EASILY SECURED.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIV, Issue 86, 22 March 1902, Page 2

EASILY SECURED.

There is a widespread idea that books are costly luxuries, and that only thoFe poi-se&so.l if abundant tneica can afford to be the owners of works covering a very wide range of topics. It is quite true that the possession of si comple'o library involves a largo expenditure, which is beyond the reach of persons of humble means. But it is also a fact that the ability to be( ome well-informed does not depend upon a large expenditure for books. At best, an education is but an epitomisation of the knowledge of others, and does not involve original ratiearch except in a few cases. To obtain such an epitomisation does not necessarily involve a detailed study of all the v/o,rks upon any desired topic, since this has already been done by the best scholars, the result of whose labours are confined in those great condensations known as encycloptedias. The "Encyclopedia Britannica " is the concentrated wisdom of the best minds the world has known. It is authoritative and complete. The amount required in order to obtain possession of this greatest of all works of reference is so small that no one can plead poverty as a reason for not, purchasing it, The insignificant sum of 6d a day csn surely he laid away by anyone who is regularly employed, no matter how small his salary, and yec that is all that is needed. A little self-denial is rill that is necessary, and it will prove a literal casting of bread upon the waters, for no money is so well spbnfc or so certain of leturniug a large interest a* that devoted to the improvement of one's mind. The Daily Mail offer of this great work iu the colony ha=i met with marked success. We understand the offer is to be permanently withdrawn in a short tirae.