editions have been called for, although larger numbers of each successive impression have been printed. Since 1855, when my connection with the book began with superintending the printing of the Seventh Edition, my constant aim has been its thorough renovation and completion, which have been effected at the cost of much time and thought, by careful revision, and by availing myself of the abundance of invaluable materials at my disposal. The great difficulty, indeed, has been the selection and condensation of new matter, in order to keep the book within convenient dimensions. Its enlargement by the addition of matters of merely local and temporary interest, and of commonplace remarks upon the events recorded, would have been a far easier task. As new features, I may refer to the Chronological Tables at the beginning of the work, the dated Index, and the additions at the end; and the many biographical, geographical, and scientific facts inserted wherever they seemed requisite. Encouraged by success, I hope still to maintain the reputation which this work has attained, and daily to watch and record in its pages the progress of events; sedulously endeavouring to make it, not a mere Dictionary of Dates, but a dated Cyclopædia, a digested summary of every department of human history, brought down to the eve of publication. BENJAMIN VINCENT. THIRTEENTH EDITION, (Corrected to June, 1868). Dates and Facts relating to the History of Mankind from the most authentic and recent records, especially interesting to the Historian, Members of the Learned Professions, Literary Institutes, Merchants, and General Readers. In the course of June will be published, in One handsome Library Volume, beautifully printed in legible type, price 185., cloth; 215., half bound; 245., whole calf extra, and 325. whole morocco extra, HAYDN'S DICTIONARY OF DATES FOR UNIVERSAL REFERENCE: RELATING TO ALL AGES AND NATIONS: COMPREHENDING REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES, ANCIENT AND MODERN, THE FOUNDATION, LAWS AND GOVERNMENT OF COUNTRIES-THEIR PROGRESS IN CIVILISATION, INDUSTRY, LITERATURE, ARTS, AND SCIENCE-THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS IN ARMS-AND THEIR CIVIL, MILITARY, AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS, AND PARTICULARLY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. THIRTEENTH EDITION, REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED, BY BENJAMIN VINCENT, Assistant Secretary and Keeper of the Library of the Royal Institution of Great Britain. "On a former occasion we expressed our sense of the value of this work, which is the most universal book of reference in a moderate compass that we know of in the English language. The original compiler, Joseph Haydn, is dead. After fagging away at his interminable task, collecting and comparing dates from the earliest eras of chronology to the current hour, he departed and left this mass of materials to the executors of Mr. Moxon, or practically in perpetual trust for the English public. There is, in fact, as little chance of his book going out of print as of the extinction of the Post Office Directory' or of Bradshaw's Railway Guide.' Like both of these literary chefs-d'œuvre, it has grown into an institution, and Mr. Vincent, the assistant secretary and librarian of the Royal Institution, has the function of posting it up to the latest possible moment. Mr. Vincent has also submitted the work to a thorough revision, has largely increased its number of articles, and extended its index, while there is not a day which does not yield him fresh materials for incorporation under many of the titles which existed already. If we refer to some of the latter, we see at a glance the exigencies and the value of a book so edited and re-edited from time to time.”— The Times, November 30, 1861. "In the whole range of literature there is scarcely another volume that can be compared with it, for the value of its varied information. No mean praise this, but the Dictionary of Dates' honestly deserves it."-The City Press, April 26, 1862. 5 "Haydn's Dictionary of Dates' is the most complete and trustworthy addition to the Literature of reference which modern days have seen; it is a whole library in itself; no information will be sought in it which will not be found; it spans the world; it spans all time, past and present; its dates and facts not only rise when bidden, but are so suggestive that they set you turning its pages for other and collateral information. Every writer, speaker, and reader, every clergyman and teacher, who has placed this volume in his library, may complacently view it, and say, 'Here, within the space of this one book, do I possess the essence of all books, possess that which renders tedious reference to hundreds of volumes unnecessary and unwise.' In the rapid march of events and whirl of business, to save time ('to coin time,' as a certain writer expresses it) is one of the struggles of life; but how much so to a reader or student cast among a multiplicity of books, in a day when the printing-press has become one of the wonders of the world. Now we unhesitatingly affirm that every reader, thinker, or writer who is fortunate enough to possess this edition of Haydn's Dictionary of Dates' has that at hand which will enable him to effect the object which he seeks to attain, namely to coin time;' for instead of searching numerous books for the date or fact which he would ascertain, he has simply to turn to the index and proper page of 'Haydn's Dictionary,' and time and labour are at once saved. 'Beware of the man of one book' says the proverb. Certainly we shall beware of the man whose one book is 'Haydn's Dictionary of Dates.' In argument he would be a most formidable opponent, armed at all points, invulnerable, prepared.”—National Society's Monthly Paper, November, 1862. (Sanctuary, Westminster.) "Haydn's Dictionary of Dates' maintains its position as a work for universal reference, and has reached its twelfth edition, corrected to the present time, under the editorship of Mr. Benjamin Vincent."-The Times, March 10, 1866. "Every conceivable subject is to be found in this superb compendium of knowledge, and every fact of ever so little importance may be traced in its pages. It is a never-ending source of instruction and information."-The Observer, March 11, 1866. "Haydn's Dictionary of Dates' is one of the most invaluable works that can be possessed by the student, the scholar, or by those engaged in almost every active pursuit or profession of life. Its mine of wealth is almost inexhaustible, and its information extends from the earliest times down to yesterday."-Sunday Times, March 4, 1866. "Although all persons whose wont it is to explore the by-paths of literature, or to seek out the details suggested by casual allusions in the newspaper press and elsewhere, are quite familiar with the fact that Haydn's Dictionary of Dates' is a book of great utility, there are some whose knowledge goes no further. Now we venture to say that a more entertaining book for an inquiring mind was never produced.”—The Queen, March 17, 1866. ". . . . This new edition of a work long ago recognised as an indispensable occupant of a library of even the most modest pretensions.' ."-The Atlas, March 10, 1866. ... One of the most useful, convenient, and valuable works had been given to the public that had ever issued from the press; and, despite some faults and shortcomings, the book continued to gain in public estimation so rapidly that no less than six editions were exhausted before 1855, when the author died, leaving the task of completing the preparation of a seventh issue, upon which he was then engaged, to the present editor, Mr. Benjamin Vincent."—Illustrated Times, March 1, 1866. "The number of editions clearly testifies to the great practical utility of this well-known work of reference. A mere glance through its contents is sufficient to show the amount of labour expended in compilation, and the multitude of topics on which it may be consulted."— The Globe, March 8, 1866. "In this field of labour no man worked more zealously or more carefully than the late Mr. Haydn, and his Dictionary of Dates' has done more, perhaps, than any other work to supply writers, orators, and public men with the raw material, which they have applied, with more or less success, to the service of the public, and to the establishment of their own reputation. The twelfth edition of this standard work has just been issued by Mr. Moxon, and under the very able and careful revision of Mr. Benjamin Vincent, the work is now a digested summary of every department of human history, brought down to the very eve of publication."-Railway News, March 17, 1866. LONDON: EDWARD MOXON & CO., 44, DOVER STREET, W. |