Since the first publication of this work in 1860, many new names have
appeared in modern literature. Japan, hitherto almost unknown to
Europeans, has taken her place among the nations with a literature of her
own, and the researches and discoveries of scholars in various parts of
the world have thrown much light on the literatures of antiquity. To keep
pace with this advance, a new edition of the work has been called for.
Prefixed is a very brief summary of an important and exhaustive History of
the Alphabet recently published.