Solution Manual for Accounting, 25th Edition all chapter instant download
Solution Manual for Accounting, 25th Edition all chapter instant download
https://testbankmall.com/product/payroll-accounting-2015-bieg-25th-
edition-solutions-manual/
testbankmall.com
https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-accounting-25th-
edition/
testbankmall.com
https://testbankmall.com/product/payroll-accounting-2015-bieg-25th-
edition-test-bank/
testbankmall.com
https://testbankmall.com/product/introduction-to-information-
systems-6th-edition-rainer-test-bank/
testbankmall.com
Test Bank for Voyages in World History, Volume 1 to 1600,
2nd Edition
https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-voyages-in-world-
history-volume-1-to-1600-2nd-edition/
testbankmall.com
https://testbankmall.com/product/marketing-research-burns-7th-edition-
solutions-manual/
testbankmall.com
https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-whats-that-sound-an-
introduction-to-rock-and-its-history-fifth-edition-fifth-edition/
testbankmall.com
https://testbankmall.com/product/solution-manual-for-principles-of-
supply-chain-management-5th-edition-wisner/
testbankmall.com
Solution Manual for Introduction to Learning and Behavior,
5th Edition
https://testbankmall.com/product/solution-manual-for-introduction-to-
learning-and-behavior-5th-edition/
testbankmall.com
b. On the income statement, total operating expenses (salary expense) would be overstated by
$7,500, and net income would be understated by $7,500. On the statement of owner’s equity,
the beginning and ending capital would be correct. However, net income and withdrawals
would be understated by $7,500. These understatements offset one another, and, thus, ending
owner’s equity is correct. The balance sheet is not affected by the error.
9. a. The equality of the trial balance would not be affected.
b. On the income statement, revenues (fees earned) would be overstated by $300,000, and
net income would be overstated by $300,000. On the statement of owner’s equity, the
beginning capital would be correct. However, net income and ending capital would be
overstated by
$300,000. The balance sheet total assets is correct. However, liabilities (notes payable) is
understated by $300,000, and owner’s equity is overstated by $300,000. The understatement
of liabilities is offset by the overstatement of owner’s equity, and, thus, total liabilities and
10. a. owner’s
From theequity is correct.
viewpoint of Surety Storage, the balance of the checking account represents an asset.
b. From the viewpoint of Ada Savings Bank, the balance of the checking account
represents a liability.
2-2
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
PRACTICE EXERCISES
PE 2–1A
1. Debit and credit entries, normal debit balance
2. Credit entries only, normal credit balance
3. Debit and credit entries, normal credit balance
4. Credit entries only, normal credit balance
5. Credit entries only, normal credit balance
6. Debit entries only, normal debit balance
PE 2–1B
1. Debit and credit entries, normal credit balance
2. Debit and credit entries, normal debit balance
3. Debit entries only, normal debit balance
4. Debit entries only, normal debit balance
5. Debit entries only, normal debit balance
6. Credit entries only, normal credit balance
PE 2–2A
Feb. 12 Office Equipment 18,000
Cash 7,000
Accounts Payable 11,000
PE 2–2B
Sept. 30 Office Supplies 2,500
Cash 800
Accounts Payable 1,700
2-3
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
PE 2–3A
July 9 Accounts Receivable 12,000
Fees Earned 12,000
PE 2–3B
Aug. 13 Cash 9,000
Fees Earned 9,000
PE 2–4A
Jan. 25 Jay Nolan, Drawing 16,000
Cash 16,000
PE 2–4B
June 30 Dawn Pierce, Drawing 11,500
Cash 11,500
PE 2–5A
Using the following T account, solve for the amount of cash receipts
(indicated by ? below).
Cash
Feb. 1 Bal. 14,750 93,400 Cash payments
Cash receipts ?
Feb. 28 Bal. 15,200
PE 2–5B
Using the following T account, solve for the amount of supplies expense
(indicated by ? below).
