Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Near sunset, one day in early October, not too long ago for some of us to remember with distinctness, Mr. Foss, United States consul at Florence, Italy, took a cab, as on other days, to the Porta Romana. Here, where the out-of-town tariff comes into effect, he paid his man, and set out to walk the rest of the way, thus meeting the various needs he felt: that for economy,–he was a family man with daughters to clothe,–that for exercise,–his wife told him he was growing fat,–and the need in general for an opportunity to think. He had found that walking aided reflection, that walking in beautiful places started the spring of apt and generous ideas. Though in his modest way a scholar, he was not as yet an author, but Florence had inspired him with the desire to write a book. Just beyond the Roman Gate begins the long Viale dei Colli,–Avenue of the Hills,–which climbs and winds, broad, shady, quiet, between lines of gardens and villas, occupied largely by foreigners, to the Piazzale, whence Michelangelo's boyish colossus gazes with a slight frown across Florence, outspread at his feet. Mr. Foss, as he mounted the easy grade, and noted with a liking unabated after years the pleasantness of each habitation glimpsed through iron railings 4and embowering green, thought how privileged a person should feel, after all, whose affairs involved residence in Italy.

Gertrude Hall Brownell (1863-1961) was an American poet and novelist. She was the author of: Far From Today (1892), What Will Time Give? (1897), The Hundred and Other Stories (1898), Age of Fairygold (1899), April's Sowing (1900), The Wagnerian Romances (1907), The Unknown Quantity (1910) and The Truth About Camilla (1913).

Gertrude Hall (1863-1961) was an American poet, novelist, and translator. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Her mother, Edna Amile, was a concert and her father, David Culver Hall, was a concert tour conductor. The family lived in London, Florence, and New York. Gertrude Hall married literary critic William Crary Brownell in 1921. Her works include: Verses (1890), Age of Fairygold (1899), April's Sowing: A tale (1900), Aurora the Magnificent (1917), and The Wagnerian Romances (1925).