Preface. B OOKS of Stories from the Bible have already been placed before the public in a great variety of forms. In adding another to the number of works on this subject, it has, therefore, been thought advisable to point out the features in which the present volume differs from its predecessors. The first of these is the style of pictorial illustration.. It has been hitherto the general custom to fill books of "Bible Stories" with engravings of elaborate compositions, intended, indeed, to illustrate the text, but of too complicated a nature to be understood by children. In other cases, drawings by foreign artists have been inserted-compositions in which the main incident of the story was frequently hidden behind a mass of detail, quite beyond the comprehension of a child. In the present book, the endeavour has been to tell each story in simple pictures and in simple words-to bring the incidents treated of as plainly as possible before the reader; that the woodcuts may not only please the eye, but also be of real use in explaining the meaning of the text. The stories have been so arranged as to form a complete, though elementary, history of the Bible commencing with the "Creation of the World," and ending with the "Acts of the Apostles." Where the very words of the Bible could tell the story simply enough to be understood by a child, they have been used-on the principle that, as the study of the Scriptures can never be continued too long, so the sound of "Bible Words " can never become familiar too early. |