By Clifford W. Holgate. 225 
edition of Bibliotheca Hantoniensis is in the press, and nearly ready,} 
and that a bibliographical committee has been formed in the county 
of Essex to compile a bibliography of works relating to that county. 
Tur MeraAnING OF A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WILTSHIRE. 
To come, then, to the title of this paper, “‘ A proposed Bibliography 
of Wiltshire.” By this I mean the compilation of a book containing 
‘a systematic description of books, pamphlets, and other printed 
material relating to the history and topography of the county. The 
ideal “ systematic description ” should in all cases, I think, contain 
the full title of the work and notes as to its authorship, edition, 
number of pages and plates, size, the places of printing and pub- 
lishing, the names of printer and publisher (if within the county), 
and the date of publication: and, if possible, a brief but accurate 
indication of the purport and value of the book, and, if by a Wiltshire 
author, a brief account of him. 
PrinteD Sources For such A Work. 
The above, roughly speaking, being the kind of particulars to be 
recorded, I must first indicate what sources of information are 
already in print—however incompletely fulfilling the standard of 
excellence we should like to see attained—specially relating to 
Wiltshire. 
(1) First—and there are only three special sourees—comes John 
Britton’s “ Topographical Sketches of North Wiltshire,” 1825, intended 
nominally to form the third volume of his “ Beauties of Wiltshire” 
—the first two volumes of which were published in 1801—but 
virtually a separate and complete work. It contains in the ap- 
pendix two valuable contributions to the bibliography of the county. 
The first is an “ Alphabetical List of Local Acts of Parliament, for 
Enclosing of Common Wields, Transferring Property, &c., with the 
Names of Lords of Manors, Resident Clergy, &c.’ The Acts are 
1This was published in August, 1891, edited by Messrs. H. M. Gilbert and 
G. N. Godwin, with a Jist of Hampshire newspapers by F. HE. Edwards. 
