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Rh and vital statistics of the Jews, and to present a view of their social and economic condition.

It has been one of the special aims of the to bring together as full a body of illustrative material as possible. Many topics of a historical or archeological character lend themselves to illustration through the reproduction of the remains of antiquity or of ecclesiastical art. Objects connected with the Jewish synagogue service and Jewish modes of worship will be found fully illustrated. Prominent Jewish personages are portrayed, the chief monuments of Jewish architecture are represented by pictures of such synagogues as are remarkable architecturally or historically, and the department of literature is enriched with illustrations of the externals of book-lore. This feature of the work, which was placed in charge of, will, it is believed, prove of great educational value in every Jewish household.

In determining the plan and proportions of the present undertaking, the Editorial Board has labored under the special difficulties that attach to pioneer work. No successful attempt has heretofore been made to gather under one alphabetical arrangement all the innumerable topics of interest to Jews as Jews. Apart from the Bible, the only department which has as yet been put in encyclopedic form is that of Rabbinic Literature, for which there exist encyclopedias, one—the (Pahad Yizhak)—compiled by Isaac Lampronti in the seventeenth century in Hebrew, and one prepared in modern times by J. Hamburger, the "Realencyklopädie für Bibel und Talmud," in German. Each of these productions labors under the disadvantage of being the work of one man. Of the more comprehensive encyclopedias planned by Rapoport, ('Erek Millin), only the first letter appeared in 1852. The plan of a publication somewhat on the same lines as the present was drawn up by Steinschneider in conjunction with Cassel as far back as 1844, in the "Literaturblatt des Orients," but the project did not proceed beyond the prospectus (a specimen page from which is shown on the opposite page) and a preliminary list of subjects. Dr. L. Philippson in 1869 and Professor Graetz in 1887 also threw out suggestions for a Jewish encyclopedia, but nothing came of them.

The present undertaking is the realization of an ideal to which has devoted his energies for the last ten years. After several years spent in enlisting the interest of European scholars in the enterprise, he found that it was only in America that he could obtain both that material aid and practical scholarly cooperation necessary to carry out the scheme on the large scale which he had planned. Thanks to the enterprise and liberality of the, which generously seconded the energetic initiative of , the cooperation of the undersigned staff of editors, together with that of the consulting boards, both American and foreign, was rendered possible. The preliminary work was done in the winter of 1898-99, by, and. These were soon joined by, of Washington, D. C.; , of Cincinnati; and ., of Philadelphia; and , of Andover. Organization of the work was effected by these gentlemen at meetings held in New York, March 1 and 6, and July 12, 1899. , of the, presiding, and the plan of operation submitted by the firm was adopted by them. To these was added later, of London, as well as and , both of New York city. , having assumed additional duties as president of the Andover Theological Seminary, and was elected in his place in January, 1900.