PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. N the preparation of this Guide Book the author has sought to give, within the limits of a single portable volume, all the information necessary to enable the tourist to find his way without difficulty from place to place, and to see the objects best worth seeing, throughout such parts of Europe as are generally visited by American and English travellers. He has endeavoured to give concise and reliable information in relation to all objects which, by common consent, are best worth a visit-giving fewer details in relation to matters of inferior or secondary interest. In doing this he has studiously avoided recording his own opinions and dicta, and encumbering the Guide Book with obtrusive criticisms; he has preferred to give facts, leaving his readers to form their own judgments and to make their own comments. In relation to matters about which there exists a difference of opinion among writers, he has contented himself with a brief statement of the opinions of the best writers on either side, leaving the decision to the judgment of the reader. With few exceptions, the author has travelled over the routes he has described, and has given the results of his own bona fide researches. In relation to places which he has not visited, he has sought information from trustworthy persons who have done so, and upon the accuracy of whose statements he has good reason to rely. It is hardly possible that a work of this character should be absolutely free from errors, as changes are constantly occurring-new routes opened, new hotels established, and the like; but the author ventures to say, that in point of accuracy it will at least bear comparison with similar works already published. He will be thankful to any one who will give him notice, through his Publishers, of any errors or omissions. |