Excerpt from A Catalogue of the Pictures, Etc. In the Shakespeare Gallery Pall-Mall Upon the merits of the Pictures themselves, it is not for me to speak; I believe there nevenwas a perfect Picture, in all the three great requisites of Composition, Colouring, and Design - It must not therefore be expected that such a phaenome non will be found here. - This much, however, I will venture to say, that in every Picture in the Gallery there is something to be praised, and I hopesufhcient marks of merit, to justify the lovers of their country, in holding out the fostering hand of Encouragement to native Genius. - I flatter myself, on the present occasion, that the estab lished Masters will support and increase their for mer reputation, and that the younger Artists will daily improve, under the benign influence of the Public patronage - They all know, that their fu ture fame depends 011 their present exertions: for here the Painter' slabours will be perpetually nu der the public eye, and compared with those of his cotemporaries - while his other works either locked up in the cabinets of the curious, zo'r dis-g persed over the country, in the houses of the dif-i ferent possessors, can comparatively contribute but little, to his present fortune or future fame. I must again express my hopes, that the Sub scribers will be satisfied with the progress made in this arduous undertaking, for it is to be con sidered, that works of gemus cannot be hurried on, like the operations of a manufactory, and that En. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.