Excerpt from Notes: Critical Biographical<br><br>Besides the various articles described in this little volume there still remain worlds of beau ty unmentioned. This household is from gar ret to cellar a veritable museum, stored with objects of art. To the artist as well as the pub lic the educational value of the collection can not be overestimated. It is an honor to our country and stands as a beautiful monument of the true use of wealth. Of him whose lifework is treasured in this residence, words of praise are unnecessary. The objects them selves speak with far more eloquence than could the pen of the most accomplished. It is a grand realization of the dreams of his youth, dreams whose fulfillment then was visible only in the boundless possibilities ofthe great world that lay before him. Like a gardener on the sil very side of life,who is found among the plants and flowers which he has nurtured and seen grow into the fullness of nature, so has he for years watched the development of this beau tiful collection, andwith loving care constantly added and weeded out until one would linger long ere displacing a single object. Between him and many of the most illustrious of the artists represented bonds of friendship have existed which greatly endear their works to him. In gathering the data from which these articles have been written nothing could have exceeded the kindness shown the writer by Mr. Walters, whose work exemplified in the for mation of this collection implies a genius as peculiar and distinct in its way as that of any of the masters whose names appear on these pages. To this work and to him who accom plished it I humbly dedicate this book, brought as a cluster of wild flowers plucked from the wayside.<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.