OF PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, ENGRAVERS, AND ARCHITECTS, FROM THE EARLIEST AGES TO THE PRESENT TIME; INTERSPERSED WITH ORIGINAL ANECDOTES. To which is added an Introduction, containing a brief Account of various Schools BY JOHN GOULD. A NEW EDITION IN TWO VOLUMES, VOL. I. LONDON: G. AND A. GREENLAND, POULTRY. MDCCCXXXVIII. PREFACE. In presenting to the public a DICTIONARY OF EMINENT ARTISTS, I need not expatiate on the interesting nature of its contents, or on the utility of such a performance. In estimating the degrees of success or failure, in an attempt, whether relating to works of science, literature, or art, I submit that it is first requisite to know distinctly what a man has aimed to perform. He should be judged by this standard only, and not by that of any other individual, whose superior attainments might qualify him for higher purposes. If it be not customary with talented critics to found their strictures on these grounds, I yet venture to hope that an exception may be made in favour of one who, unaffectedly and unequivocally, confesses himself no regular author, either by profession or practice. What I have laboured to perform may be stated in a few words. Without presuming to any artistical skill, |