FOREWORD

[HE Great Macaiila^^ in his History of England,
lamented that he could not find the likenesses
of many of the men of whom he wrote. That
the picture, to one who saw it understand-
ingiy, was supplemental to, and even more
informing than the written word. That the lines of stress
and toil, the furrows of mental concentration, the broad,
intellectual brow, and the clear, bright eye, tell, as no written
record can tell us, that it is no sluggard nor weakling who is
portrayed, but a clean cut man of battle. For truly, the
warrior does not always wear a sword.

The printed word may err. The face of the man is
nature's record, stamped where all may read. To the stu¬
dent of physiognomy, not only does the face tell the man,
but environment and mentality, changing from generation
to generation, stamp the spirit of the time on the coun¬
tenances of the men of that period. Compare the likenesses
of men of five generations since with the pictures of men of
ten generations ago, and there will be observed a distinct
difference of type, compare these with men of today and
there is a distinct difference from either of the other two.

Fifty or even forty years ago, before the evolution of
the processes of modern engraving, a work of the scope and
magnitude of this volume was impossible. Engravings were
then made wholly by hand, a tedious, laborious, and ex¬
pensive process, the plates varying with the skill and artistic
ability of each individual workman. There were not enough
skilled craftsmen in the world to produce in an ordinary
lifetime the number of dies included in this volume.