Supplies
Aug. 1 Bal. 1,025 ? Supplies expense
Supplies purchased 3,110
Aug. 31 Bal. 1,324
2-4
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
PE 2–6A
a. The totals are unequal. The credit total is lower by $900 ($5,400 – $4,500).
b. The totals are equal since both the debit and credit entries were
journalized and posted for $720.
c. The totals are unequal. The debit total is higher by $3,200 ($1,600 + $1,600).
PE 2–6B
a. The totals are equal since both the debit and credit entries were
journalized and posted for $12,900.
b. The totals are unequal. The credit total is higher by $1,656 ($1,840 –
$184). c. The totals are unequal. The debit total is higher by $4,500 ($8,300
– $3,800).
PE 2–7A
a. Utilities Expense 7,300
Miscellaneous Expense 7,300
Note: The first entry in (a) reverses the incorrect entry, and the second
entry records the correct entry. These two entries could also be combined
into one entry as shown below; however, preparing two entries would
make it easier for someone to understand later what happened and why
the entries were
necessary.
2-5
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
PE 2–7B
a. Cash 8,400
Accounts Receivable 8,400
b. Supplies 2,500
Office Equipment 2,500
Supplies 2,500
Accounts Payable 2,500
Note: The first entry in (b) reverses the incorrect entry, and the second entry
records the correct entry. These two entries could also be combined into one
entry as shown below; however, preparing two entries would make it easier
for someone to understand later what happened and why the entries were
necessary.
Supplies 5,000
Office Equipment 2,500
Accounts Payable 2,500
PE 2–8A
Fuller Company
Income Statements
For Years Ended December 31
Increase/(Decrease)
2014 2013 Amount Percent
Fees earned $680,000 $850,000 $(170,000) –20.0%
Operating expenses 541,875 637,500 (95,625) –15.0%
Net income $138,125 $212,500 $ (74,375) –35.0%
PE 2–8B
Paragon Company
Income Statements
For Years Ended December 31
Increase/(Decrease)
2014 2013 Amount Percent
Fees earned $1,416,000 $1,200,000 $216,000 18.0%
Operating expenses 1,044,000 900,000 144,000 16.0%
Net income $ 372,000 $ 300,000 $ 72,000 24.0%
2-6
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
EXERCISES
Ex. 2–1
Balance Sheet Accounts Income Statement
Accounts
Assets
Revenue
Flight Equipment Cargo and Mail
a
Revenue Purchase Deposits for Flight Equipment Passenger
Revenue Spare Parts and Supplies
Liabilities Expenses
a
Advance payments (deposits) on aircraft to be delivered in the future
b
Passenger ticket sales not yet recognized as revenue
c
Commissions paid to travel agents
d
Fees paid to airports for landing rights
Ex. 2–2
Account
Account Number
Accounts Payable 21
Accounts Receivable 12
Cash 11
Fees Earned 41
Gina Kissel, Capital 31
Gina Kissel, Drawing 32
Land 13
Miscellaneous Expense 53
Supplies Expense 52
Wages Expense 51
Note: Expense accounts are normally listed in order of magnitude from largest
to smallest with Miscellaneous Expense always listed last. Since Wages
Expense is normally larger than Supplies Expense, Wages Expense is listed as
account number 51 and Supplies Expense as account number 52.
2-7
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Ex. 2–3
Balance Sheet Accounts Income Statement
Accounts
1. Assets 4.
Revenue
11 Cash 41 Fees Earned
12 Accounts Receivable
13 Supplies 5. Expenses
14
Prepaid Insurance 51 Wages Expense
15 Equipment 52 Rent Expense
53 Supplies Expense
2. Liabilities 59 Miscellaneous
21 Accounts Payable Expense
22 Unearned Rent
3. Owner’s Equity
31 Ivy Bishop, Capital
32 Ivy Bishop, Drawing
Note: The order of some of the accounts within the major classifications is
somewhat arbitrary, as in accounts 13–14, accounts 21–22, and accounts 51–
53. In a new business, the order of magnitude of balances in such accounts
is not determinable in advance. The magnitude may also vary from period to
period.
