20 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2n« S. NO 63., Jan. 3. '57. 



NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC. 



Had the late Sir Harris Nicolas never given to anti- 

 quarian students any other work than his Synopsis of the 

 Peerage, he would have deserved to have his name pre- 

 served among them, as long as English History remained 

 a study. But Sir H. Nicolas compiled his work under 

 great (iiiSculties. The great mass of the Public Records 

 of the kingdom were sealed books to him. No wonder 

 then, that after the lapse of some thirty years, and now 

 that these sources of correct information are available, it 

 should be found desirable that a new edition should be 

 prepared. This has been done, and under the title of 

 The Historic Peerage of England, exhibiting, under Alpha- 

 betical Arrangement, the Origin, Descent, and Present 

 State of eiery Title of Peerage which has existed in this 

 Country since the Conquest, William Courthope, Esq., So- 

 merset Herald, has, with the assistance of his brother 

 heralds, given us Sir H. Nicolas's two duodecimos rolled 

 into a noble octavo ; and has as much increased the work 

 in value by the extent and originality of his researches, 

 as he has enlarged it in size. The result is a volume 

 which is an indispensable Companion to every Peerage, 

 and a Handbook which must be on the library table of 

 every reader of English History. 



Mr. Murray has just commenced a new edition of Lord 

 Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of 

 the Great Seal. The work, which is imiform with the 

 same publisher's late edition of Hallam, will be completed 

 in ten monthly volumes. The first, wlwch is now before 

 us, comes down to the Chancellorship of Wolsey. A note 

 written by Lord Campbell in September last, on the 

 manner in which the office of Lord Chancellor has been 

 shorn of its splendour, will awaken, as it deserves, very 

 serious consideration. 



Wh.at. reader of Boswell's Johnson, — 



" Where bon mots gay with graver sj'stems blend, 

 And each nice touch discriminates his friend," 



will not be delighted at yet another portrait of Johnson's 

 biographer — and that portrait painted by himself? It 

 is but in pen and ink (yet none can doubt its faithful- 

 ness), for it consists of a series of Letters of James Bosivell 

 addressed to the Rev. W. J. Temple ; now first published 

 from the Original MSS., with an Introduction and Notes. 

 And a pleasanter or more amusing volume one would 

 not care to meet with. The Letters are not calculated to 

 give the world any higher estimate of Boswell's cha- 

 racter ; his vanity and his failings shine forth too pro- 

 minently for that, and, after a perusal of these letters, we 

 can well believe with Lord Stowell, that the proportion 

 of respect with which Boswell was regarded was about 

 that which would be shown to a jolly fellow. 



We do not know that we can better describe a little 

 volume on English History, which has just reached us, 

 than in the very words of the author, Mr. John Wade. 

 The work is entitled England's Greatness; its Rise and 

 Progress in Government, Laws, Religion, and Social Life ; 

 Agriculture, Commerce, and Manufactures ; Science, Lite- 

 rature, and the Arts : and it is " not an abridgment of 

 British History, or a brief narrative of political progress 

 with which every one is familiar ; but a condensed em- 

 bodiment in "spirit and form of national development, as 

 characterised bj' its most remai-kable epochs ; illustrated 

 by individual traits and memorable traditions; and ex- 

 emplitied in the contemporary growth of art, industry, 

 intellect, social life, and gradations. History, biography, 

 science and literature, have been laid under contribution 

 to complete the national picture." 



Mr. Singer has just issued an edition of Bacon's Essays 

 — those wonderful condensations of profound wisdom — 



in which, as Mr. Singer well expresses it, Bacon " talks 

 to plain men in language which every body understands, 

 about things in which every body is interested." Every 

 page of the work, which is beautifully got up, shows the 

 care which the editor has bestowed upon it, although he 

 modestly describes it on the title-page as being only 

 Revised from the Early Copies, the References supplied, and 

 a few Notes by S. W. Singer. 



BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES 



WANTED TO PURCHASE. 



Anderson's History of the Chcrch in the Colonies. Vol. I, 8ro. 



Rivingtons. 

 »«» Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, carriage free, to be 

 sent to Messrs. Bfli. & DAtoy, Publishers of" WOTES AND 

 QTJERIES," 186. Fleet Street. 



Particulars of Price, &c. of the following Books to be sent direct to 

 the gentlemen by whom they are required, and whose names and ad- 

 dresses are given for that purpose : 



Occasional Forms of PBAysn and THANKaainwos eor Fasts, Vic- 

 tories, &c. 



Wanted by Rev . E. S. Taylor, Ormesby, Great Yarmouth. 



HiiToiRB SoHMAiRE DE LA ViLLE DE Bayedx. Par M. Bezicrs. 

 Wanted by Sev, J. Sansom, Buslingthorpe, Lincolnshire. 



Among other interesting papers viliich v:e have he,en compelled to post- 

 pone until next week is one by Sir F. Madden on the Latin Poems of Jo- 

 hannes Opicius ; Notes by the late Mr. Douce on the Feast of Fools ; 

 Queen Elizabeth's Venture with Sir F. Drake ; Curll Papers, No. 7, &c. 



R. G. is thanked for his "freedom and frankness." Will he specify the 

 Qtiey-ies to which he alludes f 



The Index to the Volume just completed will be ready by Saturday 

 the Vth. 



G. T. is referred for Notes on Queen Anne Farthings to our Ist S. iii. 

 83.; X. p. 429. The one in our Correspondent's 2}osscssion is worth fi-om 

 three to Jive shillings, according to its condition. 



Wilis pil. Rob. de L. v)ill, we have no douht, find on testing it, that 

 his supposed coin is not gold, but bright brass, — a Jfuremburg counter of 

 the sixteenth century. 



Errata. — 2nd S. ii. 509. col. 2. 1. 16., /or " Bibliopolists " read " Bib- 

 liographers ; " 1. 22., for " editio princeps " read " best edition.' ' 



Index to First Series may still be had, price 5s., cloth, boards, and a 

 few Sets of the First Series of "Notes and Queries," 12 Vols, price 



61. 6s. 



"Notes and Qdertes" is published at noon on Friday, and is also 

 isnued in IMonthlv Parts. The subscription for Stamped Copies for- 

 warded direct from the Publishers (inchuling the Half-yearly Index) is 

 lis. \d.,whichmay be paid b;/ Post Office Order in favour q/" Messrs. 

 Bell and Daldv, 186. Fleet Street; to wAom a?so aU Communications 

 FOR the Editor should be addressed. 



NOW READY, price 5s. cloth, 



GENERAL INDEX 



to 



NOTES AND QUEETES. 



FIRST SERX&S, Vols. I. to XIX. 



" The utility of such a Tolume, not only to men of letters, but to well- 

 informed readers generally, is too obvious to require proof, more es- 

 pecially when it is remembered that many of these references (between 

 30,noo and 40,000) are to articles which themselves pc.int out the best 

 sources of information upon their respective subjects." — TAe Times, 

 June 28, 1856. 



" Here we have a wonderful whet to the First Series of NOTRS 

 AND QTTERIKS, exciting the appetite of those who do not yet possess 

 it, and forming that kind of necessary accompaniment to it which 

 must be procured by those who do. * # » Practically, in fact, the 

 value of the First Series of NOTES AND QUERIES as a work of 

 reference is doubled to all students by this publication." — Examiner, 

 July 12th. 



" A GENERAL INDEX to the valuable and curious matter in the 

 First and completed Series of NOTES AND QUERIES is a great 

 boon to the literary student. * * * Having already had occasion to 

 refer to it on various points, we can bear testimony to its usefulness." 

 — Literary Gazette, July 26th. 



BELL Si DALDY, 186. Fleet Street ; and by Order of all Bookseller* 

 and Newsmen. 



