I feel it my duty to submit to the public a few remarks, introductory to the Preface, which bears the signature of Mr. Chatto.

As my attention has been more readily directed to matters connected with my own profession than any other, it is not surprising that I should find almost a total absence of practical knowledge in all English authors who have written the early history of wood engraving. From the first occasion on which my attention was directed to the subject, to the present time, I have had frequent occasion to regret, that the early history and practice of the art were not to be found in any book in the English language. In the most expensive works of this description the process itself is not even correctly described, so that the reader – supposing him to be unacquainted with the subject–is obliged to follow the author in comparative darkness. It has not been without reason I have come to the conclusion, that, if the practice, as well as the history of wood engraving, were better understood, we should not have so many speculative opinions put forth by almost all writers on the subject, taking on trust what has been previously written, without giving themselves the trouble to examine and form an opinion of their own.