2^5. IX. Mar. 3L '60.1 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



245 



Solesmes, or Soleme, is a commune three hours 

 and a half east of Cambray ; its population still, 

 for a great part, consists of weavers. How did 

 the Norwich printer print his own name, — So- 

 lesmes, Solesme, Solempne, or Solen ? 



I am told De Solesmes printed at least Jive 

 editions of the Bible in Dutch, and it is supposed 

 he did this for the purpose chiefly of smuggling 

 them into the Spanish Netherlands. This, how- 

 ever, does not seem to be true, as the Norwich 

 Bibles are quite unknown with us ; whilst the ne- 

 cessity of printing the Bible for exportation to 

 the Low Countries was lessened by the continual 

 publications of the Holy Scriptures at Cologne, 

 Aix-la-Chapelle, &c. So, if Dutch Bibles were 

 printed in Norwich, it must principally have been 

 for the settlers there. But we only know of 

 Dutch Prayerbooks (Psalms, Catechism, and Ca- 

 lendar), with the imprint Noordwitz. Do the 

 Dutch Norwich Bibles really exist ? 



J. H. va>" Lenjtep. 

 Zeyst, near Utrecht. 



[Mb. Oftor informs us, that " Johnson copied his ac- 

 count of this Norwich printer from Ames, p. 481., with 

 some omissions. Dr. Cotton, in his Typographical Gazet- 

 teer, mentions Norwich in Connecticut, but omits Nor- 

 wich in England. I have never seen a Bible printed at 

 Norwich in Dutch. Liesvelt printed many editions. A 

 set of his first edition, Antwerp, 1526, is in my collec- 

 tion — a beautiful copy, handed down iu his family. 

 Vasterman printed some handsome editions. Hans de 

 Laet printed one in 15G0 at Antwerp, in which the Apo- 

 cryphal books are inserted in the text. It has neat cuts 

 — Death dancing while Adam and Eve are driven from 

 paradise, and digging with Adam, while Eve, holding a 

 distaff, suckles an infant. A royal 8vo., at Embden, by 

 B. Mierdman, 1556. A pocket edition, in 4 vols, at 

 Amsterdam, by Pietersoen, 1527, &c. Sec. &c, but nothing 

 at Noordwitz."] 



"Memoires i>e Casanova." — Was " Jaques 

 Casanova de Senegalt, by whom the Memoires de 

 Casanova (published in France towards the end of 

 the last century) purport to .have been written, a 

 real personage bearing that name, and are the 

 Memoires in question supposed to represent the 

 real incidents of his life? The book itself, known 

 now I fancy to but few English readers, is one of 

 such shameless and horrible obscenity as to ren- 

 der it difficult to believe the contents to be any- 

 thing but a profligate romance. 



I have recently noticed, however, in reading Mr. 

 Carlyle's "Essay on Cagliostro" (Miscellanies, vol. 

 iii. p. "240.), that he says, speaking of the difficulty 

 of procuring any authentic works to refer to for 

 information about Cagliostro, that he "would even 

 have dived into the infectious Memoires de Casa- 

 nova for the purpose," but that " English librarians 

 generally deny the possession of the book." 



A reference from so respectable and accurate a 

 quarter as Mr. Carlyle implies of course some 

 authenticity in the book. But who was the man 

 win. could deliberately fill eight or ten volumes 



with such a record of his life ? There are, if I 

 remember, several allusions to Casanova as a 

 " chevalier de fortune " in Mr. Thackeray's novel 

 of Barry Lyndon, where 1 think he is introduced 

 as gambling with Charles James Fox! C. M. 



[Jacob Casanova de Seingalt flourished in the last 

 century, and was distinguished for his talents and adven- 

 tures. He was born at Venice on 2nd April, 1725, and 

 educated at Padua, and during his travels over various 

 parts of Europe became acquainted with Yoltaire, and 

 the most distinguished personages of his time. In 1785 

 he retired to Dux in Bohemia, where he resided as libra- 

 rian to Count Waldstein, and occupied himself with the 

 cultivation of science and literature till his death, whicU 

 took place at Vienna in June, 1803. A copious account 

 of Casanova will be found in Kouvelle Biographie Generate, 

 viii. 938. Two editions of his Autobiography are in the 

 British Museum : Memoires ecrits par hri-meme. Edition 

 originale, 12 torn. 12mo. Leipsic, 1826-38; and 4 torn. 

 12mo. Paris, 1843.] 



Rev. .John F. Usko. — This gentleman published 

 in 1808 A Brief Narrative of his Travels and Lite- 

 rary Life. Could you give any account of the 

 author and his works ? R. Ingijs. 



[Mr. Usko was born on Dec. 12, 1760, at Lyck in 

 Prussia, and educated in that town. In 1777 he gra- 

 duated at the University of Koningsberg, and was or- 

 dained as a minister at Dantzick on 18th March, 1783. 

 He was not only master of Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Chal- 

 daic, Turkish, Persian, Italian, French, German, Polish, 

 Latin, Greek, but was also well skilled in English. The 

 Narrative of his Travels is reprinted in the Gent. Mag. 

 for June, 1808, p. 486., and Aug. 1S08, p. 696. On ac- 

 count of his learning the Bishop of London presented him 

 to the valuable living of Orsett in Essex. He married 

 Elizabeth Henrietta, daughter of Dr. De Zimmerman of 

 Smyrna, who died at Orsett on Dec. 3, 1818. Mr. Usko 

 died at his rectory on Dec 31, 1841, aged 81. He pub- 

 lished A Grammar of the Arabic Language, accompanied 

 by a Praxis of the first three chapters of Genesis, and a 

 Vocabnlarv. For a memoir of him, see Gent. Mag., April. 

 1842, p. 43*9.] 



John Bdkyan Portraits. — In the Pilgrimage 

 to English Shrines, by Mrs. S. C. Hall, there is 

 mentioned an original portrait of John Bunyan of 

 Bedford, in the possession of one of his descend- 

 ants, Mrs. Sauegear of Islington, a very old lady, 

 nearly ninety years of age, I believe now dead. 

 This old lady was very proud of being a de- 

 scendant, and having a portrait of her ancestor, 

 John Bunyan, and said it was an original and 

 correct likeness of him, — a very fine old oil paint- 

 ing. Can you tell by whom it was painted, and 

 was it ever engraved ? In whose possession is the 

 portrait at present ? 



In the same book it is said the old lady had left 

 it by will to Bunyan Chapel at Bedford. The 

 person who has got the portrait of John Bunyan 

 would do well by giving it to the National Por- 

 trait Gallery of England, to be placed among the 

 portraits of England's great men. R. W. 



[ We have submitted the above to the Editor of John 

 Bunyan's Works, who states that " The painting of John 

 Bunyan, in possession of his descendant Mrs. Senegar, 



