PREFACE.
In the volume here presented, we have endeavoured to supply what we consider to have been hitherto a desideratum in literature—a cheap and portable volume, containing the name and such of the most important particulars of the life and character, as could be obtained from trustworthy sources, of every woman remarkable for mental gifts or acquirements, moral virtues, or christian graces, of whom history makes mention, or the less ambitious annals of private life present. Such a complete record of womanly excellence and ability cannot fail of being highly interesting and useful; and it must be evident to all that the task of its compilation must have been one of great labour and research; far more indeed than the present Editor can claim credit for;—his work having been chiefly that of condensation from a large and costly volume published in America, and entitled "Woman's Record," by Mrs. Hale, who states in her preface that it cost her three years of hard study and labour.
The pith and substance of that volume—itself a striking
