Published by Western Mail Ltd
Printers & Publishers, Cardiff 1897

PREFACE

This volume is an endeavour to place before the public, in a form at once permanent and artistic, a portrait gallery, enshrining the men who at the present time are contributing, each in his special sphere, to forward the commercial, social, moral, and intellectual progress of one of the most flourishing communities in the United Kingdom. The study of representative men is always interesting, whether the portraits be drawn with pen or with pencil. In this book artist and chronicler go hand in hand, each supplementing the work of the other, and both combined furnishing a realistic picture which cannot fail to attract attention at the present time, and the value of which will be enhanced in future years when the subjects of the portraits have handed on the good and enduring work achieved by them to be taken up by their successors. With these few words the Editor sends forth this gallery of Contemporary Portraits in the assurance that it will meet with a wide and appreciative reception.