An ornate woodcut headpiece featuring a central medallion with a face (likely representing the sun or a cherub) surrounded by symmetrical, elaborate floral scrolls and acanthus leaves.

PREFACE.

Although we are no longer in those unhappy centuries when nearly the entire world was plunged into the shadows of Idolatry, one can hardly do without a knowledge of the history of the Gods and the fables of Paganism original: Paganisme; here referring to the polytheistic religions of the ancient world. Mythology original: Mythologie, which teaches us to understand these fables and these gods, constitutes too significant a part of Belles-Lettres original: Belles-Lettres; literally "fine letters," referring to the study of literature and the humanities for it to be neglected. In fact, we read the works of the Greeks and Romans daily, especially those of their poets, whom it would often be very difficult to understand if one did not know the fables to which they make constant allusion.

Moreover, everything conspires to remind us of these ancient fictions: statues, bas-reliefs, and monuments of every kind. Indeed, what fills the books of antiquarians original: Antiquaires; scholars who studied ancient artifacts and history and the cabinets of curiosities original: Cabinets des Curieux; private collections of notable objects, often precursors to modern museums but images of divinities original: Divinités, sacrificial instruments, and everything that remains to us of ancient Paganism? Our galleries, our ceilings, our paintings, our statues—