THIS book was written while on holiday some three thousand miles away from data, documents, and means of verification. It is written from memory and, although I have had time and have tried to check up, I feel sure that the safest thing is to let it go as cautious merchants do when they send out statements—with the caveat: E. and O. E.—errors and omissions excepted. I haven’t tried to write a history of any of the lively arts, nor intended to mention all of those who practice them. I should, however, feel sorry if I have omitted anyone who has given me intense pleasure, even though the omission has not, in any way, the countenance of a slur.
Everything else that properly belongs in a preface has found its way into the two chapters: The Great God Bogus and Before a Picture by Picasso—and the acknowledgments are numerous and serious enough to need a place for themselves in the appendix.
G. S.
Ile St Louis — New York City
March 1923 — February 1924