This Dictionary was commenced as an amended edition of that written by
M. Ernest Bosc, architect of Paris, and contains the 450 engravings
published in the French work, to which about 250 more have been added.
Little or nothing, however, of the text of M. Bosc’s work has been left
standing; his definitions having, in the process of revision under
reference to original works, almost entirely disappeared. The whole
work, as it now stands, has been drawn from, or carefully corrected by,
the best authorities in each of its special branches. Considerable
prominence has been given to ARCHITECTURE, from the French original
corrected from English writers; to CHRISTIAN ANTIQUITIES from
_Martigny_, and the Dictionary of _Dr. Smith and Professor Cheetham_,
and other authorities; to MEDIÆVAL ARMOUR, and terms of CHIVALRY,
chiefly from _Meyrick’s Ancient Armour_; to COSTUME from _Planché_ and
_Fairholt_; to HERALDRY from _Boutell’s_ and _Mrs. Bury Palliser’s_
works; to POTTERY, the substance of the articles on this subject being
derived from _M. Jacquemart’s_ work; to NEEDLEWORK, IVORIES, MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS, GOLDSMITHS’ WORK, PAINTERS’ MATERIALS AND PROCESSES ANCIENT
AND MODERN, COLOUR, &c., with references to the several authorities
referred to.
The GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES, which are the principal part of M.
Bosc’s work, have been in this volume reduced to the smallest possible
compass: the Dictionaries of Dr. Smith and Rich must be referred to by
those who require fuller definitions upon this subject, which would of
itself fill ten such books as the present.
A few INDIAN, CHINESE, and JAPANESE TERMS, which have come into ordinary
use in art, have been sought out and inserted: in the first-mentioned
_Dr. Birdwood’s Handbooks_ have been a most useful guide. Finally, it is
necessary to state, that many words essential to the completeness of the
work would have been in danger of omission, if I had not had before me
_Mr. Fairholt’s_ admirable _Dictionary of Art Terms_, which, occupying a
more restricted ground than this, is so thorough and accurate in dealing
with all that it professes to include, that the only _raison d’être_ of
this work is the very much wider and different ground that it covers,
and the greater condensation of its definitions. Obviously the substance
of every statement in the work is borrowed from some previous writer on
the subject, and it is evident that a Dictionary of Reference is not a
convenient vehicle for theory or invention.
The appended list of CLASSIFIED CATALOGUES which have been prepared by
direction of the authorities of the South Kensington Museum, will have
the additional use of referring the reader to the fountain-head at which
he can verify and amplify the condensed information that this work
supplies.