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 FELIX SUMMERLY'S

RECREATION HAND-BOOK GUIDES

1843.

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance." "A merry heart hath a continual feast." "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine."—


 * "It is the peculiar character of the true religion to sanctify what is innocent and make even merriment meritorious."—

"Recreation is a second creation, when weariness hath almost annihilated one's spirits. It is the breathing of the soul, which otherwise would be stifled with continual business.......... As for those that will not take lawful pleasure, I am afraid they will take unlawful pleasure, and by lacing themselves too hard grow awry on one side."

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."— Euripides.

preceding sentences have been chosen as exemplifying, briefly and forcibly, the chief views with which this series of Hand-Books has been compiled. Whether or not any share of the growth of public interest in our National Exhibitions may be traced to these little works, it might be difficult if not presumptuous to attempt to determine; yet it may be allowable to instance, among the good and practical results which these Hand-Books have certainly effected for the public, the reduction in the price of the Official Catalogue of the National Gallery, from a Shilling to Fourpence, and the greater facilities of identifying the pictures at Hampton Court Palace, which having been brought to the notice of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, they most cheerfully assented to.

FREE PICTURE GALLERIES:

Being a Guide to all the Pictures in the National Gallery, the Dulwich Gallery, the Soane Museum, the Society of Arts, and the British Museum. Price Is. 6d. Each Gallery published separately at proportionate prices.