This, if I may be allowed the term, manifold application of forms, primarily available for book decoration only, has not been lost sight of in the selection and arrangement of the illustrations, both in this and in the "Historical Manual." Mr. Tymms has, with excellent judgment, so arranged them as to lead the student who may occupy himself in copying them, or enlarging from them, gradually onwards from the comparatively easy to the more difficult varieties of the art. Adopting, in all cases, the alphabet of capital letters as a starting-point, the beginner will do well to learn to write before attempting to learn to draw: he should copy the alphabet, say on Plate I., fig. 1, on waste paper--common cartridge, or paper-hanger's lining paper, will be best--many time; at first, in fac-simile, then twice the size as printed, then four times, then eight times, until he may be able to form letters as much as six inches high, correctly. Having so far mastered the capitals, let him try in exactly the same way to produce and reproduce the same text, or lower-case letters in which the passages from Scripture, say Plate No. 1, fig. 2, have been written. Let him then try a sentence not given in the plates, using for it the capital and lower-case letters he has been learning how to form, and let him work out his own sentence in as many different sizes as he has previously tried Mr. Tymms's in. By the time he has drawn the enriched initial letters of the same plate several times, he will find that his eye and hand will have probably gained sufficient command to justify his attempting to copy, in outline as before, on waste paper, and both on a small and large scale, the ornaments given on Plate No. 3. In the intervals between his outline studies, the young illuminator may occupy himself in mastering the instructions given in this volume, so that he may have a general idea of the theory of the different processes before be commences an attempt to put them in practice. His first lesson in colouring should then commence by his attempting to colour Plate No. 3, in fac-simile of Plate No. 2. It will be well to begin gilding and silvering with shell-gold and aluminium, reserving for more advanced experiments the use of gold or silver paper and leaf. The student may then with advantage copy in outline, first of all the outline Plate No. 6, inking it in so as to produce, on fine-grained drawing paper or card, a fac-simile of the printed plate. He should next proceed to colour the printed plate to correspond with Plate No. 5. Avoiding any defects he may have made in this operation, he may colour his own outline as he had done the printed one; he will then find himself able to copy both outline and colour on a small scale. In his next set of lessons a much heavier demand will be made on his capabilities.