Excerpt from Catalogue of Engraved Portraits of Noted Personages, Principally Connected With the History, Literature, Arts and Genealogy of Great Britain: With Brief Biographical Notes, and a Topographical Index<br><br>What we have endeavoured to do, however, is to give as accurate a description of the state of the print as is possible in the limited space at our disposal. In a Catalogue containing upwards of items, there must of necessity be many portraits which have no claim to the description scarce. But the age of copper and steel plate engraving having all but passed away, many portraits now regarded as common must, in process of time - and that time not very far distant - inevitably become difficult to procure. The following pages contain a vast number of portraits, the rarity of which is proved by their absence from the majority of the catalogues of prints which have appeared for many years past.<br><br>The enormous increase in the value of mezzotint portraits has been very marked for some considerable time; and the tendency is still distinctly upward. To such an extent, indeed, have prices risen and so largely increased is the demand, it may reasonably be anticipated that in the near future, mezzotint portraits will be outside the reach of all but the wealthy. A large number will be found in these pages, many in early and rare states, worthy a place in the portfolio of the most fastidious collector. These were purchased long before the rise in value took place, hence the extremely moderate figures at which they are' priced.<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.