2«-J S. V. 126., May 29. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



439 



Early Parisian Press. — Will you kindly in- 

 form mo in what year printing was first introduced 

 into France, and at what place ? 



I picked up the other day, on an old-book-stall, 

 a small 8vo. book of which the following is a tran- 

 script of 4;itle-page : — 



" EK TON nAOYTAPXOY HAPAAAHAN, APHSIAAOS 

 TE KAI nOMHHIOS. Ex Plutarchi parallelis, Agesilai 

 et Pompei Vita. Parisiis. Apud Antonium Augerellum, 

 sub Signo D. lacobi, via ad S. lacobum. 153i." 



It is beautifully printed in Greek type through- 

 out. Is it a scarce book ? L. A. N. 



[Paris was the first city of France wliich received the 

 Art of Printing. In the year 1470, the tenth of the reign 

 of Louis XT., this noble art was begun there by Ulric 

 Gering, a German, and a native of Constance, and his 

 two associates, Martin Crantz and Michael Friburger. 

 Tiicse Germans, at tlie instance of Guillaume Fichet and 

 Jean de la Pierre, came to settle at Paris ; and had an 

 establishment assigned them in the College of the Sar- 

 bonno, of which society their two patrons were distin- 

 guished members. Chevillier enumerates eleven distinct 

 books printed by Gering, Crantz, and Friburger, in the 

 Sorbonne, annis 1470, 1471, and 1472. The list is in- 

 creased by Panzer to eighteen. These constitute what is 

 called the first series of Gering's impressions; of which 

 bil)liographers give the precedency to Gasparini Perga- 

 mennis Epis'olarum Opus. See UOrigine de Vlinprimerie 

 (h Paris, par le Sieur Andre Chevillier, 4" Par. 1G94; and 

 Greswell's Annals of Parisian Typography, edit. 1818, 

 p. 4. Greswell {Early Parisian Greek Press, i. 126.) far- 

 ther informs us that "Antoine Augereau (Augurellus) is 

 occasionally found in connection witii Jean Petit, Simon 

 de Colines, and others. That he printed with very hand- 

 some types both Greek and Latin, Mattaire says his 

 impression of Flesiod is a proof. La Caille ranks him 

 amongst the improvers of the Roman characters."] 



'^Journey through Scotland.'" — Who is the au- 

 thor of the following work in my possession : A 

 Journey through Scotland ; in familiar Letters 

 from a Gentleman here to his Friend abroad. 

 Being the third volume, which compleats Great 

 Britain. By the Author of the Joxvrney thro 

 England. 8vo. 1723? A Celt. 



[By John Macky, author of Memoirs of his Secret Ser- 

 vices, tvith Characters of tfie Courtiers of Great Britain, 

 8vo., 1733. See " N. & Q." !>* S. i. 205.] 



George IIT. as an Author. — George III. is 

 said, under the Pseudonyme of Ralph Robinson, 

 to have published some " Observations on Farm- 

 ing, either in Arthur Young's (monthly) Annals 

 of Agricnlture, or separately. I shall be thankful 

 to any correspondent of "N. & Q." who will give 

 me a distinct reference on this point. See Quar- 

 terly Review, li. 232. Villaris. 



[Huish, in his Memoirs of George the Third, p. 562., 

 states that " The King's letters were seven in number, 

 all of considerable length, and displaying a most pro- 

 found knowledge of the subject." The first letter is 

 printed in Young's Annals of Agriculture, vol. vii. p. 65., 

 entitled " On Mr. Duckett's Mode of Cultivation," and 

 dated Jan. 1, 1787. The second letter occurs at p. 332. of 

 the same volume, and is entitled " Further IJemarks on 

 Mr. Duckett's Mode of Cultivation," dated " Windsor, 



March 5, 1787." The other letters will probably be found 

 in the subseriuent volumes.] 



LORD RAGLAN AND BAD WRITING. 



(2'«> S. v. 376.) 



There are different versions of the anecdote re- 

 specting the far-famed letter deciphered by Lord 

 Raglan when he was Lord Fitzroy Somerset. 

 The following is from an interesting Memoir of 

 Lord Raglan : — 



" The strong fortress of Pampeluna was the bulwark of 

 the Pyrenees; but Soult, though sensible of its para- 

 mount importance, relied on its strength and resources for 

 a protracted defence. Wellington and Fitzroy Somerset 

 were riding unattended through one of the mountain 

 passes, when they were met by a muleteer, dispatched by 

 the French governor with a secret communication to 

 Soult. Struck by the appearance of Wellington, he in- 

 stantly set him "down as the French Marshal, who was 

 supposed to be in the neighbourhood ; and, as he came up, 

 he took a scrap of paper from his mouth and presented it 

 to him : it was inscribed with ciphers. ' If we could un- 

 ravel this, we might gain some intelligence,' said Wel- 

 lington, handing the paper to his companion. Lord 

 Fitzroy scanned it attentively, and, detecting two or 

 three vowels, quickly deciphered the whole: whence it 

 was discovered that if Pampeluna were not relieved hy a 

 certain day, the governor loould be obliged to surrender. 

 Wellington took his measures accordingly, and the re- 

 nowned stronghold fell into his hands. VVith this key of 

 Spain he unlocked the gate of France," &c. — " Memoir 

 of Lord Raglan," United Service Mag., Aug. 1855. 



The words which I have Italicised may serve as 

 a reply to your correspondent's Query respecting 

 the contents of the letter in question. It may be 

 doubted whether the letter itself is to be found, 

 in extenso, " in any life of the Duke of Wellington 

 or of Lord Raglan." Very possibly, however, it 

 is still in existence. 



Not very long after the fall of Pampeluna, I 

 joined headquarters with treasure at Aire on the 

 Adour, to which point our army could hardly 

 have advanced, but for Lord Fitzroy's felicitous 

 discovery and its important consequences. Either 

 there or elsewhere (on this point my memory is a 

 blank) I learnt the following particulars : — The 

 cipher was one which expressed the letters of the 

 alphabet, either by arbitrary signs, as in short- 

 hand ; or else by the substitution of letters for 

 letters, as in those mystic communications once so 

 common in The Times. The quick eye of Lord. 

 Fitzroy promptly detecting the principle of the 

 device adopted, he at once turned his attention to 

 the heading of the letter, which would probably 

 (in French) be to this effect : " At Pampeluna, 



this — th , 181-." He thus, without difficulty, 



got several characters of the French governor's 

 cipher ; and when so much is effected, as any one 

 at all accustomed to deciphering will readily un- 



