2'>'» S. N« 102., Dec. 12. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



475 



Each party, you see, is thus full of hope ; 

 There are some for the Devil, and some for the Pope ; 

 And I am for anything else but a rope. 

 Which nobody can deny."] 



French Bible. — I have in my possession a 

 folio French Bible, beautifully printed in double 

 columns, with numerous woodcuts. Of these 

 most are inserted in the letter-press, being just the 

 width of a column. Some few, as " Le Taber- 

 nacle," occupy half a page. At the beginning are 

 " S. Jerome a Paul Prelatre touchant les LIvres 

 de la Bible," and " Preface de S. Jerome Prestre, 

 sus le Pentateuque de Moyse." The first volume, 

 from Genesis to Esther, including Esdras, Tobias, 

 and Judith, contains 498 pages ; the second, from 

 Job to Maccabees, 413. The New Testament 

 contains 288 pages : all are bound in one. As the 

 title-page Is wanting, I should feel grateful to 

 any one who could tell me its date. 



I omitted to • mention that on a blank page at 

 the end of each volume of the Bible is a scroll, 

 nearly in the form of what is called a true lover's 

 knot. On the three top loops are the letters 

 " SON • EN • rv," on the two bottom ones " art • 

 Di." This may perhaps afford some clue to de- 

 termine when, where, or by whom it was printed. 



I could give several other particulars which 

 appear to me curious ; but I should like first to 

 see what remarks are made by persons more con- 

 versant with bibliology on those already given. 



A Country Parson. 



[Our correspondent's Bible seems to agree with one 

 described in Bibliotheca Sussexiana, ii. 116., entitled La 

 Sainte Bible. A Lyon, par Jan de Tournes, 1554, fol. 

 2 vols. In this Bible the title of the New Testament con - 

 sists simply of the following, enclosed within a flourished 

 border in the centre of the page : Le Nouveau Testament 

 We Nostre Seigneur et seul Sauveur Jesus Christ. Pre- 

 ceding the Old and New Testaments are Tables of the 

 Books which they severally contain.] 



Pianos, when first invented. — F. L. is desirous of 

 ascertaining the period when pianos were in- 

 vented and introduced into England and Scot- 

 land. Some correspondent will therefore kindly 

 give him the required information. 



[Musical instruments, in which the tones were pro- 

 duced by keys, acting upon stretched strings, are of con- 

 siderable antiquity, but the piano-forte, properly so called, 

 is an invention of the last century. The instrument that 

 immediately preceded it was the harpsichord, in which 

 the wire was twitched by a small tongue of crow-quill, 

 attached to an apparatus called a jack, moved by the 

 key. At length, in^n auspicious hour for the interests 

 of music, the idea arose that, by causing the key to 

 strike the string, instead of pulling it, the tone might be 

 considerably improved, and the general capabilities of 

 the instrument otherwise extended. This contrivance 

 opened an enth-ely new field to the player, by giving him 

 the power of expression, in addition to that of execution ; 

 for, by varying the touch, a greater or less degree of 

 force could be given to the blow on the string — whereby 

 the effects of piano and forte might be produced at plea- 

 sure. This was the great feature of the new invention, 



and gave to the improved instrument the name of piano- 

 forte. Who was the inventor does not appear certain. 

 The merit has been ascribed by turns to the Germans, the 

 Italians, and the English ; and the date of the invention 

 is equally obscure. The first authentic notice of the in- 

 strument discovered is on the occasion of a visit of John 

 Sebastian Bach to Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, 

 in 1747, three years before the death of this immortal 

 composer. From an old play-bill in the possession of 

 Messrs. Broadwood, it appears that the piano-forte was 

 first known in England about 1767, as it was introduced 

 at Covent Garden Theatre as "a new instrument" in 

 May of that year. A German maker, of the name of 

 Backers, is supposed to have been the first who manu- 

 factured the piano-forte to any considerable extent in 

 England. The manufacture was also early taken up by 

 Tschudi, Stodart, Kirkman, Zumpe, and others, and the 

 superiority of the new instrument soon became so appa- 

 rent, that it gradually superseded the harpsichord. See 

 Musical Instruments in the Great Industrial Exhibition of 

 1851. By William Pole, F.R. A. S. Privately printed. 

 1851.] 



Nicholas Brady, D.D. — What was his mother's 

 maiden name ? H. G. D. 



[Dr. Brady's mother was Martha, daughter of Luke 

 Gernon, a Judge of singular meekness and probity. She 

 was a lady of great beauty, virtue, and goodness. — 

 Kippis's Biographia Britannica, ii. 565.] 



MACISTUS, AND THE TELEGRAPHIC NEWS OF THE 

 CAPTURE or TROY. 



(2"'i S. iv. 189. 295. 369. 411. 438.) 



The statement which H. C. K. calls in question, 

 that the light of a good lighthouse is visible at sea 

 to the naked eye not more than about fifteen 

 miles, was not made without authority. It refers, 

 however, to a lighthouse 100 feet in height above 

 the sea level : if the light Is upon an eminence, it 

 may doubtless be seen some miles farther. H. C. 

 K. lays it down that " a beacon lighted on a moun- 

 tain would be visible at a much greater distance 

 than the mountain Itself, even on the clearest 

 day." This position seems very doubtful. Hills 

 of no great elevation can be seen on a clear day 

 from other heights at a distance of forty or fifty 

 miles ; but it cannot be supposed that a beacon 

 fire of pinewood or heath could be discerned by 

 the naked eye at this distance. He thinks that 

 the fire on the Malvern Hills was seen at a dis- 

 tance of 100 miles. I cannot believe this to be 

 possible. The coast of Sicily is said to be some- 

 times visible from Malta, and that of Corsica from 

 the southern coast of France ; but it Is a very 

 rare event when they can be seen, and in general 

 they are wholly invisible. These distances are 

 under 100 miles. Mr. Buckton says that Biot 

 and Arago constructed lamps visible from stations 

 100 miles apart, for trigonometrical surveys. 

 These lamps were doubtless seen through tele- 



