PREFACE. 



'pWENTY-FOUR years have elapsed since the British 

 Ass'ociation assembled in Bath, under the Presidency 

 of Sir Charles Lyall. 



The changes which have taken place in the city, and 

 which will attract the attention of those who now re-visit it, 

 are more remarkable in the disclosure of Ancient remains 

 than in the development of the modern city, though this has. 

 been considerable and continuous. 



The " Handbook " which is now tendered for the accept- 

 ance of the Members of the Association, has been written 

 with a view to presenting concisely and readily, not merely 

 the characteristics of a residential city of exceptional attrac- 

 tiveness, but the continuous history of an ancient borough 

 rich in monumental evidence of varying fortune in changing 

 times, and illustrating in that history the revolutions of race,, 

 the changes of manners, the progress of society, in no. 

 ordinary degree. 



The charms of the delightful neighbourhood, the attrac- 

 tions of the stately and Tegulai- domestic architecture of the 

 Queen of the West, speak for themselves ; but the historical 

 associations need the narration of the Annalist, and the 

 unique remains of ancient Art, of ancient luxury and 

 civilization, the elucidation of the Antiquary. These are 

 here supplied, not certainly with the completeness which 



