This Dictionary was commenced as an amended edition of that written by M. Ernest Bosc, architect of Paris, and contains the engravings published in the French work, to which about more have been added. Little or nothing, however, of the text of M. 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.
The Greek and Roman Antiquities, which are the principal part of M. 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 viii Dr. 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. 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. List of Works on Costume, 1 s. Aar or Aarou , Egyp.
A plain in a supra-terrestrial region, which corresponded, with the Egyptians, to the Elysian Fields of the Greeks and the Asgard of Scandinavian mythology. Abaculus , Gr. A small square or cube of glass, or some vitreous composition made to imitate stone or glass of various colours.
