Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/17

 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. XI necessarily technical and intolerably dry, and difficult to follow, even by those who have had the technical training, and have either the building or complete drawings of it before them. They have therefore provided the largest possible number of illustrations, and have confined the text to brief, but it is hoped vivid, notes of the special qualities and characteristics of the building referred to. It is hoped that the book will appeal not only to students who require an outline of architectural history as part of their artistic and professional education, but also to the increasing number of art workers who are interested in architecture in its relation to those accessory arts in which they are engaged. Lastly ; it is believed that a work in which architecture is treated as a result and record of civilization, will prove attractive to that increasing public which interests itself in artistic development. 2g, New Bridge Street, LuDGATE Circus, E.G. New Year's Day, 18