All this may seem a trifle complex as told here, but it will be found admirably simple and effective in practice. The reader has but to make the experiment, to find that he can trace the authorship of every line of the work without the slightest difficulty. It may be well to add, however, that the reference letter [a] is reserved for editorial matter, and that, very exceptionally, this letter is used in combination with another letter, as [ab], [ac], [ad], to give credit for matter that has been editorially adapted, but not quoted verbatim. It is perhaps hardly necessary to explain that direct quotations, such as go to make up the bulk of our work, are often given in an abbreviated form through the omission of matter that is redundant or, for any reason, inadmissible. The necessity for such change is obvious, since otherwise the varied materials could not possibly be made to harmonise or to meet the needs of our space. But, beyond this, no liberty whatever is taken with matter presented as a direct quotation. Where editorial modification is thought necessary, the use of reference letters makes such modification feasible without introducing the slightest ambiguity. We repeat that every line of the work is ascribed to its proper source with the utmost fidelity. Any matter not otherwise accredited--as, for example, various introductions, chronologies, bibliographies, and the like--will be understood to be editorial. Brackets also indicate editorial matter. CONTENTS VOLUME I PART I. PROLEGOMENA BOOK I. HISTORY, HISTORIANS, AND THE WRITING OF HISTORIES PAGE CHAPTER I SOME GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 1 The oriental period, 2. The classical historians, 3. The mediæval and modern histories, 4. CHAPTER II MATERIALS FOR THE WRITING OF HISTORY 5 CHAPTER III THE METHODS OF THE HISTORIANS 9 CHAPTER IV WORLD HISTORIES 13 CHAPTER V THE PRESENT HISTORY 22 BOOK II. A GLIMPSE INTO THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY 32 CHAPTER II COSMOGONY--ANCIENT AND MODERN IDEAS AS TO THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD 33 CHAPTER III COSMOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY--ANCIENT AND MODERN IDEAS 38 CHAPTER IV