THE

GEM OF THE SEASON,

FOR

1848.

WITH TWENTY SPLENDID ENGRAVINGS.

же
NEW-YORK:

LEAVITT, TROW & COMPANY,

191 BROADWAY.

1848.

Mæring

ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847,

BY LEAVITT, TROW & CO.

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York.

LEAVITT, TROW & Co., Printers,

PREFACE.

THE impulses of affection and friendship, which seek an occasional expression in gifts and mementoes, constitute so strong and so beautiful a feature of our nature, that the effort to furnish the means of gratifying them, rather deserves commendation, as the supply of a want, than requires apology, as an intrusion. It has been the aim, in the preparation of this volume, to furnish a gift-book, for the season consecrated to kindly offices, whose copious and beautiful embellishments, careful execution, and appropriate and attractive contents, while they gratify the sense of beauty, shall minister, at the same time, to the purest impulses of friendship, and the demands of the intellect. It has been the misfortune of this class of works, too frequently, to possess but little other merit than their appearance. It is a service we have sought to render, to furnish a gift which, while it pleases the eye, shall not affront the understanding; and though attractive and entertaining, as befits its design, shall yet have some intrinsic worth to enhance its value as a gift, and constitute a medium of

sympathy which shall not disparage the taste of the giver, or reflect upon the intellect or character of the receiver. Whether or not success has been attained, it is a safe claim, however inconsiderable, that we have exceeded the ordinary standard of this species of literature.

The embellishments have the merit of high sources, and an elegant execution. That they are more numerous and more varied than is usual, and derived from the best schools of Art, is a claim to the public favor, which, as it appeals at once to the eye, there is no impropriety in asserting. The correspondence of character with appearance of real worth with obvious elegance—is what has been striven for, and what, so far as it has been attained, gives our work its highest claim to the purchaser of thought, taste, and worthy feeling.