Page:The Galaxy, Volume 6.djvu/462

430 in history and biography, from 500 to 600; in geography, from 300 to 400; in polite literature, from 800 to 900, etc. The total number of literary productions in Germany during the last sixteen years is as follows:

In 1851... 8,326 In 1857. ..8,699 In 1863... 9,889 In 1852.. .8,857 In 1858.. .8,672 In 1864.., 9, 564 In 1853... 8, 750 In 1859.. .8,666 In 1865... In 1854... 8,704 In 1860... 9,496 In 1866.. .8,699 In 1855.. .8,794 In 1861... 9,566 In 1867... 9,855 In 1856.. 8,540 In 1862. ..9,779

If we calculate an average edition of 6,000 copies for each work, we have an average annual circulation—from 1851 to 1867—of from 49,956,000 to 59,334,000 copies, or during the period of sixteen years, 870,336,000 copies. Of this amount, about one-third is exported to France, England and America. In the above calculation the daily and weekly papers of Germany are not included, but the monthlies and quarterlies are. It must be remembered that very few monthlies and quarterlies reach a higher number of subscribers than from one thousand to four thousand. But while the price of labor and material is much lower in Germany than in America, yet the subscription price of German periodicals is much higher than that of American. And that is also generally the case with new books.

It is not my purpose to draw any inferences from the figures given above, although much might be said concerning the quantity and quality of these publications. It may be said, generally, however, that the majority of them are written with that thoroughness which is one of the characteristics of German scholars.

Among the most recent publications of Germany are the following:

The author of this work is one of the greatest Hebrew and Oriental scholars of Germany. He embodies here the results of thirty-four years of constant study of the Hebrew and Oriental languages. Since the days of Gesenius—nearly half a century—Hebrew lexicography has made little or no progress, while general and comparative philology have experienced wonderful advancement. It has been the author's aim not only to bring his work up to the present status of Hebrew philology, but to improve it by reviewing and sifting the immense amount of materials of the language, as well as of the topography, geography and history of the Biblical lands, and making use of the latest results of the exegetical and philological researches. To the lexicon proper is added a concise history of Hebrew lexicography, showing how the explanation of the words belonging to the Hebrew language was historically developed by degrees; how an alphabetical arrangement was first attempted in a peculiar and strange manner, consisting of an abstract of old Hebrew dictionaries, which had almost disappeared, and of similar works, belonging to that department in the first thousand years of our era. The whole work is a masterpiece of its kind. At once comprehensive and thorough, it is a lasting monument to the author's profound scholarship and splendid skill. The typographical execution of the work is superb, and reflects great credit upon its publisher, B. Tauchnitz, of Leipzic.

In this work its editor and contributors—men of more or less acknowledged theological ability—propose to give to the German public the latest results of Biblical investigation in a clear and concise manner. The undertaking is the first of its kind in Germany. The works already in existence are either too voluminous, learned and expensive for the general public, or they are manuals, containing little beyond pious reflections. This Biblical Lexicon is to comprise four large octavo volumes of 640 pages each, at $2 75 per volume; and is to be largely illustrated with maps and engravings. The theological standpoint of its editor and contributors is that of the extreme rational-