As its title implies, this book tells the story of those highly important "trifles" which have from the first accompanied the progress of fashion as characteristic attributes. An antique snuff-box, a pair of gloves, or a needle-case are no less eloquent than a gown or costume, as their wearers and owners rise before our mind's eye and tell us of a bygone age. Planned as a supplement to our series on Modes and Manners, this little book is assured of a welcome from all lovers of that series, besides being well qualified to win new friends for this cultural history in miniature. As in the Modes series, the text is here enriched with very numerous and excellent illustrations, the material for which we owe to the kind assistance of the National Museum and the Cabinet of Drawings and Engravings in Munich. - Preface.