A book like the present, certain to be so long talked of after (Nachrede), has no real need of a Preface (Vorrede). Nevertheless, as my friend Schliemann insists on my introducing it to the public, I put aside all the scruples which, at least according to my own feeling, assign to me only an accessory position. A special chance allowed me to be one of the few eye-witnesses of the last excavations at Hissarlik, and to see the “Burnt” City emerge, in its whole extent, from the rubbish-heaps of former ages. At the same time I saw the Trojan land itself, from week to week, waking up out of its winter's sleep, and unfolding its natural glories in pictures ever new, ever more grand and impressive. I can therefore bear my testimony, not only to the labours of the indefatigable explorer, who found no rest until his work lay before him fully done, but also to the truth of the foundations, on which was framed the poetical conception that has for thousands of years called forth the enchanted delight of the educated world. And I recognize the duty of bearing my testimony against the host of doubters, who, with good or ill intentions, have never tired of carping alike at the trustworthiness and significance of his discoveries.