rations also were engraved from original sketches by the Author.
It has been suggested that the results of so much labour and research
should be still further utilised; and that the merit and value of these
Essays entitle them to a more lasting form than is afforded by the pages
of a magazine. The Editor confidently believes that the popular style in
which these articles are written, and the fund of anecdote and curious
information they contain, will render them acceptable to a large number
of general readers.

A second series of Art-papers, by the same Author, is in the press, and
will shortly be published, under the title of "Homes, Haunts, and Works
of Rubens, Vandyke, Rembrandt, and Cuyp; and of the Dutch
Genre-Painters."

_January, 1871._

CONTENTS.

RAMBLES OF AN ARCHAEOLOGIST AMONG OLD BOOKS AND IN OLD PLACES.

Ancient art--Mediaeval art--The Renaissance--Heraldry--Enamelling--
Mosaic--Glass-painting--Gothic metal work--Raffaelle ware--Wood
panelling--Decorative furniture--Book illumination--Engraved book
ornaments--Metal-workers--Ancient jewellery--Decorative art in the
sixteenth century--The Renaissance style--Italian art--The Gothic 1-44

GROTESQUE DESIGN, AS EXHIBITED IN ORNAMENTAL AND INDUSTRIAL ART.

Origin of the term _grotesque_--Egyptian boxes and spoons--Roman knives
and lamps--Mediaeval grotesque--Misereres, bosses, and capitals--Domestic
utensils--The _Ars Memorandi_--Decorative plate--The Italian, German,
and French goldsmiths--Book illustrations--Grotesque pottery 45-70

FACTS ABOUT FINGER-RINGS.

_Antique rings_:--Egyptian rings--Legend concerning the ring of
Polycrates--Assyrian, Etruscan, and Greek rings--Roman rings--
Inscriptions and devices--Key rings--Gaelic, Celtic, and Saxon rings.
_Mediaeval rings_:--Episcopal rings--Thumb rings--Religious
rings--Charm rings--The crapaudine, or toad-stone--The "Kings of
Cologne"--Mottoes, or "reasons"--"Tower" rings--Martin Luther's
wedding-ring. _Modern rings_:--Signet rings--Story connected with the
ring of the Earl of Essex--Shakespere's ring--"Gimmal" rings--
Wedding-rings and their "poesies"--Poison rings--Modern versions
of the Eastern tale of "The Fish and the Ring"--Memorial and relic
rings--Death's-head rings--"Giardinetti" rings--Indian and Moorish
rings--"Harlequin-rings"--"Regard-rings"--"Fisherman's ring" of the
Pope 71-157

ANCIENT BROOCHES AND DR