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In Chapter I, I shall deal not only twith the problem of the origin of the alphabet, but also with various scripts schich are partly undeciphered and had only limited use, in space and time, but notwithstanding, are palæographically important, being considered in one tway or another to be connected with the problem of the origin of the alphabet.
Chapter II is dedicated to the South Semitic alphabets, Echose connection with the North Semitic alphabet is still uncertain. In Chapters III, IV and 11, I shall examine the alphabetic scripts belonging respectively to the Canaanite, the Aramaic and the Indian main branches of scripts. Chapters VIII, IX and X will deal teith the Greek, the Etruscan and the Latin alphabets, and their direct or indirect offshoots. In Chapters V and VII there tcill be examined the non-Semitic offshoots of the Aramaic alphabets, and the Further-Indian offshoots of the Indian branch.
I have tried to introduce logical divisions and sub-ditisions in this immense material. Teco Chapters, VI and VII. may appear sometchat too long in comparison with the others. These chapters deal with matters which are commonly not taken into due consideration by the general histories of the alphabet, and are much less known than the other branches. I thought, therefore, it would be useful to allot them more space,
