vi AUTHOR'S PREFACE 



subject, have done so much to enUst pubhc attention and 

 interest.* 



In citing these few names from among those of the many 

 able writers who have treated of the artistic use of ivory, we 

 have merely aimed to indicate some of the more exhaustive 

 or better known literature, and must refer those seeking for 

 detailed information to the catalogues of the principal libra- 

 ries. The splendid lecture by Sir Richard Owen, delivered 

 before the London Society of Arts in 1856, contained much 

 of value and interest. 



While admitting the unquestionable excellence and au- 

 thority of these and similar works, the writer of the present 

 book has long felt that it would be possible to accomplish 

 something in this field upon combined and yet different 

 lines. The art of ivory carving and the beautiful produc- 

 tions of this art have been most satisfactorily presented, but 

 it remains possible to enlarge the scope of our investigations 

 so as to combine with the purely esthetic side of the subject 

 a study of the sources of this fascinating material as well 

 as of its physical characteristics. In this connection data 

 regarding the history of man's knowledge of the elephant, 

 and of the methods followed by the elephant hunters of 

 various times and lands, will better enable us to realize the 

 fact that we owe our pleasure in viewing some masterpiece 

 of ivory carving not only to the artist's skill, but also to the 

 arduous and often perilous task of the elephant hunter whose 

 activities have supplied the beautiful pearl of the forest. 



If we are able to add to this some information regarding 

 the evolution, distribution, and habits of the elephant, we 

 shall have made a distinct gain, for our intelligent apprecia- 

 tion of the final results of any exercise of human endeavour 

 is always broadened and deepened by an adequate knowledge 



*Hans Graeven "Friihchristliche und mittelalterliche Elfenbeinwerke in photograph- 

 ischer Nachbildung: Au3 Sammlungen in England," 1898, "Aus Sammlungen in Italien," 

 1900, and a large number of papers in various periodical publications. 



