Book 1, Prefaces Etc. : Chapter 1, Prefaces Summary and Analysis

The material in this section is devoted to preparing the readers for the text. It begins with a simple chronological chart set alone upon a page. This intimates to the truth that many editions of the book are well designed to be used as part of an educational system. While they are equally accessible to the lay person, they are devised to facilitate discussion with professors and to be readily used by university instructors. The chronological chart is a perfect example of how those who have prepared the document intended to put the book's contents and life of the author into a wider context using as few words as possible.

What follows that is an introduction to the author, or authors. John Stuart Mill credits his wife with so much of the endeavor...