First Edition, in 2 vols., demy 8vo, 30s., November 1867. Second Edition, in 2 vols., demy 8vo, 308., March 1868. Third Edition, in one volume, crown 8vo, 68., December 1869. Fourth Edition, in which was included, for the first time, the Life of Sir Robert Peel, in one volume, crown 8vo, 68., December 1875. Transferred to Macmillan and Co., Ltd., August 1898. Reprinted May 1900. TO LORD LYTTON. MY DEAR EDWARD, THE idea of this work, which I dedicate to you in testimony of the affection and friendship which have always united us, was conceived many years ago. I wished to give some general idea of modern history, from the period of the French Revolution of 1789 down to our own times, in a series of personal sketches. In these sketches I was disposed to select types of particular characters, thinking that in this way it is easier to paint with force and clearness both an individual and an epoch. The outlines of Talleyrand, Cobbett, and others, were then imperfectly traced; and Canning and Mackintosh have been little altered. The manuscript, however, was laid aside amidst the labours of an active professional career, and only thought of since complete leisure created the wish for some employment. It was then that I resumed my task. I need not say that the portraits I give here are but a few of those I commenced, but the constant change of residence, rendered necessary by the state of health in which I left Constantinople, interfered with the completion of my design, and added to the defects which, under any circumstances, would have been found in the following pages. Ever yours affectionately, 13, RUE ROYALE, PARIS, Oct. 10, 1867. H. L. BULWER, |