It is singular that such an important industry as coach-building should have received such slight attention from writers either at home or abroad; yet such is the case, the last book dealing in any way exhaustively with the trade having been published some fifty years ago. The manufacturers themselves have doubtless very copious notes, which, if printed, would make several large volumes; but they do not publish the result of their experience to the world, and consequently the general public, and more particularly apprentices and others whose occupations or amusements may be in any way connected with the trade, have no means of gaining an insight into this branch of industrial art.<br><br>It is hoped that this book will supply, to some extent at least, this deficiency. Its object is general utility rather than technical instructions on minor details. The principles on which carriages ought to be constructed, rather than the arbitrary proportions of parts, are what the author has sought to make clear.<br><br>From an antiquarian point of view the history of carriages is very interesting.