The Geography of Europe ¹

Abstract

EUROPE is undoubtedly the most refractory of the great divisions of the earth to get within the limits of a geographical treatise. The mass and variety of data of high scientific accuracy are so overwhelming that it is impossible for any one man to make himself acquainted with even a small fraction of the whole, and the compilation of a book on Europe, even on the generous scale which two volumes permits, cannot in the nature of the case be much more than a compilation of earlier compilations. In unskilled hands it could not fail to become a heterogeneous collection of facts; but Mr. Chisholm has brought to bear experience and expert knowledge in the choice and co-ordination of his material, and the result is a credit to British geography. It shows a great amount of reading amongst original, and sometimes not very accessible, works in many languages, which few compilers would have considered it necessary to undertake in preparing a volume in a popular series. Numerous references are given throughout to the sources of information, and we hope that the second volume will be furnished with a bibliography of the best works dealing with Europe as a whole, and with its larger regions.