134 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°d s. N« 59., Feb. 14. '67. 



pounced upon as worth securing. There is an error some- 

 where ; a deficiency in the funds has been alleged : that 

 they have no floating cash, and that they cau only go to 

 the House of Commons to Ijuy large libraries. If so, there 

 is a fundamental error, for in no institution whatever, so 

 much as in that of forming a library, should there unceas- 

 ingly be kept in view, it is by mites we form the niickle : 

 the Luttrell collection was entirely formed by driblets. 

 Nor, before this subject is dropped, being foreign to the 

 subject of the entrj-, be it forgotten, that a body, like the 

 officers of the British Museum, should not be seen in the 

 market giving, or rather offering, petty prices — prices 

 continually to be outbid by individuals ; for that is almost 

 as great an error as to keep out of the market altogether. 

 "Narcissus Luttrell was, I believe, of Dunster Castle, 

 Somersetshire. He must have been a man of fortune, 

 and one who could appropriate a given sum to the lite- 

 rature of the day, and also a man of personal assiduity. 

 His system Avas to mark every tract, ballad, or lampoon, 

 with the day it was purchased and the price given. There 

 is an incalculable value in such an authority, as several of 

 his copies are dated in the November and December of the 

 year preceding the date of the tract ; and where a ques- 

 tion arises as to the first appearance of a satire on a 

 distinguished character it leads to an endless number 

 of 'probables' and ' perhapses.' Finding the date appa- 

 rently long subsequent to the transaction on which the 

 poem is founded, and ' perhaps ' dated subsequent to 

 another catchpenny as an answer or ' probably ' reply. 

 He also marked the price paid, in which it is difficult 

 to come to a conclusion whether he collected in person or 

 employed some needy hand, to whom he might allow a 

 yearly salarj', upon the understanding of buying at the 

 trade price, as many of the articles are marked 4^d., 9d., 

 and Is. l^d., that otherwise sold at 6d., Is., andls. Gd., 

 but as this is only a partial mark, it is possible that he 

 was the collector, and his own bookseller supplied some of 

 those articles with a view to get rid of them and secure 

 his more enlarged custom. Be that as it maj', the col- 

 lections were formed and continue to be distinguished bj' 

 his name, although there is a doubt whether they were 

 more than commenced by Narcissus Luttrell, and were 

 continued by his son, who wisely contented himself in 

 being guided by the outline adopted by his father. I 

 have called them ' collections ' because they were in sets, 

 and indeed every distinct volume formed a' complete col- 

 lection for the time it run. Ultimately, the whole became 

 the property of Edw. Wynne, the author of Eunomus, or 

 Dialogues on the Laws of England, who also published a 

 scarce volume pf Law Tracts, and who lived and died at 

 Chelsea. He was, I believe, a near relation of the Luttrells. 

 When Mr. Wynne died, the late Isaac Reed (with whom 

 he had been intimate) informed Dr. Farmer of there being 

 twenty-four volumes of quarto, or perhaps small folio, of old 

 poetrj', Latin and English, and he persuaded the executors 

 to let Dr. Farmer have them. The price given was about 

 twenty guineas, or 25/. When Dr. F. had them away 

 there were two volumes wanting, which, not being then 

 at hand, were not included in the purchase, but were sub- 

 sequently sold, with the remainder of Wynne's library, by 

 Leigh & Sotheby, in ) 786, and were then bought for Dr. 

 F. by Isaac Reed. In that sale Mr. Bindley purchased 

 eleven volumes, which are fully described in the Catalogue 

 of his Library, Part III., Lots 1125— 113L Besides those 

 collections, there was a large quantity of folio and quarto 

 poetry of the reigns of William and Mary, and their suc- 

 cessor Anne, which were purchased by a professional gen- 

 tleman, who dying soon afterwards, the whole were pur- 

 chased by Fiske, the bookseller, who cut them up, and 

 Mr. Bindley selected and purchased a very large propor- 

 tion. The volumes I have inspected and referred to in 



some of these pages belonged to Mr. Heber, who, speaking 

 from memory, obtained them out of the Boucher Li- 

 brary." * 



J. y. 



PHOTOGRAPHIC CORKESPONDENCB. 



JVew Method of preserving Sensitized Collodion Plates. — 

 Having discovered a very simple, economical, and abso- 

 lutely certain means of preserving the sensitized collodion 

 plates fit for use for quite sufficient time, I shall feel great 

 pleasure in placing it in j'our hands for the use of photo- 

 graphers. It is as follows : To 3 drachms of best loaf 

 sugar put 1 oz. distilled or filtered rain water, made almost 

 boiling, so that the sugar shall be thoroughly dissolved ; 

 filter this whilst hot, as it passes more rapidly so than 

 when cold. 



Having sensitized the coUodionized plate, put it into 

 distilled (or filtered rain) water, where let it remain four 

 or five minutes ; wash it pretty well, and drain a little ; 

 then put it into the sugar solution (I use a dish), and let 

 it remain for four or five minutes, when drain it pretty 

 closely into the dish, by holding the lower edge of the 

 glass parallel to the dish, and then tilt it, so that the so- 

 lution shall run from one of the corners. I find this wa)' 

 preferable to holding it all the while cornerwise. Put it 

 then to finish the draining on clean blotting-paper; after 

 about a quarter of an hour, just remove it to a dry part of 

 the paper, as this is better than allowing it to remain in 

 the same place, as the lower edge becomes dry the sooner. 

 The plates should then be put by for use, in a quite dark 

 place, of course. They will be perfectly sensitive at tho 

 end of a week (I have not tried longer, but have no doubt 

 they would keep much longer), and may be developed at 

 the end of another week, if that be desirable. 



To develope : first place the plate in quite Ao< water for 

 five or six minutes, and wash after this with cold water, 

 either distilled or rain, — 1 use the latter: then, after a 

 minute's draining, use pj-rogallic acid, 2 grs. per oz. of 

 water, with 6 drops of silver, SO grs. per oz. water, and 

 the picture will very soon become visible; after it has 

 become quite plain, which it Avill in about a minute, 

 pour off the acid into a little phial, and add 5 or 6 drops 

 more of silver, which will form then a perfect negative, 

 in every respect of detail, &c., as fine as collodion used 

 fresh, that is, wet. 



Perhaps I have not so clearly expressed what I in- 

 tended above for developing : I should have said 5 or 6 

 drops of silver to about J of an oz. of pyrogallic. 



If the preceding be carefully attended to, I can safely 

 assure you, there will never be a failure : for I have tried 

 it upwards of one hundred times without one, even from 

 the first. 



It is mj' belief, that when this becomes known, it will 

 entirely do away with the necessity of using paper, un- 

 less that may be preferred; because it is, as I before said, 

 ab.solutely certain. 



I have tried all the various means that have been 

 offered, but, even with oxymel, which I have found sen- 

 sitive, I have never obtained satisfactor3' results : there 

 have always been blotches or large stains, although I 

 have used every precaution and care. These failures led 

 me to try this winter many experiments ; several of which, 

 especially rather thick gum-water, did very well, but the 



[* We have been anticipated in the publication of the 

 enclosed by The Athenceum ; but such publication is no 

 reason why we should omit from our columns so good a 

 notice of so useful a collector as Narcissus Luttrell. — 

 Ed. " N. & Q."] 



