[1]Miss Sarah Cooper Hewitt, Honorary Associate of the Trustees [1]Mrs. James O. Green, Honorary Associate of the Trustees [1]Miss Eleanor G. Hewitt, Honorary Associate of the Trustees [1]Peter Cooper Hewitt, Vice-President of the U. S. Naval Advisory Board, Trustee [1]Edward R. Hewitt, Treasurer [2]Peter Cooper Bryce, Secretary [1]Erskine Hewitt, R. Fulton Cutting, President Andrew Carnegie, Trustee J. Pierpont Morgan, Trustee Charles W. Gould, Trustee L. C. Levin Jordan, Assistant Secretary Charles R. Richards, Director One Copy for the Reading Room of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art George Frederick Kunz, Former Student and Assistant in Chemistry _This copy was printed for_ MISS SARAH COOPER HEWITT _With the compliments of the Author_ To PETER COOPER AND TO HIS DESCENDANTS WHO HAVE SO GENEROUSLY AND DEVOTEDLY CARRIED OUT HIS TRADITIONS, AND DEVELOPED THEM AS OCCASION DEMANDED, AND TO THE COOPER UNION OF ARTS AND SCIENCES IN THE LABORATORIES, LECTURE ROOMS AND LIBRARY OF WHICH THE AUTHOR SPENT USEFUL, PROFITABLE EVENING HOURS FOR SEVERAL YEARS, AT A TIME WHEN THERE WERE NO OTHER OPPORTUNITIES OF A SIMILAR NATURE IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK--THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED FOREWORD The present volume aims to offer in attractive and convenient form everything that is of importance and interest in regard to finger-rings, from the fabled ring of Prometheus down to the latest productions of the goldsmiths and jewellers of our day. The subject offers a striking illustration of the wonderful diversity of form, decoration and usage, that the skill and fancy of man have been able to realize in the case of the little circlet constituting a ring. To make this clearer to the reader, a division in accordance with the general history and the special uses of rings has seemed more effective than any attempt to separate all the material along geographical or chronological lines. One of the earliest uses to which rings were put was for the impression of an engraved design or device upon letters or documents, as the sign-manual of the wearer. From the time of the ancient Egyptians, this use prevailed in various parts of the world and many of the most striking rings of this type are described and figured here. Allied to these, and in some cases identical with them, are the rings given as marks of official dignity and rank.