Ex. 2–4
a. debit g. debit
b. credit h. credit
c. credit i. debit
d. credit j. credit
e. debit k. debit
f. credit l. debit
Ex. 2–5
1. debit and credit entries (c)
2. debit and credit entries (c)
3. debit and credit entries (c)
4. credit entries only (b)
5. debit entries only (a)
6. debit entries only (a)
7. debit entries only (a)
2-8
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Ex. 2–6
a. Liability—credit e. Asset—debit
b. Asset—debit f. Revenue—
c. Owner’s equity g. credit
Asset—debit
(Amanda Whitmore, Capital)—credit h. Expense—debit
d. Owner’s equity i. Asset—debit
(Amanda Whitmore, Drawing)—debit j. Expense—debit
Ex. 2–7
2014
July 1 Rent Expense 3,200
Cash 3,200
5 Supplies 1,300
Cash 1,300
10 Cash 11,400
Accounts Receivable 11,400
2-9
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Ex. 2–8
a.
JOURNAL Page 19
Post.
Date Description Ref. Debit Credit
2014 Adjusting Entries
May 22 Supplies 15 6,180
Accounts Payable 21 6,180
Purchased supplies on account.
b., c., d.
Account: Supplies Account No. 15
Post. Balance
Date Item Ref. Debit Credit Debit Credit
2014
May 1 Balance 9 1,500
22 19 6,180 7,680
Post. Balance
Date Item Ref. Debit Credit Debit Credit
2014
May 1 Balance 9 16,750
22 19 6,180 22,930
Ex. 2–9
a. (1) Accounts Receivable 48,600
Fees Earned 48,600
2-10
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Accounts
Receivable
(1) 48,600 (3)
31,400
Ex. 2–10
a. The increase of $140,000 ($515,000 – $375,000) in the cash account does
not indicate net income of that amount. Net income is the net change in all
assets and liabilities from operating (revenue and expense) transactions.
or
Cash
X 375,000
515,000
200,000
2-11
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Visit https://testbankmall.com
now to explore a rich
collection of testbank,
solution manual and enjoy
exciting offers!
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Ex. 2–11
a. Accounts Payable
Mar. 1 X
276,500 261,000
Mar. 31 76,000
b. Accounts
July 1 Receivable
49,000 525,000
X
July 31 61,500
c. Cash
Sept. 1 28,440 X
112,100
Sept. 30 33,200
Ex. 2–12
a. Debit (negative) balance of $16,000 ($314,000 – $10,000 – $320,000).
This negative balance means that the liabilities of Waters' business
exceed the assets.
b. Yes. The balance sheet prepared at December 31 will balance, with Terrace
Waters, Capital, being reported in the owner’s equity section as a negative
$16,000.
2-12
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Ex. 2–13
a. and b.
Account Debited Account Credited
Transaction Type Effect Type Effect
Ex. 2–14
(1) Cash 75,000
Luis Chavez, Capital 75,000
2-13
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Ex. 2–15
a. GRAND CANYON TOURS
CO.
Unadjusted Trial
Balance Debit Credit
April 30, 2014 Balances Balances
Cash 62,300
Accounts Receivable 8,500
Supplies 2,000
Equipment 25,000
Accounts Payable 13,000
Luis Chavez, Capital 75,000
Luis Chavez, Drawing 5,000
Service Revenue 19,500
Operating Expenses 4,700
107,500 107,500
2-14
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Ex. 2–16
LEAF CO. Unadjusted
Trial Balance December
31, 2014
Debit Credit
Balances Balances
Cash 13,500 *
Accounts Receivable 38,100
Supplies 3,200
Prepaid insurance 6,400
Land 40,000
Accounts Payable 23,500
Unearned Rent 13,500
Notes Payable 50,000
Dan Leafdale, Capital 50,000
Dan Leafdale, Drawing 16,000
Fees Earned 538,000
Wages Expense 476,800
Rent Expense 36,000
Utilities Expense 18,000
Supplies Expense 9,000
Insurance Expense 6,000
Miscellaneous Expense 12,000
675,000 675,000
Ex. 2–17
Inequality of trial balance totals would be caused by errors described in (c) and
(e). For (c), the debit total would exceed the credit total by $9,900 ($4,950 +
$4,950). For (e), the credit total would exceed the debit total by $17,100 ($19,000 –
$1,900).
