lis 



I^OTES AND QUJ^HIES. 



[2nd s. jto 81, Auo. 8. '57. 



not to be regarded as a proof that its first efforts 

 were not to deter the approach of a supposed 

 enemy. As for the rivalry of other males, re- 

 garded as a motive for the display of its orna- 

 mented dorsal plumage, I have seen it exhibited, 

 with a great show of excited feeling, when no 

 other male was to be found within the distance of 

 several miles. Jonathan Couch. 



Instruments of Torture (2"'' S. iv. 66.). — I trust 

 Mr. Ckemestra will pardon me for setting him 

 right in one or two particulars. The instrument 

 of torture used in Scotland and elsewhere, called 

 the thumbikin, or thumb screw, is well known, 

 and many examples still exist. I have seen one 

 at Abbotsford ; another In the museum of the 

 Society of Antiquaries at Edinburgh ; a third at 

 Taymouth ; Lord Londesborough has one ; there 

 is a specimen in the Tower of London, and also I 

 think at Goodrich Court. Darwin, in his Natu- 

 ralist's Voyage^ writing in 1836, says : — 



" Near Rio de Janeiro I lived opposite to an old lady, 

 who kept screws to crush the fingers of her female 

 slaves." 



With regard to the wooden engine preserved 

 at Littlecote, not Nettlecote Hall, which I de- 

 scribed in the 1"' S. of " N. & Q.," under the 

 article " Finger Stocks," I think it will be found 

 to be simply an instrument of confinement, not 

 one of torture, like the thumbikin, which was 

 powerful enough to crush and splinter the bones 

 between its plates, which were sometimes roughed 

 like the jaws of a pair of nut-crackers. 



W. J. Bernhabd Smith. 



Temple. 



Posies on Wedding Rings (2°'^ S. 11. 219.) — 

 Lady Cathcart, on marrying her fourth husband, 

 Hugh Macguire, In 1713, had the following posy 

 inscribed on her wedding-ring : — 



" If I survive, 

 I will have five." 

 (Vide Burke's Anecdotes of the Aristocracy.') 

 A. C. Moore. 



Kitchenham Family (2""* S. Iv. 9.)— The Sussex 

 family of Kitchingham appear to me to have 

 taken their surname from the estate of Kitching- 

 ham, In the parish of Ashburnham, co. Sussex, 

 in which parish they were living up to the time of 

 the extinction of the elder line, about the end of 

 Elizabeth. G. P. must have been misinformed as 

 to any member of this family having been ele- 

 vated to the peerage. If any of the Kitchinghams 

 ever resided at Wadhurst, information respecting 

 them could doubtless be supplied by W. Court- 

 hope, Esq., Somerset Herald, who has large MS. 

 collections concerning that parish. 



Mark Antony Lower. 



Lewes. 



^(SrelTaueDttS. 



NOTES ON RECENT BOOK SAXES. 



Messrs. Sothebt & Wilkinson, on July 20, 1857, 

 and three following daj's, sold the following rare and 

 choice books and manuscripts : — 



44. Beauvalet de Saint-Victor (Chevalier) Prieres et 

 Ofiices. Autograph Manuscript of this distinguished 

 artist, exquisitely written on vellum paper, each page 

 surrounded by a border of most elegant design, composed 

 of birds, flowers, nondescripts, &c., and painted in gold 

 and colours, a beautiful specimen of art, in blue morocco, 

 gilt edges, with very tasteful silver clasps (forming cru- 

 cifixes) in case. 1854. 11. 7s. 

 A MS. note at the commencement informs us " Ce livre 

 compost de cent soixante feuillets a ^t^ entiferement 

 dessind, peint et dcrit par le Chevalier Beauvalet de 

 Saint-Victor ne h Paris en 1780, Peintre Mineralo- 

 giste brevete h Rome de SS. Gregoire XVI.," &c. 

 60. Bible (H0I3'), engraved title, ruled with red lines. 

 Field's small Edition, printed during the Interregnum, 

 and known as ''Cromwell's Pocket Edition," from the 

 soldiers of his army carrying it with them, in their vari- 

 ous journeys, the True Edition, having the four first 

 Psalms printed on a single page, velvet, with clasps. 

 1655. 41. 4s. 



88. Burnet (Gilbert, Bishop of Salisbury), History of 



his own Times, from the Restoration of Charles II. (in 



1660) to the Peace of Utrecht, in the Reign of Queen 



Anne (in 1713), 4 vols, bound in 9. Large imperial 



paper, with a set of titles written expressly for this copy, 



within ornamental borders, drawn with Indian ink, at a 



cost of one guinea and a half each. Russia. 23Z. 



Profusely illustrated with upwards of One Thousand 



Portraits, Engravings, and Drawings ; many of the 



Heads representing Roj-al, Noble, and Illustrious 



Persons, noticed in the work, and the Engravings, 



their Actions and the Events of the most interesting 



period to Avhich the history relates. Manj' of the 



Drawings consist of Likenesses of noted Personages, 



copied in colours from original Paintings in various 



noble Collections, executed by G. P. Harding and 



other eminent artists. ^ 



93. Camoes (Luis de) Os Lusiadas, agora de novo im- 



presso, com alguas Annota9oes de diversos Autores. Fine 



copy of a very rare edition (^vide "Bibl. Grenvilliana," 



unseen by Souza Botelho, and unknown to M. Mablin), 



green morocco extra, insides lined with morocco, gilt 



edges, by C. Lewis. Em Lisboa. 1584. 4Z. 



134. Acuna (Christoval de) Nuevo Descubrimiento del 

 Gran Rio de las Amazonas. Morocco super extra, joints 

 inside, gilt after a pattern of Roger Payne's by C. Lewis. 

 Madrid. 1641. 12/. 12s. 

 An exceedingh' fine copy of an extremely rare volume, 

 which the Spaniards most diligently suppressed at 

 its first appearance, to prevent the information con- 

 tained in its pages becoming of use to the Portu- 

 guese, their maritime rivals. 

 211. Beauvalet de Saint Victor (Chevalier) Vases Grecs 

 et Etrusques, tant en Bronze qu'en Couleur de Terre, 

 peints d'aprfcs sa nouvelle Decouverte Metallique, avec 

 nne Notice sur les Vases. A Collection of 96 superb 

 Drawings, painted by the Artist himself in gold and 

 colours for His Majesty King Louis Philippe (who had 

 agreed to pay 4000 francs for the volume, but was pre- 

 vented by the Revolution in 1848) with a printed title- 

 page and notice of the vases. Unique, no otlier copy 

 having been executed, although ordered by several mo- 

 narchs, on account of the expense, morocco super extra, 

 gilt edges, with case. Paris. 1837-48. GO/. 



