Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 1.djvu/12

 TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. Since the beginning of the present century numerous monu- ments have been brought to hght, old writings have been read and translated, chronologies have been discovered, thousands of inscriptions have been deciphered, and sculptures of. the most varied kind have been exhumed, giving faithful portraitures of civilizations that had their being thousands of years before our era ; ancient history, therefore, has had to be entirely re-written. There is scarcely a day, so to speak, that does not add to the knowledge we already possessed as to the frequent and intimate intercourse which Hellas entertained with those Eastern nations whose territories extended to her own borders, and who were in the enjoyment of a culture little inferior to that of Babylon and Egypt at an age when the Hellenes were still semi-savages. Accordingly, no Art -history of Greece can now be undertaken without reference to Oriental art. Hence is explained why the preliminary work of the joint authors should have grown into five volumes, ere reaching the Grecian shores. Remembering that no other nation has had the aesthetic feeling developed to so remarkable a degree as the Hellenes, it will cause no surprise to hear that the Art-history of Greece will comprise three volumes, as lavishly illustrated as heretofore by way of living commentary. The illustrations will continue to be selected from among such as have been indifferently reproduced or not reproduced at all. Thanks to the employment of new processes, the publishers declare that the single volumes will be issued at popular prices. There is more : the conditions of the book-market are not the same in Paris as they are in this country. Generally, the expenses of publication of educational and scientific works are in part, if not wholly, defrayed by Government. Here they fall 7'