MORE than five years have elapsed since the commencement of 

 CONSTABLE'S MISCELLANY, and its universal popularity, the, 

 continued support of all the leading periodicals, and the numerous 

 imitations of it that have subsequently appeared, are the best 

 proofs that can be given of the excellence of its plan, and of its 

 perfect adaptation to the wants and wishes of the age. The 

 increased and increasing diffusion of wealth and knowledge has 

 formed, in these kingdoms, a new and very numerous class of 

 readers, persons to whom the economy both of time and money is 

 an object of importance, but who are, at the same time, anxious 

 not to be left behind in the march of intelligence, and who are 

 desirous to acquire information suited to the present advanced 

 state of society. For such persons this series of publications was 

 primarily designed ; the convenient size of the volumes permitted 

 them to be studied without any interruption to the necessary 

 avocations of life and business ; their cheapness placed them 

 within the reach of every reader, and the neatness of their form, 

 and elegance of their typography, rendered them ornamental as 

 well as useful in the library. Even a cursory survey of the cata- 

 logue will suffice to show that the subjects selected for the Mis- 

 cellany are precisely those respecting which information is most 

 desirable, such as combine interest with utility, and valuable in- 

 struction with rational entertainment. The names of the writers, 

 containing among them some of the first in the annals of modern 

 literature, must be a sufficient guarantee for the style and exe- 

 cution of the several volumes ; and the few specimens selected 

 from the vast mass of favourable criticism will suffice to show, 

 that from its commencement up to the present hour, the design, 

 the successive parts, and the whole of CONSTABLE'S MISCEL- 

 LANY, as far as completed, have received the warmest approba- 

 tion from the legitimate guardians of literature. 



Though the work has now passed into other hands, no change 

 will be made in the original plan ; the new proprietors are sin- 

 cerely anxious to preserve its established character, and to make 

 the concluding volumes like those that have already appeared, 

 worthy of public favour, by preserving the great characteristics 

 of the work, cheapness, interest, and utility. 



