d the author's own idea, than the inquiry embodied in the title of
the original edition.

(5) Several unimportant footnotes, references to other books, etc.,
have been omitted after careful consideration.

(Those who would wish to read the book in its original English edition
will be able to procure it from the English publisher, Mr. Philip
Wellby, 6 Henrietta street, Covent Garden, London, W. C, England.)

To the few readers of this book who are not familiar with the author,
Mr. Charles G. Leland, it may be said that this gifted man was an
American by birth, but who lived in Europe for many years before his
death. He died March 20, 1903, at Florence, Italy, at the ripe age of
79 years, active until the last and leaving unpublished manuscripts,
some not completed. He lived up to his ideas and profited by them. His
writings are spread over a period of nearly, or fully, fifty years,
and his range of subjects was remarkable in its variety, style, and
treatment.

Among his best known works were "Practical Education," "Flaxius," "The
Breitmann Ballads" (which introduced his well-known character "Hans
Breitmann"), "Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling," "Wood Carving,"
"Leather Work," "Metal Work," "Drawing and Designing," "The Minor
Arts," "Twelve Manuals in Art Work," "The Album of Repousse Work,"
"Industrial Art in Education," "Hints on Self Education," and many
other works along the lines of Manual Training, etc., and the
Development of the Constructive Faculties; "Kulsop the Master, and
other Algonquin Poems and Legends," "The Alternate Sex," and many
other works, some of which are now out of print, but a number of which
may be purchased from, or through, any bookseller. There has been
recently published a biographical work embodying his memoirs, written
and edited by his beloved niece, Mrs. Pennell, to which volume all
admirers of this wonderful man are referred.

Every subject touched upon by Mr. Leland was brightly illuminated by
the power of his marvellous mind. He seemed to be able to go right to
the heart of the subject, seizing upon its essential truth and at the
same time grasping all of its details. His mind was so full of general
information that it fairly oozed out from him in all of his writings.
The reader will notice this phenomenon in the present book, in which
the author has evidently had to fight his own mind in order to prevent
it from intruding all sorts of valuable and varied general information
i