This Encyclopaedia was to have been a cooperative compilation, a compilation of articles written by specialists in the various subjects, cooperating closely under the Editorship of Mr. Lakshmana Ras. It is sad to reflect that such cooperative .enterprises have not proved the success that was anticipated. At any rate, they fost a great deal in time and in money, as witness the great Telugu Dictionary, de Surya Raya Andhra Nighantu, on which the Majarajah Saheb of Pithapur has spent a very large sum of money. Of this Dictionary too, only one volume has been published so far; and here again it is not possible to foretell how soon it will be completed and published, though the patronage of the Mabarajah of Pithapur is ample insurance against mishaps and failure. Such Telugu Dictionaries as have been completed with commendable regard to economies of time and expense have been those compiled by individuals, of which the classic example in modern times is The Andhra Sabda Ratnakaramu of Bahujanapalli Seetharama Acharyalu, a scholar of unsurpassed erudition and perseverence, whose example is in our own day being successfully followed by Sri Kotra Syamala Kama Sastry, whose Dictionary, The Andhra Vachaspatyamu is nearing completion. It is to be fervently hoped that this Encyclopaedia of Mr. Balasuryaprasada Rao Bahadur will not share the tragic fate of its precursor, but will soon be published in full. I know there are trunk loads of Mss. ready for the Press. The work is almost completed; what remains is rapid publication and the avoidance of delays with their attendant risks. In many respects, the greatest Encylopaedia is the one that heralded the dawn of the French Revolution, and in the production of which the immortal names of Voltaire, Diderot and D' Alembert are connected-an Encyclopaedia of ideas even more than information. This French Encyclopaedia was charged with the dynamite of the personality of the three greatest rationalists of the Eighteenth Century, and no wonder it shook France and, through France, Europe. I do not mean to say that the present Encyclopaedia is at all of the standing and stature of the historic French classic. But it too is charged with the power of personality. It too is characterised by a spirit of rationalistic enquiry and humanitarian outlook. And it too possesses the grace of style in a peculiarly high measure. For these reasons, I am confident that Balasuryaprasada Encyclopaedia in Telugu or, as I would prefer to call it, the Balasuryaprasada Andhra Vijnana. Samhita, will live as long as Telugu lives as an effective factor in the composite structure of Hindu civilization. ANDHRA UNIVERSITY, WALTIAR, 25th April, 1939. C. R. REDDY.
