An Illustrated Dictionary of Words used in Art and Archaeology

The Greek and Roman Antiquities, which are the principal part of M. Bosc’s work, have been in this volume reduced to the smallest possible compass: the Dictionaries of Dr. Smith and Rich must be referred to by those who require fuller definitions upon this subject, which would of itself fill ten such books as the present.

A few Indian, Chinese, and Japanese Terms, which have come into ordinary use in art, have been sought out and inserted: in the first-mentioned viiiDr. Birdwood’s Handbooks have been a most useful guide. Finally, it is necessary to state, that many words essential to the completeness of the work would have been in danger of omission, if I had not had before me Mr. Fairholt’s admirable Dictionary of Art Terms, which, occupying a more restricted ground than this, is so thorough and accurate in dealing with all that it professes to include, that the only raison d’être of this work is the very much wider and different ground that it covers, and the greater condensation of its definitions. Obviously the substance of every statement in the work is borrowed from some previous writer on the subject, and it is evident that a Dictionary of Reference is not a convenient vehicle for theory or invention.