Page:A new and general biographical dictionary; containing an historical and critical account of the lives and writings of the most eminent persons in every nation v1.djvu/11

 T * ] PREFACE To the FORMER EDITION, 1761, S it is unnecefTary to mew the ufefulnefs of an accurate hiflorical account of iiich perfons and facts as have been the objects of public attention in all ages and nations ; no- thing more can be expected in a preface to this work, tlian an account of the manner in which it is executed, and the reafons why It was not thought to be precluded by any other work of the fame kind that is already extant. The principal of thefe works are Bayle's Hiftorical and Critical Dictionary ; the Gene- ral Dictionary ; the Biographia Britannica ; the Athense Oxonienfes, and Mr. Collier's Hif- torical Dictionary. Bayle's work is in five large volumes in folio : yet there are many perfons of great eminence, both ancient and modern, whom Bayle has not VOL. I. a ib