Excerpt from Old English Masters<br><br>In the selection of painters for representation, the title Old English Masters was thought to be broad enough to include a Scotchman like Raeburn, who was English in his art, and narrow enough to shut out an Englishman like Bonington, who was French in his art. The endeavor was to pick the best men of the best period - the period from about 1750 to 1850. The painters who flourished in that blossoming-time of English art were primarily painters of the portrait, the landscape, and the genre piece. The pictures which Mr. Cole has engraved represent them in these sub jects. In every case the example chosen shows the painter at his best or is designed to show him in a different style or certain period of his career. The private houses of England and Scotland were specially invaded to secure many of these pictures, and in this connection acknowledgment should be made of the great courtesy and kindness shown by the owners of the pictures in placing them at the service of the engraver. It is proper also at this time to thank, for good counsel in the matter of selecting the painters and their pictures, Mr. Sidney Colvin, Sir Edward j. Poynter, Mr. Lionel Cust, Mr. Holmes of Windsor, Mr. Strong of Chatsworth, Mr. Reeve of Norwich, Mr. Charles Fairfax Murray, Mr. Martin Colnaghi, Mr.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.