200 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»<iS. N»36., Sept. 6. '56. 



NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC. 



We do not know how, within the limits to which onr 

 notires are neressarilj' confined, we can pive our readers 

 anj' accurate notion of tiie vast amount of curious and 

 ouf-of-the-wav illustration of the social condition '~f this 

 country in bvgone days which is to be found in Mr. Ko- 

 berts's'recentlv published work on this subject. Its ample 

 title-page, which we transcribe at length, will do much. 

 It is as follows: The Social History of the People of the 

 Southern Counties of Enpland in pant Centuries, illustrated 

 in regard to their Habits, Municipal Byelaws, Civil Processes, 

 §-c., from the Researches of George Roberts. But if we could 

 find' space for the list of subjects treated of by the bio- 

 grapher of Monmouth, in which he contrives, like the 

 celebrated Counte.ss of Pembroke, to discourse of ever}'- 

 thing from "predestination down to slea silk," our readers 

 would not require further assurance of the value and in- 

 terest of his volume. Let us give a few instances. From 

 '• Presents to Great Men," it seems a natural transition to 

 "Vails to Servants." Visits of Stage Players, Hiring 

 of Preachers, Music in the Church, Pilgrimages to Saint 

 lago. Punishments of litigious Persons, the Tumbrel, 

 Pillory, Cucking-Stool, Public Whipping, Regulations 

 for Trade, Sanitary Measures. The Plague, Medical Prac- 

 tice, Witchcraft, Sumptuary Laws, Private Lotteries, The 

 Postal Svstem, Introduction of Chimnies, Precautions 

 against Fire, are but a few of the items illustrative of the 

 daily habits of our forefathers which the tact and in- 

 dustrv of Jlr. Roberts have here gJithered together, at no 

 small" cost of labour and money. There is one passage in 

 his Introduction to which we would point, with the view 

 of keeping before the public mind those regulations of the 

 Preroitative Office which so much interfere with the in- 

 quiries of literarv men. " I have paid," says Mr. Roberts, 

 "for inspection "of some of the Records and Wills of my 

 countrv as it the result were to be my success in an aflfiir 

 of thousands in a court of law, whereas I have only sought 

 knowleilge, ' rich with the spoils of time.' " We now take 

 our leave of Mr. Roberts, with thanks for one of the most 

 amusing books which it has lately been our good fortune 

 to encounter. 



We regret to find that the managers of the Marylehone 

 Free Library have been compelled to i.ssue the following 

 appeal, to which we would call the attention of all inter- 

 ested in the maintenance of free libraries : — " Shall the 

 onlv free librarv in the metropolis be closed? The 

 Trustees of this" institution having reported, at a gene- 

 ral meeting convened for the purpose, that although the 

 Society was able to meet its liabilities up to the end of 

 the present year, it could not be carried on beyond that 

 time, for the'want of suflacient annual subscriptions, and 

 must therefore be closed, — some gentlemen hitherto un- 

 connected with its management, and dee|)ly regretting 

 such a state of things, have formed themselves into a 

 Special Committee, for the purpose, if possible, of averting 

 that result, and continuing to the working classes and 

 their children the intellectual advantages which they 

 now possess. The reading-rooms, which now contain 

 5000 volumes, and are available to the public every day 

 (Sunday excepted) from 10 in the morning till 10 at 

 night, were opened on January 9, 1854; and from that 

 date to July 31, 18.56, 73,312 readers have attended, and 

 79,477 books have been issued. In addition to the read- 

 ing-room, a lendinfc library, containing 1,000 volumes, 

 established and conducted" by working-men themselvae, 

 is in full operation ; .5,732 volumes have been taken out, 

 none of which have been lost, nor has any case of wilful 

 damage occurred. The opportunities thus afforded of 

 reading at home are eocial advantages to which your at- 



tention is especially directed. The Special Committee 

 having ascertained that about 200/. in addition to the 

 present annual subscription, will be sufficient to prevent 

 the closing of this institution, you are earnestly solicited 

 to come forward and help sustain this, the first and only 

 free library in the metropolis. H. Hayward, Hon. Sec" 



The claims of the Free Lending Library as a means of 

 social improvement are so obvious, that we earnestly hope 

 this institution may be preserved. 



