foreword

THIS book, though the first of its kind, does notpretend to be an exhaustive study of tattooing in America.I shall be satisfied if it is recognized as a pioneer study, open-ing the way for further volumes by other researchers. Forone thing, the medical aspects of tattooing in America awaittheir own authoritative and lengthy studies by qualified ex-perts. Tattooing among the so- called criminals of Americaalso deserves a treatise all to itself.

My book is not a strictly chronologic history of tattooingin this country. This history unfolds itself through the lengthof the book in rather irregular steps. I often retrace datesand entire periods or go ahead to more recent times whenthe nature of individual chapters demands it.

Tattooing of primitive Glossar ::: zum Glossareintrag  primitive races, or among the so- called civi-lized peoples other than American, is brought into the narra-tive insofar as it influenced American tattooing or wasinfluenced by it, or contains some salient features of simi-larity. Cases cited in this book, when not otherwise stated,are American. Cases of British tattooing are cited rather fre-quently because of the natural proximity of motives andhistorical development to those of American tattooing.

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