The Ashmolean collection of miniatures was begun in the seventeenth century by the Tradescants, father and son, gardeners to Charles I and Henrietta Maria. Among its most generous benefactors was the Reverend Bentinck Hawkins, chaplain to the Dukes of Cambridge and an insatiable nineteenth-century collector. The miniatures, mostly of very high quality, range from the Tudor and Stuart era to Victorian times, and include specially distinguished works by Isaac Oliver, Cooper, Zincke, Smart, Cosway and Engleheart. This is the tenth in the series of Ashmolean handbooks, illustrating selections of paintings, drawings or objects, which are well-represented in the Museum. They are designed to provide a stimulating introduction for the general reader and a useful guide for the expert.