Ow with regard to the purchase of old English eighteenth-century furniture - Chippendale, Sher Heppelwhite and their contemporaries, od bookcases of the period are still to be 11; an illustration is given in the chapter deal-Tith this class of furniture, and they exist in and small sizes. The reader will have seen warning against those having vases and scrolls all in the mahogany or satinwood. The old very seldom have any marqueterie except a rest banding, a fan-shaped shaded ornament, or paterae with shells or simple scrolls inlaid. are, however, invariably well-made pieces niture, or it is quite impossible that they could stood the wear and tear of a hundred and twenty years or more. When another century has ed over our heads where will be nineteen-tieths of the "second-hand" or "antique" - the mark! - "Chippendale" and "Sheraton" ture, which to-day changes hands from dealer nateur? It is surely a question of the survival e fittest, and much of the furniture I have in nind as I write these notes, will certainly not survived is almost impossible to inform people who uite unacquainted with cabinet work, how to tell the difference between a well and soundly-structed piece of furniture, and one which i use a slang expression, "blown together." however, my readers are sufficiently keen on subject to have waded patiently through much has been written here and elsewhere on the ject, they must have arrived at the means of ing an opinion. An examination of the way a» opens and shuts, the same critical look an drawers, the dovetailing of the fronts of the dra to their sides, the recesses where the drawers from, the flush or moulded panels of the d the care with which the cornice and various m ings have been finished, will in any case be used and if such an examination be made with the a ance of a skilled workman, a great deal ma learned. If the bookcase doors be "quarrelled mouldings which form the quarrels or the tr will be an independent piece of work, all the carefully mitred and made true in a workma manner. I have seen many bookcases with tracery of woodwork just laid on the sheet of which forms the panel of the door, but I neve. this in an old cabinet - the latter invariably have each shaped pane of glass puttied or beadec the shaped "quarrel" from behind.

These are some of the "points" that shou considered before the bookcase is " passed so and the same remarks apply to the chest of dra the wardrobe, or any other article.

So much has been said about chairs in the ceding chapter that I will only add one sugge: and that is that if they are intended for really service, such as constant dining-room use, not recommend the purchase of Chippenda Heppelwhite chairs, which are really of their make or date, for the purpose. They are not sufficiently stout to have stood the strain of a hundred and thirty or fifty years and to be still good for hard wear, and when people are dining it is ominous to hear the crack which tells of the giving way of a favourite, under the strain of a weighty and perhaps clumsy guest.

If the dining-room is to be furnished in this style, one should be content with some of the excellent reproductions made a sufficiently long time to have acquired a good tone, and then the old specimen chairs by the eighteenth-century makers can be placed in other rooms, where their use is not so constant and the strain not so severe.

But to return to the library and its furnishing with old English work. The slanting front Bureau, or the Bureau-bookcase of the time, can be easily found, either quite plain or with an ornamented cornice to the latter, a useful flap for writing, and small drawers and pigeon-holes for papers. If a pedestal or kneehole writing table be preferred, this may also be purchased, quite genuine, but it will be a great deal more costly than the bureau or bureau-bookcase, on account of its being so much more scarce. Many of the old plain ones, such as an old family solicitor of the time would have used in his business room, have been re-inlaid or ornamented by modern carving, but the plain ones have richly figured wood in their panels, and if there is any carving, it is a simple ornament to a moulding. As to these being old and sound, the remarks which have been made about the bookcases, of course apply to all furniture with drawers or doors.

The best library chairs are those with seats and backs of leather, having the "knees" and feet of mahogany, either plain or carved, visible. These were sometimes called "eared" armchairs, one of which is described in Chapter VI (English Furniture Of The Eighteenth Century). For a writing chair, a well selected oval or shield-backed one by Heppelwhite or Chippendale may be selected. It is much more easy to find a single armchair for writing, which is "up to weight" for one's own use, than a whole set of eight or twelve or more for the dining-room.

As regards bedroom furniture, some of the old serpentine-fronted side-tables and sideboards make excellent dressing-tables, and genuine old toilet glasses of the period may still be found. "Overmantels " of eighteenth-century style marqueterie are to my mind abominations. They never existed in the old days, and I do not think they are an improvement. There are plenty of good Georgian carved and gilt mirrors, with lines corresponding to the kind of furniture we are now discussing, and these are in my opinion much more suitable, while the gilding is a pleasant relief to the mahogany or satinwood.

The caution already given with regard to profuse marqueterie decoration can only be repeated with emphasis when painted satinwood furniture is considered. There is really very little of this delicate and easily-spoilt furniture, that has survived the stress of the last century, and yet in every so-called "antique" dealer's show-rooms are numbers of tables and cabinets, as fresh as if they had been preserved in glass cases. One can only repeat all the remarks as to examination of the details of construction; and then, as to the painting, it would be well to look at this with a magnifying glass, and note the old scratches and rubbings with the unmistakable signs of damage, and subsequent restoration, which must be traceable in a really old piece.