(After the Portrait at Hampton Court, probably by an Italian Artist.) From a photograph by Messrs. Wm. M. Spooner and Co.

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PREFACE.

HIS volume has been compiled from the author's larger works with the view of affording a continuous narrative of events, and a picture of life at Hampton Court, during the four centuries of its history, in such a compact and compendious form, and at so moderate a price, as to bring it within the range and means of the general reader.

Consequently, while all that seemed essential to this object has been reproduced in the present book, much topographical detail and many discussions on questions of art and archæology, which occupy a considerable space in "The History of Hampton Court Palace," in three quarto volumes, have necessarily been either greatly abbreviated, or altogether omitted. Likewise it has been thought superfluous to give

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here any authorities or references, or to cumber the pages with notes and appendices, all of which, being furnished in ample detail in the larger works, can be easily consulted therein by anyone seeking fuller information.

The favourable reception accorded by the press and the public to the author's previous volumes, and the considerable demand which continues to be made for them, encourage the hope that this "Short History of Hampton Court," designed as it is for a more extended class of readers, may equally meet with public approval.