The output of books upon furniture, English and foreign, has of late years acquired a very large volume, and the work of almost every period has been described and illustrated, often many times over. But amid this extensive and ever-growing literature there is still no work of reference which, with simplicity and brevity and in a handy form, defines the meaning and scope of the technical terms and historical allusions to be found upon almost every page of any book dealing with furniture. No subject, and this, perhaps, least of all, can profitably be studied without a clear understanding of the descriptive language which has grown up around it. Dictionaries are of little help to the general reader and of still less to the student, and the lack of anything in the nature of a reasonably full and systematic Glossary of English Furniture, embodying the names and dates of the great exemplars of the famous English styles, led the authors to make this attempt to fill the gap.

Although they have, in the main, confined themselves to the work of the English schools, it has been deemed desirable - it was, indeed, almost unavoidable - to include some references to the most famous of the French ebenistes, and to elucidate the French technical terms most commonly met with even in books dealing with English furniture. A separate bibliography is not given; but most of the books to which the writers are indebted are mentioned in the text under the name of the author or the subject-matter, or both.

Notwithstanding that the work of preparing this Glossary has been prolonged and laborious, the authors cannot hope that it will be found free from imperfections; exhaustive, it cannot pretend to be. They will therefore welcome suggestions for additions and improvements. In the mean time, although it is intended primarily as a help to students, it is hoped that it will prove to be of value also to those who are professionally concerned with this fascinating subject.

November, 1924.