Errors (b), (d), and (e) would require correcting entries. Although it is not a correcting
entry, the entry that was not made in (a) should also be entered in the journal.
2-15
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Ex. 2–18
RANGER CO.
Unadjusted Trial
Balance August 31,
2014
Debit Credit
Cash 15,500
Balances Balances
Accounts Receivable 46,750
Prepaid Insurance 12,000
Equipment 190,000
Accounts Payable 24,600
Unearned Rent 5,400
Carmen Meeks, Capital 110,000
Carmen Meeks, Drawing 13,000
Service Revenue 385,000
Wages Expense 213,000
Advertising Expense 16,350
Miscellaneous Expense 18,400
525,000 525,000
Ex. 2–19
(a) (b) (c)
Error Out of Balance Difference Larger Total
1. yes $6,000 debit
2. no — —
3. yes 5,400 credit
4. yes 480 debit
5. no — —
6. yes 90 credit
7. yes 360 credit
2-16
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Ex. 2–20
1. The Debit column total is added incorrectly. The sum is $890,700 rather than
$1,189,300.
2. The trial balance should be dated “July 31, 2014,” not “For the Month
Ending July 31, 2014.”
3. The Accounts Receivable balance should be in the Debit column.
4. The Accounts Payable balance should be in the Credit column.
5. The Samuel Parson, Drawing, balance should be in the Debit column.
6. The Advertising Expense balance should be in the Debit column.
Ex. 2–21
a. Prepaid Rent 13,550
Cash 13,550
2-17
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Ex. 2–22
a. Cash 17,600
Fees Earned 8,800
Accounts Receivable 8,800
Supplies 1,760
Cash 1,760
* The first entry reverses the original entry. The second entry is the entry that should
have been made initially.
Ex. 2–23
a. 1. Revenue:
$2,033 million increase ($67,390 – $65,357)
3.1% increase ($2,033 ÷ $65,357)
2. Operating expenses:
$1,454 million increase ($62,138 – $60,684)
2.4% increase ($1,454 ÷ $60,684)
3. Operating income:
$579 million increase ($5,252 – $4,673)
12.4% increase ($579 ÷ $4,673)
2-18
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Ex. 2–24
a. 1. Revenue:
$13,764 million increase ($421,849 – $408,085)
3.4% increase ($13,764 ÷ $408,085)
2. Operating expenses:
$12,224 million increase ($396,307 – $384,083)
3.2% increase ($12,224 ÷ $384,083)
3. Operating expenses:
$1,540 million increase ($25,542 – $24,002)
6.4% increase ($1,540 ÷ $24,002)
b. During the recent year, revenue increased by 3.4%, while operating expenses
increased by 3.2%. As a result, operating income increased by 6.4%, a
favorable trend from the prior year.
c. Because of the size differences between Target and Walmart (Walmart has
over 6 times the revenue), it is best to compare the two companies on the
basis of percent changes. Target and Walmart increased their revenue
from the prior year by approximately the same percent (3.1% for Target
and 3.4% for Walmart). However, Target's operating expenses increased
by only 2.4% compared to Walmart's 3.2% increase. As a result, Target's
operating income increased by 12.4% compared to Walmart's 6.4%
increase. Based upon this analysis, it appears that Target was better able
to control its operating expenses as its revenue increased than was
Walmart.
2-19
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
PROBLEMS
Prob. 2–1A
1. and 2.
Cash Equipment
(a) 25,000 (b) 2,750 (d) 9,000
(g) 11,150 (c) 4,000
(e) 1,600 Notes Payable
(f) 2,400 (j) 550 (c) 26,000
(h) 300 Bal. 25,450
(i) 3,500
(j) 550 Accounts
(m) 2,200 (i) Payable
3,500 (d) 9,000
(n) 815 (k) 1,500
Bal. 18,035 Bal. 7,000
Blueprint Expense
(k) 1,500
Automobile Expense
(n) 815
Miscellaneous Expense
(h) 300
2-20
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
CHAPTER 2 Analyzing
Transactions
Prob. 2–1A (Concluded)
3. LYNN CANTWELL,
ARCHITECT Unadjusted Trial
Balance July 31, 2014
Debit Credit
Balances Balances
Cash 18,035
Accounts Receivable 17,300
Supplies 1,600
Prepaid Insurance 2,400
Automobiles 30,000
Equipment 9,000
Notes Payable 25,450
Accounts Payable 7,000
Lynn Cantwell, Capital 25,000
Professional Fees 28,450
Rent Expense 2,750
Salary Expense 2,200
Blueprint Expense 1,500
Automobile Expense 815
Miscellaneous Expense 300
85,900 85,900
2-21
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Visit https://testbankmall.com
now to explore a rich
collection of testbank,
solution manual and enjoy
exciting offers!
