Not till we arrive at page 350 are we rid of the perspective treatise, and then comes Part in., 'Furniture in General.' One paragraph of his introduction is worth quoting, as proving that Sheraton was not, at any rate when he published this, a practical wood-worker, but the brain of many such. 'In conversing with cabinetmakers I find no one individual equally experienced in every job of work. There are certain pieces made in one shop which are not manufactured in another, on which account the best of workmen are sometimes strangers to particular pieces of furniture. For this reason I have made it my business to apply to the best workmen in different shops, to obtain their assistance in the explanation of such pieces as they have been most acquainted with. And in general my request has been complied with, from the generous motive of making the book as generally useful as possible.'

A few things may be noticed in the letterpress and plates of the Drawing-Book. To show that Sheraton was not above accepting a point from any quarter, I quote his remark about a 'Summer Bed in two compartments,' - 'intended for a nobleman or gentleman and his lady to sleep in separately in hot weather.' Of this design he observes: 'The first idea of this bed was communicated to me by Mr. Thomson, groom of the household furniture to the Duke of York.'

Plates 54 and 56 are another proof that the term Pembroke table is an extremely comprehensive one. In the first we find that it need not necessarily stand on two X supports, but may be on a central pillar with four claw-feet. In this plate it may be parenthetically observed that there are carefully thrown cast shadows on the floor, a detail included, no doubt, by Sheraton to show the artistic usefulness of the perspective of lines and shadows upon which he has expended so many pages of theory. In Plate 56 the Harlequin Pembroke table shows that almost anything can be called a Pembroke, for it has four tapering legs. The entire elaborate mechanism is drawn out and described. In the appendix to the Drawing-Book the first design is 'an elliptic bed for a single lady.' 'As fanciful-ness seems most peculiar to the taste of females,' says its originator,' I have therefore assigned the use of this bed for a single lady, though it will equally accommodate a single gentleman.' Of the library steps and table he remarks: 'This design was taken from steps that have been made by Mr. Campbell, upholsterer to the Prince of Wales. . . . There are other kinds which I have seen made by other persons, but in my opinion, these must have the decided preference.' Apparently, then, Sheraton does not claim all the designs he offers as his own, but perhaps he was himself the designer of the steps made by Mr. Campbell.

An 'English state bed 'gives him a welcome opportunity of revelling in twelve pages of symbolism and its explanations. It is a portentous affair. 'The coronets round the dome are those of the immediate sons and daughters of the King of Great Britain, of which there are thirteen, but the dome being divided into sixteen compartments, still leaves room for an increase of the royal family.' Such thoughtfulness on the part of the designer deserved a greater share of royal recognition than he appears ever to have obtained.