TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.

Footnotes have been moved to the end of the book text, and before the publisher's Book Catalog. Some Footnotes are very long.

To avoid duplication, the page numbering in the publisher's Book Catalog at the back of the book has a suffix C added, so that for example page [23] in the Catalog is denoted as [23C].

The 3-star asterism symbol in the Catalog is denoted by ⁂. On some handheld devices it may display as a space.

Footnotes [155], [187], [188], [190], [209] and [230] are referenced from the prior Footnotes and not from the text itself.

For consistency and to follow the intent of the publisher, the Plate illustrations have been moved to the beginning of the section describing them. In most cases this was only one or two paragraphs earlier than the original book layout.

Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example, after-thought, afterthought; sign-post, signpost; independency; caldron; embosomed; dulness.

In the illustration captions for the six "Marriage à la mode" Plates, 'MARRIAGE A-LA-MODE' has been replaced by 'MARRIAGE A LA MODE'.
Pg 87 Footnote [57], 'sooner than hey' replaced by 'sooner than they'.
Pg 88 Footnote [58], 'being desious' replaced by 'being desirous'.
Pg 123, 'handsome ackowledgment' replaced by 'handsome acknowledgment'.
Pg 130, 'luscious cates' replaced by 'luscious cakes'.
Pg 240, 'published in Septemper' replaced by 'published in September'.
Pg 255 Footnote [179], 'had his deserts' replaced by 'had his desserts'.
Pg 262, 'sinster side is Doctor' replaced by 'sinister side is Doctor'.
Pg 268, 'as a subscripton-ticket' replaced by 'as a subscription-ticket'.
Pg 280, 'to be permament' replaced by 'to be permanent'.
Pg 284, 'similiar spirit' replaced by 'similar spirit'.
Pg 301, 'does not not need defense' replaced by 'does not need defense'.

Catalog of Books:
Pg 15C, 'very beau-ful' replaced by 'very beautiful'.
Pg 43C, 'booh is a mine' replaced by 'book is a mine'.