Alpha.

* * * * * {211}

NOTES ON THE SECOND EDITION OF MR. CUNNINGHAM'S HANDBOOK OF LONDON.

Mr. Cunningham's work on London is a book of such general interest, that
the additions and corrections, which I shall continue from time to time
to offer to your readers, will not, I think, be deemed impertinent or
trifling. Let it not be imagined, for one single instant, that I wish to
depreciate Mr. Cunningham's labours. On the contrary, his book is one of
the most delightful publications relative to our great city which we
possess. And let me candidly say, if I were to select only half-a-dozen
volumes for my own reading, _Cunningham's Handbook of London_ would most
assuredly be one of that number.

The quaint and learned old Fuller, in his address to the _Worthies of
England_, says:

"The bare skeleton of time, place, and person, must be fleshed
with some pleasant passages; and to this intent I have purposely
interlaced (not as meat but as condiment) many stories, so that
the reader, if he do not arise _religiosior_ or _doctior_, with
more piety or learning, at least he may depart _jucundior_, with
more pleasure and lawful delight."

This remark has been well understood by Mr. Cunningham, whose pleasant
quotations, and literary and artistic recollections, have made his book
a _readable_ one to the many, and an instructive companion for the
_initiated_.