Transcriber’s Note

This work was originally published in 1851. As noted in the original, footnotes marked by an asterisk were added by the editor of the 1909 edition, from which this e-book was prepared.

Obvious printer errors have been corrected without note. Other errors are indicated by red dotted underlining. Hover the cursor over the underlined text to see a pop-up Transcriber's Note. These notes are also contained in a Transcriber's Errata List at the end of this e-book. Certain spelling inconsistencies have been made consistent; for example, variants of Michelangelo's last name have been changed to Buonarroti. Archaic spellings in English and Italian have been retained as they appear in the original.

Full-page illustrations have been moved so as not to break up the flow of the text.