9 th S. II. SEPT. 24, '98.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
259
augment in size with the augmenting number of
publications was to be expected. The present
volume contains, accordingly, about 1,200 double-
columned pages as against 900 in the two parts,
separately published, of the previous volume.
Greatly to the convenience of the public, the titles
and the index are not only in one volume, but in
one alphabet, the 60,000 main entries and the 70,000
index entries all following in alphabetical sequence.
A separate index is only required in the case of the
publications of the Admiralty, the British Museum,
the Egypt Exploration Fund, the Record Office,
and learned societies, the works issued by which
do not appear in the general alphabet. The main
entries, moreover, are not, as in previous volumes,
confined to one line, but extend as a rule to two.
The excellence of the work baffles praise. A com-
plete set of the Catalogue must, of course, rest in
every public library and institution. As to its
value for private reference WQ are in a position, by
experience, to vouch. A set all but complete and
soon, we hope, to be complete is at this moment
in the revolving bookcase by our side, and by a
turn can be brought under hand. It is unfailing in
trustworthiness and utility. To those who know
it and have once used it praise is superfluous and
almost impertinent. Those who have yet to learn
its value we have only to counsel to look at head-
ings such as Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling,
R. L. Stevenson, George Meredith, or whatever
other name their taste and preference may lead
them to select. As a test of the worth of the index
portion, let them turn to Notes and Queries.
Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage, to Al-Madinah and Meccah. By Capt. Sir Richard Burton, K.C.M.G. (Bell & Sons.)
A CONSPICUOUS tribute to the merits of Sir Richard Burton's first and most original book is furnished by its inclusion in the noble series known as " Bonn's Standard Library." We have taken the opportunity thus furnished of reading it for the first time a sufficiently pleasurable and advantageous task. Having known Burton well and long, we find wonderful memories recalled of his turbulent, masterful, and wholly unscrupulous individuality. One can hear the man speaking in almost every sentence, and one is impressed, as one was in his conversation, by the strange farrago of out-of-the- way erudition he possessed. The notes especially deal with all sorts of occult themes, and reveal the future editor of the 'Arabian Nights.' The work, the copyright of which has come into the possession of Messrs. Bell, is the " Memorial Edition " begun by Lady Burton, with all Burton's latest emendations ana additions, including the appendices, which formed no portion of the original volumes. A new series of illustrations, some of them coloured, a novel feature in the " Standard Library," replaces those which were first given, and the whole is ushered in by an admirable introduction by Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole. Burton's book has lost little in value and interest during the forty odd years that have elapsed since it first saw the light. It is sufficiently pleasant reading, but exacts close attention, a great deal having to be read between the lines, while some of the information is acces- sible only to readers as polyglot as was Burton himself. Much of what he has to convey Burton, after the example of previous scholars, leaves in Latin. Where the necessity for being even more cautious exists, it is put into Greek
while some passages baffle entirely conjecture
py being left in Arabic. As a record of courage,
fearlessness, energy, and dare-devilry, the book is
unique in literature. Burton, it has always been
said, did not know the meaning of the word fear.
He seems, indeed, to have alternately scoffed at
and courted danger. Carrying his life daily and
hourly in his hand, he seems scarcely to have given
it a thought. In his very recklessness, calculated
greatly to impress Orientals, might perhaps be found
the secret of h is safety. The account of hjs perform ance
of Moslem rites becomes in the end a little tedious,
since there is, necessarily, a good deal of repetition.
The personal records are in all cases spirited, and
the observations upon the races among which he
dwelt show Burton's keenness of vision and bold-
ness of utterance. A comprehensive index adds
greatly to the value of the reprint. It is known
that the "Memorial Edition of Burton's works
was not completed. It is strongly to be hoped that
other works will be reproduced in the same form as
the present a form as handsonie as convenient and
at a price that brings them within reach of all who
buy any books at all.
Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, October, 1668, to December, 1669. Edited by Mary Anne Everett Green. (Stationery Office.) THOUGH there may be little of national interest in this volume, it contains much which illustrates the state of the country during the restored rule of the Stuarts. So far as we are able to tell without directing minute research to the subject, the desire to hold municipal offices was strong during the reign of Charles I. and the Commonwealth. A change came over public feeling afterwards. Men had become weary of political struggles and pre- ferred having a quiet time when, as it seemed, nothing M'as to be gained by real or assumed patriotism, and when to oppose the Government in most cases meant disgrace or financial ruin. We have a curious example of this in what occurred at Coventry. Samuel Heywood was in 1668 chosen mayor of the city. He had " the repute of an honest man" that is, we presume, he held opinions which were in favour \vith the Court party. He was an ironmonger, and we are informed was "as rough and unpolished as his ware." The poor man had no desire for the dignity which his neighbours had forced upon him, so to revenge himself for the ungrateful honour he threatened that he would not
five the accustomed feast on Allhallows Day, when e would be called upon to take the oaths of office. Whether as the day came near he relented is un- certain. Of the two sheriffs who were chosen at the same time one ran away, and the other paid a heavy fine rather than fill the despised office. The letter from which we have quoted contains some informa- tion of value. The cross was under repair. The writer says that it " yields to none in England for curiosity and gallantry," though it bore signs of "the late ruinous times, as well as marks of age.
We trust that some day a dictionary of the names of ships will be compiled. Whenever such a work is undertaken the volume before us will be of service.
The Cathedral Church of Wells. By the Rev. Percy
Dearmer, M.A. (Bell & Sons.) As Wells is among all English cathedrals that which in our heart we love and admire the most, supposing preference to be permissible in the case