Other documents randomly have
different content
novelists arises from her high conception of the art of fiction and her
strong grasp on intellectual and social problems, her descriptive
power ... and her command of a broad and vigorous prose style.”
(The same enthusiastic gentleman who wrote Mrs. Ward’s biography
also wrote the biography of Oscar Wilde. The latter is given much
less space, and the article on him is a petty, contemptible attack
written from the standpoint of a self-conscious puritan.)
Thackeray is given equal space with Balzac, and in the course of
his biography it is said that some have wanted to compare him with
Dickens but that such a comparison would be unprofitable. “It is
better to recognize simply that the two novelists stood, each in his
own way, distinctly above even their most distinguished
contemporaries.” (Both Balzac and Victor Hugo were their
contemporaries, and to say that Thackeray stood “distinctly above”
them is to butcher French genius to make an English holiday.)
In Dickens’s biography, which is nearly half again as long as that
of Balzac and nearly two and a half times as long as that of Hugo,
we encounter such words and phrases as “masterpieces” and
“wonderful books.” No books of his surpassed the early chapters of
Great Expectations in “perfection of technique or in the mastery of
all the resources of the novelist’s art.” Here, as in many other places,
patriotic license has obviously been permitted to run wild. Where,
outside of provincial England, will you find another critic, no matter
how appreciative of Dickens’s talent, who will agree that he
possessed “perfection of technique” and a “mastery of all the
resources of the novelist’s art”? But, as if this perfervid rhetoric were
not sufficiently extreme, Swinburne is quoted as saying that to have
created Abel Magwitch alone is to be a god indeed among the
creators of deathless men. (This means that Dickens was a god
beside the mere mundane creator of Lucien de Rubempré, Goriot,
and Eugénie Grandet.) And, again, on top of this unreasoned
enthusiasm, it is added that in “intensity and range of creative
genius he can hardly be said to have any modern rival.”
Let us turn to Balzac who was not, according to this
encyclopædia, even Dickens’s rival in intensity and range of creative
genius. Here we find derogatory criticism which indeed bears out the
contention of Dickens’s biographer that the author of David
Copperfield was superior to the author of Lost Illusions. Balzac, we
read, “is never quite real.” His style “lacks force and adequacy to his
own purpose.” And then we are given this final bit of insular
criticism: “It is idle to claim for Balzac an absolute supremacy in the
novel, while it may be questioned whether any single book of his, or
any scene of a book, or even any single character or situation, is
among the very greatest books, scenes, characters, situations in
literature.” Alas, poor Balzac!—the inferior of both Dickens and
Thackeray—the writer who, if the judgment of the Encyclopædia
Britannica is to be accepted, created no book, scene, character or
situation which is among the greatest! Thus are the world’s true
geniuses disparaged for the benefit of moral English culture.
De Vigny receives adverse criticism. He is compared unfavorably
to Sir Walter Scott, and is attacked for his “pessimistic” philosophy.
De Musset “had genius, though not genius of that strongest kind
which its possessor can always keep in check”—after the elegant
and repressed manner of English writers, no doubt. De Musset’s own
character worked “against his success as a writer,” and his break
with George Sand “brought out the weakest side of his moral
character.” (Again the church-bell motif.) Gautier, that sensuous and
un-English Frenchman, wrote a book called Mademoiselle de Maupin
which was “unfitted by its subject, and in parts by its treatment, for
general perusal.”
