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In order that our readers may readily appreciate the reliable and authentic information to be obtained from following the course of reading and study in The Lesson Outlines, we give a brief history of The New Student's Reference Work:

Over twenty years ago Mr. Beach prepared The Student's Cyclopedia, the pioneer reference work that has won the approval of the educators and the public. Then, with the assistance of a large corps of leading educators, he began gathering together new and valuable material, and after a long period of such preparation The Student's Cyclopedia was entirely rewritten. New ideas were incorporated, the scope of the work was so broadened that it became more than a mere cyclopedia, and a new work in three volumes was issued under the name of The Student's Reference Work. This has long been recognized as the standard work of its kind.

In making the latest edition, The New Student's Reference Work, our aim has been, not only to maintain the high standard character of The Student's Reference Work and to keep abreast of the times, but to move ahead along the most approved lines of educational work by securing the services and suggestions of those advanced and progressive educators who represent the best thought in the educational world.

The names of the educators who have contributed to The New Student's Reference Work are alone a sufficient guaranty of authenticity and excellence. We wish, however, to acknowledge here the splendid assistance that has been rendered by over two hundred city superintendents, who have contributed articles, and to many other educators who have given us encouraging and helpful ideas.

The Lesson Outlines are the result of an earnest wish on the part of the publishers to render the great wealth of information contained in The New Student's Reference Work more accessible and helpful than is possible even with our especially devised system of cross indexing. To this end we had a series of ideal outlines for study prepared. These were arranged by educators best fitted for the task, whose only instructions were to make the most perfect outlines possible. When completed, our indexers merely inserted the page references.

The Lesson Outlines are an aid to the teacher in summarizing subjects and in its suggestions. They are helpful to the student as an aid to school work in the preparation of special topics, in reviews and in securing a comprehensive grasp of main subjects. They are of inestimable value to the young man who may be denied the advantage of a college education and must depend on his own resources to become that best product of our American civilization——"a self-educated man."

The Outlines cover the various departments of knowledge and not only give a complete synopsis of a subject, but indicate the pages in The New Student's Reference Work where detailed information may be

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