NOTICE

TO THE READER.

Since one might find it strange to see at the head of each of the first three Sections of the first general Part of this Work a particular Plate which serves as its Title, and to find that in each of these Sections the Illustrations have been numbered anew as Plate I, Plate II, etc., we advise the reader that these three Sections initially formed small separate works. These were given to the Public as samples to gauge the public's taste for this Work. The publisher original: "l'entrepreneur", having subsequently seen the eagerness with which the Public received these first pieces, and having been solicited to continue his Work and bring it to its perfection, resolved—only after seeing the happy success of his undertaking—to give the Work the order it currently has. For the convenience of enthusiasts original: "Amateurs," referring to collectors and lovers of fine books, he decided to divide it into 20 different Sections, in order to distribute them as they came off the Press. And as he was obliged in this matter to follow the German Text that accompanies the work, it has happened that in some Sections there are only a few, and sometimes no Plates at all.

But what we judge especially necessary to mention is that, as the Publisher initially had only a small number of copies of the said German Text printed—most of which are already either promised or sold—he felt he should remedy this defect by printing an Abridgment of the said Text. This ensures that those who still wish to provide themselves with this excellent Work are not deprived of the necessary explanations. It is this Abridged Text of which he has the honor to present here a French Translation for those to whom German is unknown, offering them this complete Work at the price of 20 Florins, Imperial Money. The "Argent d'Empire" refers to the currency of the Holy Roman Empire.

Furthermore, we do not believe it necessary to dwell much on the utility of this Work. Since it contains a natural Representation and a historical Explanation of all the different religious Ceremonies and Customs of all the Peoples of the World, it is of universal use and suited to all sorts of Persons, of whatever State, Rank, Condition, or Religion they may be. Everyone will find here a diversion for the mind which, far from offending their Religion in any way, can on the contrary contribute much to their edification. Youth especially, and particularly students, will find here an extreme ease in imprinting upon their minds the various religious Customs and Practices of all the different Nations, Religions, and Sects of the World, by means of the lifelike original: "naïves" Representations and solid Explanations that this Work offers them. The fair sex will find no less pleasure in satisfying their curiosity by contemplating so many curious and singular Figures and Representations. Moreover, this Work can be considered not only as an instructive and entertaining Book in itself, but also as a clarification and a necessary addition to Bibles filled with copperplate engravings Tailles-douces: a method of printmaking using copper plates, common in high-quality 18th-century books that are in the hands of so many people. Thus, just as the Holy Bible contains within itself the interior and the essential of true Religion, this Work, on the other hand, sets before our eyes everything that false religions have that is ridiculous and blameworthy, both in their Worship and in their other Religious Practices. Not to mention so many excellent Treatises of History, both Ecclesiastical and Secular, upon which this Work can shed much light by retracing for the Reader's eyes what the Historian only relates through words. This is especially true regarding a work, otherwise quite excellent, which the learned Englishman Thomas Broughton has just published in two volumes in folio under the Title: AN HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF ALL RELIGIONS etc., and which has also appeared in French. This magnificent Work could only be regarded as quite imperfect as long as it is not clarified by Figures, because it is impossible, even for the best pen in the world, to represent external Ceremonies as vividly through Descriptions as is done through the Art of the Engraver.

original: "Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem, Quam quæ sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus." — Horace, Ars Poetica.