Chats on Old Miniatures

J. J. FOSTER, F.S.A.
AUTHOR OF BRITISH MINIATURE PAINTERS AND THEIR WORKS, THE STUARTS IN 16TH, 17TH, AND 18TH CENTURY ART, FRENCH ART FROM WATTEAU TO PRUDHON, CONCERNING THE TRUE PORTRAITURE OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, ETC., ETC.
WITH 117 ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON T. FISHER UNWIN ADELPHI TERRACE MCMVIII
( All rights reserved. )
MANSION.
Portrait of a Lady.
Wallace Collection.

Acceding to the wish of my Publishers that the following pages should be included in a certain well-known series, I have termed them Chats on Old Miniatures, but confess that I consider the title somewhat of a misnomer, inasmuch as I have been accustomed to regard a chat as a conversation between two or more persons interested in a given subject; whereas in this little volume it is obvious that I have done all the talking.
In the interval which has elapsed since my larger works appeared the most important event in connection with the subject of Miniatures is, in my opinion, the Exhibition of Works of Art of the Eighteenth Century at the French National Library in 1906. The concluding chapter of this book gives the impressions afforded by that extremely interesting and instructive Exhibition.
In the hope that they will be of use to the general reader, I have amplified my references to the public collections of Miniatures in this country, especially those at Hertford House and the Jones Collection, so rich in the works of Petitot.