by means of mechanical process. Much of this work is of a high class and much of it is not intended to be fraudulent, but many of these plates have been purposely soiled to be sold as old coloured prints. There are small factories busy reproducing these colour prints to be sold to unscrupulous printsellers at prices varying from a shilling to fifteen shillings each, wholesale price to the trade. With such a steady manufacture going on, the best advice the writer can give to the beginner is to refuse to have anything whatever to do with this school of colour prints.
In caricature there are the masterly etchings of James Gillray (1757-1815) and Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), which are very numerous and depict in coarse and grim humour the follies and the vices and the political cabals of the reign of George III. Their colour is as luridly free as many of their subjects, but as caricaturists their work has a European reputation. The collection of their works is a special study in print collecting. The designs of Henry Bunbury, the caricaturist, were mostly engraved by other men, and colour prints after him are much sought after.
Of sporting prints in colour there are a great number, and their study is a special one. There is a fine series of colour prints of racehorses after J. F. Herring, published from 1827 to 1839, and worth about £4 each if in fine condition. The coloured plates after Henry Alken cover a wide area. The best known of his many volumes is the "National Sports of Great Britain," published in 1821. It con-
