ation upon
Norman architecture originates in his own island: he will likewise
probably not be displeased to find, that this collection of the finest
remaining specimens of Norman art upon the continent, contains nothing
which he cannot rival, indeed surpass, at home.

But, at the same time that the principal end proposed in this work has
been to set before the public those edifices, whether sacred, military,
or domestic, which were erected during the age most properly designated
as Norman, the aera anterior to the union of the ducal coronet with the
crown of France, it has been felt that, in whatever light the
publication might be regarded, it would be incomplete without the
addition of other buildings of a subsequent period. A farther number of
specimens has therefore been admitted, conducting the series through the
style of architecture, commonly termed Gothic, down to the time when
that style finally disappeared before an Italian model, more or less
debased.

In the descriptive portion of these volumes, attention has been almost
exclusively directed to two points, the historical and the
architectural. On the latter of these, so much has been said under each
separate article, that whatever might be added in this place could be
little more than repetition; and the history of Normandy, from the
establishment of the dukedom to the beginning of the thirteenth
century, is so interwoven with that of England, that it has been
considered needless here to insert an epitome of it, as had at first
been intended. In lieu of this, a Table is subjoined, exhibiting the
succession, marriages and progeny of the Norman Princes, copied from Du
Moulin; and such Table can scarcely be regarded otherwise than useful,
as bringing the whole under the eye in a single point of view: a
Chronological Index, it is hoped, may in a great measure answer the same
purpose as to architecture. It is only justice, however, to add, that,
in this Index, much has necessarily been left to conjecture; and, where
it is so, the author naturally expects that others will occasionally
differ from him in opinion; especially as no opportunity is afforded him
of detailing the grounds whereby he has formed his own. Upon the subject
most likely to create doubts and difficulties, the very early date
assigned to the employment of the pointed arch, he begs the attention of
the reader to those authorities, which, in his judgment, warrant the
conclusion he has drawn. If mi