It is the lack of general knowledge which makes it possible for furniture built on amazingly bad lines to be sold masquerading under the name of some great period.  The customer soon becomes bewildered, and, unless he has a decided taste of his own, is apt to get something which will prove a white elephant on his hands.  One must have some standard of comparison, and the best and simplest way is to study the great work of the past.  To study its rise and climax rather than the decline; to know the laws of its perfection so that one can recognize the exaggeration which leads to degeneracy.  This ebb and flow is most interesting:  the feeling the way at the beginning, ever growing surer and surer until the high level of perfection is reached; and then the desire to “gild the lily” leading to over-ornamentation, and so to decline.  However, the germ of good taste and the sense of truth and beauty is never dead, and asserts itself slowly in a transition period, and then once more one of the great periods of decoration is born.

There are several ways to study the subject, one of the pleasantest naturally being travel, as the great museums, palaces, and private collections of Europe offer the widest field.  In this country, also, the museums and many private collections are rich in treasures, and there are many proud possessors of beautiful isolated pieces of furniture.  If one cannot see originals the libraries will come to the rescue with many books showing research and a thorough knowledge and appreciation of the beauty and importance of the subject in all its branches.

I have tried to give an outline, (which I hope the reader will care to enlarge for himself), not from a collector’s standpoint, but from the standpoint of the modern home-maker, to help him furnish his house consistently,—­to try to spread the good word that period furnishing does not necessitate great wealth, and that it is as easy and far more interesting to furnish a house after good models, as to have it banal and commonplace.

The first part of this little book is devoted to a short review of the great periods, and the second part is an effort to help adapt them to modern needs, with a few chapters added of general interest to the home-maker.

A short bibliography is also added, both to express my thanks and indebtedness to many learned and delightful writers on this subject of house furnishing in all its branches, and also as a help to others who may wish to go more deeply into its different divisions than is possible within the covers of a book.

I wish to thank the Editors of House and Garden and The Woman’s Home Companion for kindly allowing me to reprint articles and portions of articles which have appeared in their magazines.

I wish also to thank the owners of the different houses illustrated, and Messrs. Trowbridge and Livingston, architects, for their kindness in allowing me to use photographs.