"This work is intended by the author to form a practical handbook of reference upon all the chemical substances and recesses in use among Dyers and Calico Printers.

While written from a practical point of view, it takes a middle course between the generalities of high science and the technicalities of pure practice. Avoiding, on the one hand, the applications of chemical principles which are not yet clearly perceived, and, on the other, a detailed description of processes which would be either in unintelligible or unnecessary, the author hopes he has produced a book which may be profitably consulted by all who are either interested or practically engaged in printing and dyeing.

The claims which the author has to be heard upon these subjects rest upon his familiar acquaintance with calico printing, acquired by nine years' service in very extensive establishment, and upon a further professional experience of three years, which has brought him into contact with nearly all styles of dyeing." (jacket)