complete knowledge of Roman architecture, and that the chief source of that knowledge was the vast collection of thirteen hundred or more engraved plates which Piranesi etched and published at the marvellous rate of one a fortnight throughout a fairly long life. Now, if any coherence at all can be seen in the trend of modern English architecture, we seem at the present moment to be just as dissatisfied with mere Palladianism as were the architects of the end of the eighteenth century. Like them, too, we are looking for a more complete expression of the Classic spirit. To us, therefore, Piranesi may have a very similar lesson. The unfortunate thing, however, is that his etchings, a few years ago so easy to obtain, are daily becoming more rare and expensive. A collection of the best of those issued during the artist’s lifetime could hardly be made to-day for less than a couple of hundred pounds. The Paris reprints which his son issued in 1815 might be obtained for half that sum, but to the ordinary practitioner this may be considered as half infinity. Even Mr. Keith Young’s massive volume of reproductions costs several pounds. The days of Robert Adam were the days when architects were few and patrons were rich. Our own times are less happy in that respect, but they are nevertheless the days of unrivalled opportunity. Piranesi is the magician who can show what opportunities may become; more especially as the process block, albeit lacking in the marvellous gradations of tone and feeling of the original etchings, renders it possible to publish at small cost such a series as are comprised in this volume. The following are the main facts of Piranesi’s career as far as they are known:--