Α BOOK FOR A RAINY DAY: OR, RECOLLECTIONS OF THE EVENTS OF THE LAST SIXTY-SIX YEARS. BY JOHN THOMAS SMITH, LATE KEEPER OF THE PRINTS AND DRAWINGS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, PREFACE. THE highly flattering manner in which my work, entitled "Nollekens and his Times," was generally received, induced me to collect numerous scattered biographical papers, which I have considerably augmented with a variety of subjects, arranged chronologically, according to the years of my life. Some may object to my vanity, in expecting the reader of the following pages to be pleased with so heterogeneous a dish. It is, I own, what ought to be called a salmagundi; or, it may be likened to various suits of clothes, made up of remnants of all colours. One promise I can make, that as my pieces are mostly of new cloth, they will last the longer. Dr. Johnson has said: "All knowledge is of itself of some value. There is nothing so minute or inconsiderable, that I would not rather know, than not." |