The collection of the Anecdotes now offered to the public has been
a work of some few years, but it has also been a pleasure. Loving
Art, I have taken a deep interest in the light thrown by them on the
character and career of the great artists whose works have done so
much to elevate and refine mankind. These anecdotes have been culled
from various sources; and though many of them have doubtless been
several times related, yet some, it is believed, have never before
been published in a collected form. Mr. Henry Ottley, in the Preface
to his “Supplement to Bryan’s Dictionary of Painters,” remarks that
many artists to whom he had applied for materials for biography,
did not answer his letters, and that others declined from a feeling
of diffidence to give him the required information. I have found a
similar difficulty in obtaining anecdotes by applying to the artist
friends with whom I have the honour of being acquainted. My work has,
therefore, been to seek materials from other sources; to select,
arrange, and, in some instances, abridge. Whenever it was possible
to give the authority for a story, this has been done. The anecdotes
are arranged in groups, according to the artist to whom they relate;
and for convenience of reference, the names of artists are given
alphabetically. It is hoped that this little volume, while serving to
wile away a leisure hour, may at the same time do something to arouse
the reader’s interest in the men who have devoted their lives to the
service of Art, and so to the instruction and well-being of their
fellow-men.