Publisher's Preface
For the information of the layman it is perhaps well to refer to the circumstances which preceded the organization of the now famous Hirsute Orchestra, as described in the following pages. Having wearied of the more commonplace objects of the collector's ardor, including Japanese pottery, unset gems and Roman coins, Mr. McKackney turned with the utmost enthusiasm to the task of obtaining the photographs, paintings and drawings of all the styles, patterns, designs and front elevations of the beards, whiskers and mustachios that have ornamented the human face from the days of the ancient Egyptians.[1]
He has visited almost all the inhabited cor-
- ↑ "My first impulse to ward this field of investigation was inspired as the result of an idle hour in a crowded railway station. I began to note the whiskers of the hurrying pedestrians and was surprised to discover that their patterns were as severally distinct and individual as the faces of their wearers. I counted no less than seventeen successive types, no two of which were identical in any respect. It occurred to me at that time that if such a wide variety could be found in this casual observation, there must be an opportunity for a scientific study of these highly entertaining and important human phenomena." (Extract from the owner's Introduction to the Illustrated Catalogue of the McKackney Collection.)
viii]