Dumas père is praised, largely we infer, because his work was
sanctioned by Englishmen: “The three musketeers are as famous in
England as in France. Thackeray could read about Athos from
sunrise to sunset with the utmost contentment of mind, and Robert
Louis Stevenson and Andrew Lang have paid tribute to the band.”
Pierre Loti, however, in a short biography, hardly meets with British
approval. “Many of his best books are long sobs of remorseful
memory, so personal, so intimate, that an English reader is amazed
to find such depth of feeling compatible with the power of minutely
and publicly recording what is felt.” Loti, like de Musset, lacked that
prudish restraint which is so admirable a virtue in English writers.
Daudet, in a short and very inadequate biography, is written down
as an imitator of Dickens; and in Anatole France’s biography, which
is shorter than Marryat’s or Mrs. Oliphant’s, no adequate indication
of his genius is given.
Zola is treated with greater unfairness than perhaps any other
French author. Zola has always been disliked in England, and his
English publisher was jailed by the guardians of British morals. But it
is somewhat astonishing to find to what lengths this insular
prejudice has gone in the Encyclopædia Britannica. Zola’s biography,
which is shorter than Mrs. Humphry Ward’s, is written by a former
Accountant General of the English army, and contains adverse
comment because he did not idealize “the nobler elements in human
nature,” although, it is said, “his later books show improvement.”
Such scant treatment of Zola reveals the unfairness of extreme
prejudice, for no matter what the nationality, religion, or taste of the
critic, he must, in all fairness, admit that Zola is a more important
and influential figure in modern letters than Mrs. Humphry Ward.
In the biography of George Sand we learn that “as a thinker,
George Eliot is vastly [sic] superior; her knowledge is more
profound, and her psychological analysis subtler and more scientific.”
Almost nothing is said of Constant’s writings; and in the mere half-
column sketch of Huysmans there are only a few biographical facts
with a list of his books. Of Stendhal there is practically no criticism;
and Coppée “exhibits all the defects of his qualities.” René Bazin
draws only seventeen lines—a bare record of facts; and Édouard Rod
is given a third of a column with no criticism.
Despite the praise given Victor Hugo, his biography, from a critical
standpoint, is practically worthless. In it there is no sense of critical
proportion: it is a mere panegyric which definitely states that Hugo
was greater than Balzac. This astonishing and incompetent praise is
accounted for when we discover that it was written by Swinburne
who, as is generally admitted, was a better poet than critic. In fact,
turning to Swinburne’s biography, we find the following valuation of
Swinburne as critic: “The very qualities which gave his poetry its
unique charm and character were antipathetic to his success as a
critic. He had very little capacity for cool and reasoned judgment,
and his criticism is often a tangled thicket of prejudices and
predilections.... Not one of his studies is satisfactory as a whole; the
faculty for the sustained exercise of the judgment was denied him,
and even his best appreciations are disfigured by error in taste and
proportion.”
Here we have the Encyclopædia’s own condemnation of some of
its material—a personal and frank confession of its own gross
inadequacy and bias! And Swinburne, let it be noted, contributes no
less than ten articles on some of the most important literary men in
history! If the Encyclopædia Britannica was as naïf and honest about
revealing the incapacity of all of its critics as it is in the case of
Swinburne, there would be no need for me to call attention to those
other tangled thickets of prejudices and predilections which have
enmeshed so many of the gentlemen who write for it.
But the inadequacy of the Britannica as a reference book on
modern French letters can best be judged by the fact that there
appears no biographical mention whatever of Romain Rolland, Pierre
de Coulevain, Tinayre, René Boylesve, Jean and Jérôme Tharaud,
Henry Bordeaux, or Pierre Mille. Rolland is the most gifted and
conspicuous figure of the new school of writers in France to-day, and
the chief representative of a new phase of French literature. Pierre
de Coulevain stands at the head of the women novelists in modern
France; and her books are widely known in both England and
America. Madame Tinayre’s art, to quote an eminent English critic,
“reflects the dawn of the new French spirit.” Boylesve stands for the
classic revival in French letters, and ranks in the forefront of
contemporary European writers. The Tharauds became famous as
novelists as far back as 1902, and hold a high place among the
writers of Young France. Bordeaux’s novels have long been familiar
in translation even to American readers; and Pierre Mille holds very
much the same place in France that Kipling does in England. Yet not
only does not one of these noteworthy authors have a biography,
but their names do not appear throughout the entire Encyclopædia!
