ADVERTISEMENTS.
Large 4to, price Three Guineas, 540 pages, elegantly bound for the Drawing-room.
Our Noble and Gentle Families of Royal Descent.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
"Mr. Foster has not even yet done with the destructive criticism which has earned him so formidable a name among genealogists; but his latest work breathes no iconoclastic spirit. It is almost in the nature of a genealogical Reform Bill, so framed as to extend the franchise of royal descent to the majority of the English nation. . . . The number of baronies in fee is very large, and the fact that so many of them are in abeyance implies anything but lack of surviving offspring to the first grantees. It is quite possible therefore that a majority of English gentlemen are in succession to peerages. . . . Reviewing his work as a whole, we must praise it as a monument of most patient research and accurate compilation."—The Times.
"The latest product of Mr. Foster's untiring industry in collecting genealogical materials contains upwards of two hundred and fifty pedigrees and narrative genealogies, and forms an exceedingly handsome volume. It will certainly be a source of keen delight to a great number of young people whose names are enrolled in its pages, and whom it furnishes with proofs of their royal descent, and it also constitutes a very welcome addition to the bookshelves of genealogists."—Athenæum.
"If genealogy should ever recover the position it once held in the public estimation, much of the change will be due to Mr. Foster for the zeal and courage with which he has rejected the fabricated and ridiculous pedigrees once freely admitted into works claiming special authority."—Manchester Guardian.
"The narrative pedigrees, of which there are several, will be found especially complete and rich in detail. . . . It will doubtless astonish those who have never studied these matters to learn how much of illustrious descent is to be found in families. This, combined with the comprehensive nature of this book, remarkable for the beauty of its type and binding, should ensure its being well received by those who are thus provided with a 'trustworthy history of their ancestors,' and by all who occupy themselves with the study of genealogy."—Morning Post.
"Mr. Foster may be trusted in genealogical matters. He is lynx-eyed for doubtful claims and illegitimate connections, and if he declares a man's great-great-grandfather to be So-and-so, the chances are a hundred to one he is right. He is a born burrower among family records, and has already brought out many valuable works on the pedigrees and histories of notable families."—Bradford Observer.
"Between Professor Freeman and Mr. Foster, Ulster King-atarms comes in for a severe castigation, showing that even in the dignified science of heraldry 'two of a trade can never agree.' We should rather like to know Sir Bernard Burke's private opinion on the chart pedigrees in Mr. Foster's hook."—Staffordshire Advertiser.
"The volume will amply repay minute examination on the part of those persons who are concerned with the subject of which it treats. The skill, fidelity, and lucidity with which Mr. Foster has set forth the information he has so laboriously got together will be unhesitatingly acknowledged by every one who examines his work."—Birmingham Daily Gazette.
"It is, however, only fair to the learned compiler to say that his labours do him infinite credit. He has produced a volume which is practically without a rival, both as regards beauty, accuracy, and conscientious research."—Observer.
"The work is one that every county family should have."—The Taunton Courier.
"The book is handsomely bound, beautifully printed, and is certainly one of the most valuable and perfect of the kind ever brought out."—Hull and Lincolnshire Times.
"This is a very splendid library book, and one of the most perfect of the sort ever brought out."—Standard.
"Mr. Joseph Foster, a genealogist honoured alike by his patience in tracing true pedigrees and his courage in overthrowing false ones, has produced a work which will no doubt be lavishly praised."—Daily Telegraph.
"Thus this book may be implicitly relied upon, and that makes the information valuable and gives these pedigrees an historical character which should be widely recognised."—Court Circular.
"We have said enough, we think, to show the value and the interest of Mr. Foster's work. But no words of ours can give an adequate conception of the labour and research which have been devoted to its production, and which make it indeed a standing marvel."—Durham County Advertiser.
"Mr. Foster is one of the most skilful and scientific of modern genealogists; he has, indeed, been almost too correct in his work to please everybody, seeing that he has exploded one or two family bubbles. . . . We rise, in short, from a perusal of this book with a feeling of admiration for the untiring and painstaking industry which has enabled Mr. Foster to place before the public so laborious and valuable a work."—Exeter and Plymouth Gazette.
"The work represents an amount of patient study which entitles the author to the especial respect of antiquaries, and we have no doubt that his book will be welcomed not only by the persons more immediately interested, but by all who delight in historical lore. The volume is handsomely bound, and contains a family register for recording births, marriages, and deaths as they occur in 'Our Noble and Gentle Families of Royal Descent.'"—Bucks Herald.
"The sumptuously attired and laboriously compiled work, of which this is the second volume, is a monument of Mr. Foster's industry, and his labours ought to be successful, for he makes his appeal to what seems to be a natural and ineradicable instinct among all civilised peoples."—Manchester Examiner.
"The labour which the compiler must have undergone is simply incredible, for the most laborious investigation marks every page. An index to all the living persons mentioned in the course of the book greatly facilitates reference, while the volume itself can only be described as the most comprehensive genealogical work of the kind which has ever yet been attempted."—Liverpool Mercury.
London: HATCHARDS & Co., 187, Piccadilly; and of all Booksellers.
