18 JUNE 1954, Page 26

and a wealth of carefully garnered informa- tion about craftsmen,

styles and processes. It is a guide for those interested in the domestic background of the Romantics, and also a handbook for collectors, who may, however, find Mr. Reade a little over- sanguine about .the chances of picking up good pieces for small sums in out-of-the-way places. The news of the Regency craze has probably penetrated further than he thinks, and 'only the very poorest furniture of that time has by now escaped promotion from the category of second-hand to that of antique : the dignity which he claims . for it