In the article on French Literature the literary renaissance of
Young France is not mentioned. There apparently has been no effort
at making the account modern or up-to-date in either its critical or
historical side; and if you desire information on the recent activities
in French letters—activities of vital importance and including several
of the greatest names in contemporary literature—you need not seek
it in the Britannica, that “supreme” book of knowledge; for
apparently only modern English achievement is judged worthy of
consideration.
Modern Russian literature suffers even more from neglect.
Dostoievsky has less than two columns, less space than Charles
Reade, George Borrow, Mrs. Gaskell, or Charles Kingsley. Gogol has
a column and a quarter, far less space than that given Felicia
Hemans, James M. Barrie, of Mrs. Humphry Ward. Gorky is allotted
little over half a column, one-third of the space given Kipling, and
equal space with Ouida and Gilbert Parker. Tolstoi, however, seems
to have inflamed the British imagination. His sentimental philosophy,
his socialistic godliness, his capacity to “warm the heart” and
“improve the conduct” has resulted in a biography which runs to
nearly sixteen columns!
The most inept and inadequate biography in the whole Russian
literature department, however, is that of Turgueniev. Turgueniev,
almost universally conceded to be the greatest, and certainly the
most artistic, of the Russian writers, is accorded little over a column,
less space than is devoted to the biography of Thomas Love
Peacock, Kipling, or Thomas Hardy; and only a half or a third of the
space given to a dozen other inferior English writers. And in this
brief biography we encounter the following valuation: “Undoubtedly
Turgueniev may be considered one of the great novelists, worthy to
be ranked with Thackeray, Dickens and George Eliot; with the genius
of the last of these he has many affinities.” It will amuse, rather than
amaze, the students of Slavonic literature to learn that Turgueniev
was the George Eliot of Russia.
But those thousands of people who have bought the Encyclopædia
Britannica, believing it to be an adequate literary reference work,
should perhaps be thankful that Turgueniev is mentioned at all, for
many other important modern Russians are without biographies. For
instance, there is no biographical mention of Andreiev, Garshin,
Kuprin, Tchernyshevsky, Grigorovich, Artzybasheff, Korolenko,
Veressayeff, Nekrasoff, or Tchekhoff. And yet the work of nearly all
these Russian writers had actually appeared in English translation
before the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica went to
press!
Italian fiction also suffers from neglect at the hands of the
Britannica’s critics. Giulio Barrili receives only thirteen lines; Farina,
only nine lines; and Giovanni Verga, only twelve. Fogazzaro draws
twenty-six lines; and in the biography we learn that his “deeply
religious spirit” animates his literary productions, and that he
contributed to modern Italian literature “wholesome elements of
which it would otherwise be nearly destitute.” He also was
“Wordsworthian” in his simplicity and pathos. Amicis and Serao draw
twenty-nine lines and half a column respectively; but there are no
biographies of Emilio de Marchi, the prominent historical novelist;
Enrico Butti, one of the foremost representatives of the psychological
novel in modern Italy; and Grazia Deledda.
The neglect of modern German writers in the Encyclopædia
Britannica is more glaring than that of any other European nation,
not excluding Russia. So little information can one get from this
encyclopædia concerning the really important German authors that it
would hardly repay one to go to the Britannica. Eckstein—five of
whose novels were issued in English before 1890—is denied a
biography. So is Meinhold; so is Luise Mühlbach; so is Wachenroder;
—all well known in England long before the Britannica went to press.
Even Gabriele Reuter, whose far-reaching success came as long ago
as 1895, is without a biography. And—what is less excusable—Max
Kretzer, the first of Germany’s naturalistic novelists, has no
biographical mention in this great English encyclopædia!
