Let me here and now, once and for all, sing my praises of Baedeker and his books. When I first went abroad it was with a lofty air that I considered Barfleur’s references to the fact that Baedeker on occasion would be of use to me. He wanted me to go through Europe getting my impressions quite fresh and not disturbed by too much erudition such as could be gathered from books. He might have trusted me. My longing for erudition was constantly great, but my willingness to burn the midnight oil in order to get it was exceedingly small. It was only at the last moment, when I was confronted with some utterly magnificent object, that I thumbed feverishly through my one source of supply--the ever-to-be-praised and blessed Karl Baedeker--his books. I think the German temperament is at its best when it is gathering all the data about anything and putting it in apple-pie order before you. I defy the most sneering and supercilious scholars and savants to look at these marvelous volumes and not declare them wonderful. There is no color in Baedeker anywhere, no joke, no emotion, no artistic enthusiasm. It is a plain statement of delightful fact--fact so pointless without the object before you, so invaluable when you are standing open-mouthed wondering what it is all about! Trust the industrious, the laborious, the stupendous, the painstaking Baedeker to put his finger on the exact fact and tell you not what you might, but what you must, know to really enjoy it. Take this little gem from page 430 of his volume on northern Italy. It concerns the famous Baptistery which I was so eagerly seeking. The interior (visitors knock at the principal entrance; adm. free) rests on eight columns and four piers, above which there is a single triforium. In the center is a marble octagonal _Font_ by Guido Bigarelli of Como (1246) and near it the famous hexagonal _PULPIT_ borne by seven columns, by Niccolò Pisano, 1260. The reliefs (comp. p.p. XXXIX, 432) on the pulpit are: (1) Annunciation and Nativity; (2) Adoration of the Magi; (3) Presentation in the Temple; (4) Crucifixion; (5) Last Judgment; in the spandrels, Prophets and Evangelists; above the columns, the Virtues.--Fine echo. Dry as dried potatoes, say you. Exactly. But go to Italy without a Baedeker in your hand or precious knowledge stored up from other sources and see what happens. Karl Baedeker is one of the greatest geniuses Germany has ever produced. He knows how to give you what you want, and has spread the fame of German thoroughness broadcast. I count him a great human benefactor; and his native city ought to erect a monument to him. Its base ought to be a bronze library stand full of bronze Baedekers; and to this good purpose I will contribute freely and liberally according to my means.