Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 2.djvu/186

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180


NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. u. AUG. 26,


mention besides these a MS. of English Metrica Homilies (fourteenth to fifteenth century, Northern English), 210L ; and a good copy of Caxton's Gower ' Confessio Amanti.s ' 1483, 340Z., we may give the impression that Messrs. Maggs's latest Catalogue (No. 348) contains chiefly luxu- ries in the way of literature. This is by no means so it is very well worth perusal on the part of readers whose interest in books is of the practical -order.

Messrs. Leighton have sent us Part II. of their Catalogue of Early Printed Books. No doubt most of our readers are acquainted with this work, which, with its lavish and beautifully reproduced illustrations, its numerous indexes, its concise and scholarly descriptions, and the excellence of its

general arrangement, forms in itself a biblio- graphical compendium of great value. Here again collectors and students will find plenty of

good things, both useful and within the ordinary person's reach. Among the more important and raro items we noted a copy of de Lignamine's edition of the ' Herbarium ' of Apuleius Platonicus, 1483 or 1484, 100Z. ; a most interesting copy of Erasmus's ' Paraphrases,' probably the first

edition, 1521, 101. ; and the Neapolitan edition (1485) of Tuppo's version of ^so^s Fables, 140L

Another enjoyable list is that of Mr. Francis Edwards, No. 366. He has some important works on Natural History, e.g., from the new ' Biologia ' of Central America, a complete set of the Zoology in 52 vols., 1151. ; Gould's ' Birds of Australia,' 8 vols. folio (1840-69), 1801. ; and

Audubon and Bachmann's ' Viviparous Quad- rupeds of North America ' (1845-54), 721. He

has some attractive sets of works by nineteenth- > century historical writers : thus, J. H. Jesse's

historical works, 23 vols., in first editions, 301. ; M. W. Freer's works, 19 vols., first editions, 321. ;

-and those of Lady Jackson, 14 vols., 30Z. The section headed ' General Literature ' is full of interesting things, and some of them surprisingly cheap. Thus Mr. Edwards asks no more than 30s. for a copy of the ' Poems ' by " Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell," in the original green cloth, and brought out in 1846. A first edition of Meredith's ' Poems * in a sumptuous illustrated copy costs 181. We may also mention the Aldine

" British Poets " in the original edition, 1830-53, 361., and a first edition of ' Pride and Prejudice,' B5L

Miss Mary Nightingale of Tunbridge Wells sends us a list (Catalogue No. 4) of nearly six hundred items chiefly pictures and engravings.

"She has a number of good originals, as, for example, a study of Gladstone's head by H. J. Thaddeus, from the collection of the late Lord Ronald Suther- land-Gower (101. 10.), and an oil painting of an Italian landscape by Richard Wilson (1714-82), 521. lOa. The most attractive, though not the most expensive item in the list is, however, hi

our estimation, the original tracing by Seymour Kirkup of Giotto's portrait of Dante in the Palazzo del Podesta at Florence, which was given to the Rossettis, and sold after Dante Gabriel Rossetti's death. The price of this is 11. Ten " brulegravures " are described, among them an example of ' The Bookworm,' the first etching made by this new process. The prices for these as given here range from 12s. 6d. to 21. 2s. Miss Nightingale ha*, besides, interesting collections|of portraits and engravings.


Mr. Macphail of Edinburgh, also, at the begin- ning of his Catalogue No. 128, describes one or two good portraits those, for instance, of the Duke of Hamilton (1606-48), an unsigned minia- ture, 10Z., and of Lord Newton, a copy by Rox- burgh of the Raeburn portrait, 101. Ids. In the way of books we noticed a copy (once belonging to Alexander Thomson Grant, "and much anno- tated by him) of the ' Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae,' brought out at Edinburgh in 1866, 31. 15s. 6d.; a copy of Nisbet's ' System of Heraldry,' sound, and containing all the e'ngravings (1816)", Ql. 5s. ; and The Scots Magazine from its commencement in 1739 to 181774 vols. out of the full 79 31. 15s.

Mr. James Miles of Leeds describes more than 1,200 books in his Catalogue No. 203, and these include both a wide range of subjects and many good items. We may mention Whitaker's Histories of Craven and" of Whalley, both in the best editions (1812 and 1818 respectively), and with all the additional engravings, &c., 101. 10s. for the two together ; a complete set to 1914 of the Selden Society's Publications, 31 vols. in all, 221. 10s. ; a first edition of the three volumes which compose the original ' Robinson Crusoe ' (vols. i. and iii. in the original calf), 901. ; and a set of Bentley's "Standard Novels and Romances," 101.

Messrs. Sotheran & Co., in their Catalogue No. 765, continue to describe items from the library of the late Baron de Reuter the present list being of books on Medicine, Law, Music, and . Theology, with some miscellaneous addenda. From these last we may mention a collection of " Romans Grecs," translated into French a work which was never finished, vols. vi. and vii., out of 15 vols., not having been published 1822-41, 61. 1-Os. Under Music is a copy of Fetis's ' Biographic Universelle des Musiciens et Biblio- graphic Generate de la Musique,' not dear at 31. 3s. Under Law the book which we should our- selves most willingly annex is a copy of the Hedaya, or guide to and commentary on the Mussulman Laws, translated by Charles Hamilton, and pub- lished by order of the Governor-General of Bengal in 1791," 51. 5s. Nine vols. (A-L) of Richet's great ' Dictionnaire de Physiologic ' (1895-1913) would be a valuable acquisition at 11. 10s. ; and another important work of this order is Nagel's ' Hand- buch der Physiologic des Menschen,' which Messrs. Sotheran offer for 4Z. 14s. Qd. Lastly, we must not omit to mention a set of the seven volumes which have so far appeared of Gold- schmidt's edition of the Talmud, to be had here for 251.

The Alhenceum now appearing monthly, arrange- ments have been made whereby advertisements of posts vacant and wanted, which it is desired to publish weekly, may appear in the intervening weeks in 'N. & Q.'


to

ON all communications must be written the name ind address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- ication, but as a guarantee of good faith.

MRS. SAVAGE. Perhaps the book you areenquir- ng for is ' The Reason Why in Science,' by Prof. J. Scott, published by Messrs. Cassell.