RooivS Rkckived. — Tlie Vade Mecum for Tourists in 

 France and Belgium. Compact in form, concise in ar- 

 rangement, this little volume, which would almost go 

 into the waistcoat pocket, will be found well deserving of 

 its name, for it is fairh' said of it that " it contains every- 

 thing the traveller is likely to want, and nothing more." 



Index Rerum, or Index of Subjects intended as a Manual 

 to aid the Student and the Professional Man in preparing 

 himself for usefulness, Sfc. With an Introduction, §*c. By 

 the Rev. John Todd. A new and cheaper edition of this 

 useful and popular Common -Place Book. 



A Treatise on the Cure of Stammering. By James 

 Hunt. A second edition of Mr. Hunt's treatise on a 

 branch of medical science which he has most successfully 

 cultivated, as is manifest from the many testimonials to 

 that success which are scattered through the volume. 



BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES 



WANTED TO PURCHASE. 



JowETT ov THE Thessalonians. 2 Vols. Svo. First Edition. 



»«* Letters, statin!; parriculars BTid lowest price, carriage free, to be 

 sent to Mk«srs Bri.l & Dai-uv, Publishers of "AOTES AND 

 QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street. 



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

 the ;;e"tlemen hv whon t'lev are required, and whose names and ad- 

 dresses are given for that purpose : 



Dr. Pkifstley'- CntnT of Bior<phv. 



Wanted, for a Mi'itary Library, various Histories of different Regi- 

 ments, their Campaigns, &c. 



Wanted by James Douglas, Junior, Cavers, Ilawick, N. B. 



We ore compelled to postpone until next \oe.ek many inferesting com- 

 munications, inclicUnc) VuriKN/i. ; Shak>peabiana.; Was Daniel Wray, 

 Junius, &o. : Dooceana ; Charles Cotton, <§-c. 



H.r. CShefRe\<i^, ivill fi" da full account of the" Enistolce Obscuro- 

 riim Virnrum," from the able pen o/Mr. Singer, in " N. & Q.," Ist S. ii. 

 1-21. 



Philo is thanked. Our excellent contemporary The Gentleman's 

 Magazine iluly records the procee''ings of oil Antiquarian Societies, and 

 pj'esenes Obituaries o/aH who die and leave a name behind them ; and 

 what our contemporary does so well, we may leave in his hands. 



X. G. Not at present. 



TjLi,oay's wish has been anticipated. " Les beaux esprits, &c." We 

 hope shortly to lay before our readers some curious and copious Notes on 

 Edmund Curll. 



Index to the First Series. As this is now published, and the im- 

 pression is a limitf.d one, such of our readers as (le«ire copies wo'dd do 

 well to intimate their wish to their respective booksellers nithout delay. 

 Our publUliers, Messrs. Beix & Daldv, will forward copies by post on 

 receipt of a Post Office Order for Five Shilnngs. 



"Notes and Qoeries" is published at noon on Friday, so that the 

 Country Booksellers may receive Copies in that night's parcels, and 

 deliver them to their Subscribers on the Saturday. 



" Notes and Qdbrtks " is also issued in Monthly Parts, for the con- 

 venience of those who may either have a difficulty in procvrina the un- 

 stamped weekly Numbers, or prefer receiving it monthly. While j^arties 

 resident in the country or abroad, who maybe desirous of receiving the 

 weekJp Numbers, may have stamped copies forwarded direct from the 

 Publisher. The subscription for the stamped edition of "Notks and 

 Queries " (including a very copious Index) is eleven shiilinas and four- 

 pence for six months, which may be paid by Post Office Order, drawn in 

 favour of the Publisher, Mr. Georox Bell, No. 186. Fleet Street. 