But the omission of even these important names do not represent
the Britannica’s greatest injustice to Germany’s literature; for one will
seek in vain for biographies of Wilhelm von Polenz and Ompteda,
two of the foremost German novelists, whose work marked a distinct
step in the development of their nation’s letters. Furthermore, Clara
Viebig, Gustav Frenssen, and Thomas Mann, who are among the
truly great figures in modern imaginative literature, are without
biographies. These writers have carried the German novel to
extraordinary heights. Mann’s Buddenbrooks (1901) represents the
culmination of the naturalistic novel in Germany; and Viebig and
Frenssen are of scarcely less importance. There are few modern
English novelists as deserving as these three Germans; and yet
numerous comparatively insignificant English writers are given long
critical biographies in the Britannica while Viebig, Frenssen and Mann
receive no biographies whatever! Such unjust discrimination against
non-British authors would hardly be compatible with even the
narrowest scholarship.
And there are other important and eminent German novelists who
are far more deserving of space in an international encyclopædia
than many of the Englishmen who receive biographies in the
Britannica—for instance, Heinz Tovote, Hermann Hesse, Ricarda
Huch, Helene Böhlau, and Eduard von Keyserling—not one of whom
is given biographical consideration!
When we come to the American literary division of the Britannica,
however, prejudice and neglect reach their highest point. Never have
I seen a better example of the contemptuous attitude of England
toward American literature than in the Encyclopædia’s treatment of
the novelists of the United States. William Dean Howells, in a three-
quarters-of-a-column biography, gets scant praise and is criticised
with not a little condescension. F. Marion Crawford, in an even
shorter biography, receives only lukewarm and apologetic praise.
Frank Norris is accorded only twenty lines, less space than is given
the English hack, G. A. Henty! McTeague is “a story of the San
Francisco slums”; and The Octopus and The Pit are “powerful
stories.” This is the extent of the criticism. Stephen Crane is given
twelve lines; Bret Harte, half a column with little criticism; Charles
Brockden Brown and Lafcadio Hearn, two-thirds of a column each;
H. C. Bunner, twenty-one lines; and Thomas Nelson Page less than
half a column.
What there is in Mark Twain’s biography is written by Brander
Matthews and is fair as far as it goes. The one recent American
novelist who is given adequate praise is Henry James; and this may
be accounted for by the fact of James’s adoption of England as his
home. The only other adequate biography of an American author is
that of Nathaniel Hawthorne. But the few biographies of other
United States writers who are included in the Encyclopædia are very
brief and insufficient.
In the omissions of American writers, British prejudice has
overstepped all bounds of common justice. In the following list of
names only one (Churchill’s) is even mentioned in the entire
Encyclopædia: Edith Wharton, David Graham Phillips, Gertrude
Atherton, Winston Churchill, Owen Wister, Ambrose Bierce, Theodore
Dreiser, Margaret Deland, Jack London, Robert Grant, Ellen Glasgow,
Booth Tarkington, Alice Brown and Robert Herrick. And yet there is
abundant space in the Britannica, not only for critical mention, but
for detailed biographies, of such English writers as Hall Caine, Rider
Haggard, Maurice Hewlett, Stanley Weyman, Flora Annie Steel, Edna
Lyall, Elizabeth Charles, Annie Keary, Eliza Linton, Mrs. Henry Wood,
Pett Ridge, W. C. Russell, and still others of less consequence than
many of the American authors omitted.
If the Encyclopædia Britannica was a work whose sale was
confined to England, there could be little complaint of the neglect of
the writers of other nationalities. But unjust pandering to British
prejudice and a narrow contempt for American culture scarcely
become an encyclopædia whose chief profits are derived from the
United States. So inadequate is the treatment of American fiction
that almost any modern text-book on our literature is of more value;
for, as I have shown, all manner of inferior and little-known English
authors are given eulogistic biographies, while many of the foremost
American authors receive no mention whatever.
As a reference book on modern fiction, the Encyclopædia
Britannica is hopelessly inadequate and behind the times, filled with
long eulogies of bourgeois English authors, lacking all sense of
proportion, containing many glaring omissions, and compiled and
written in a spirit of insular prejudice. And this is the kind of culture
that America is exhorted, not merely to accept, but to pay a large
price for.
III
THE DRAMA
Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.
testbankmall.com