Stndt*s Sylva Britannica, 547 



its folio namesake, with some omissions, however, and some 

 additions ; and it bears about the same relation to its prede- 

 cessor as a watch does to a time-piece : or, to adopt our 

 author's more elegant comparison, it " will afford a gratifica- 

 tion similar to that which a lover of art derives from compar- 

 ing a finished miniature with the same subject in full size," 

 The original folio work, from its size, the labour expended on 

 the plates, and the splendid style in which it was got up, was 

 necessarily a somewhat costly publication, and consequently 

 beyond the pockets of many persons, who yet wanted neither 

 the taste nor inclination to become purchasers. The present 

 work, offered at a far lower price, is within the reach of that 

 more numerous class of readers whose means are moderate, 

 and we trust it will obtain a much wider circulation. An 

 octavo volume, too, has the manifest advantage over a cum- 

 brous folio of being more portable and commodious, and, as 

 such, a far more agreeable book to read. And, if we mistake 

 not, it will, from its very size, possess a charm in the eyes of 

 those who subscribe to the truth of the maxim, " Inest sua 

 gratia parvis." We greatly admire the original or parent 

 work ; and, in speaking of the present, so far from seeing any 

 cause to alter our tone, and lay aside the language of pane- 

 gyric, we feel disposed to adopt the complimentary address 

 of the poet to his mistress, and apostrophise this beautiful 

 volume, in the words of Horace : — 



" O matre pulchra filia pulchrior." 



The two editions contain exactly the same number of plates, 

 namely, fifty ; though, as already hinted, there is some varia- 

 tion in the selection of the subjects. Mr. Strutt has omitted, 

 in the new edition, eight of the more unimportant plates con- 

 tained in the original, substituting in their room an equal 

 number of subjects possessed of greater interest. Of the 

 plates omitted we seriously regret the absence of only one — 

 the Knole Beech, a magnificent example of the species in its 

 vigour, possessing, with its accompanying background of forest 

 scenery, much picturesque beauty, and altogether well worthy 

 of finding a place in any collection of the kind. For what 

 reason Mr. Strutt should have discarded it on the present 

 occasion, we are utterly at a loss to discover ; and the more 

 so, as the plate exhibited a most successful effort of his 

 genius, portraying, as it did, with admirable precision, the 

 genuine character and distinctive features of the beech. The 

 new subjects, those we mean which are not to be found in the 

 first edition, are as follows ; viz. the Bull Oak in Wedgenock 



