SIR EDWARD THOMASON'S MEMOIRS DURING HALF A CENTURY. VOL. I. 2 ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS M.DCCC.XLV. Frampton 6-18-30 Trans PREFACE. A book without a preface is an anomaly. Custom demands a preface, even though it be as brief as the motto of the Author's crest, "Deo non fortuna ;" and every writer finds, at least when his book is finished, if not before, the benefit and expediency in the paying the tax, and of availing himself of the opportunity thereby afforded to apologize for the omission and commission, inasmuch as he may have erred, and to conciliate, as far as possible, by a statement of what he intended should ensue, the favourable judgment of his fellow townsmen upon what he has actually accomplished! If the Author has at all succeeded in the object at which he aims, he flatters himself that the Work may be found (with deference be it, however, spoken) instructive and useful to the young and rising manufacturers of the great commercial town of Birmingham, comprising those whose ambition and taste lead them to improve their works and resources by inventions protected by patent right; and the ambition of others, who seek for honours to be conferred by their Sovereign for improvements which application and study may have developed in the production of inventions novel and useful in science and the arts! |