The author has incurred obligations in many quarters for information and assistance. Mr. Samuel P. Avery, the Hon. Yoshida Kiyonari, Japanese Minister at Washington, General Di Cesnola, and the many private collectors whose cabinets are represented in the following pages, gave valuable aid both in obtaining illustrations and in other respects. Mr. Charles Edward Haviland, Mr. Theodore Haviland, and M. Bracquemond contributed many valuable hints upon technology and the manufacture and composition of different wares. The dealers of New York, Boston, Washington, Albany, and other cities took an active interest both in directing the author to collections and in furnishing specimens for illustration. Among American manufacturers, Mr. Thomas C. Smith, of Greenpoint; Mr. James Carr, of New York; Mr. Hugh C. Robertson, of Chelsea, Massachusetts; and Mr. J. Hart Brewer, of Trenton, are especially deserving of thanks for helping the author to a true insight into the past history, present condition, and prospects of the art in the United States. In regard to the engravings, while it was, of course, found necessary in many cases to cull from the rich accumulations of ceramic treasures in Europe, in order to secure the proper illustration of the work, the preference has invariably been given to the collections of America. Such a course recommended itself for obvious reasons. It was thought that it would, in the first place, gratify those desirous of knowing where, in this country, the best representatives of the art of certain countries are to be found; and that, in the second place, it would direct artists where to study the best styles of decoration. One result of the author’s investigations in this matter has been the conviction that the American collector is cosmopolitan in his tastes, and that the American cabinet--in many instances the American tea-table--represents the amity of nations. The arts of all countries are found arrayed side by side in a profusion of which it would have been hard, a few years ago, to find a trace. In choosing the pieces to be engraved, a threefold aim has been kept in view: the elucidation of the text, the representation of the greatest number of different wares by characteristic examples, and the introduction of as many beautiful works of art as possible consistently with the accomplishment of the two previous objects. The requirements of the student of decorative art have been fully considered, and due weight has been given to the fact that these requirements can be met better by the pencil than the pen.