378 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2"<» S. IX. May 19. '60. 



Dr. Hallej', the said Dr. Bradley's Predecessors in office, 

 the Executors of each were allowed without Molestation 

 or demand from the Crown to move and take away all 

 the papers and Observations of the Deceased, and to apply 

 them to their own use and advantages respectively, and 

 according that the observations made by the said Mr. 

 Flamstead were published by his Executors in 3 volumes in 

 Folio for their own Private emolument ; and also that the 

 Representatives both of Dr. Halley and of Mr. Bliss, who 

 Succeeded the said Dr. Bradley, and likewise Mr. Green 

 who continued to make Observations at the Royal Ob- 

 servatory from the Death of Mr. Bliss to the Appoint- 

 ment of the present Observator Royal, did severally 

 receive from the Commissioners of the Board of Longi- 

 tude au acknowledgement for their Respective Observa- 

 tions, altho' your Memorialist is well Informed that none 

 of the said Observations were near so valuable as those of 

 his Late uncle ; and altho' Dr. Halley too had a Pension 

 in his Lifetime besides his Salary ; so that it appears to 

 have been the Invariable Practice from the very first In- 

 stitution of the office down to the Appointment of the 

 present Observator Royal, to Consider the Representa- 

 tives of the Deceased* Observators as Intitled to the 

 benefit of the Observations made by them respectively, 

 agreeably to the claim now put in by Dr. Bradley's 

 Representative. 



" Fourthly, that the Present Observator Royal had 

 npon his Appointment, as your Memorialist is informed, 

 an additional Salary of 250L a year annexed to his office 

 as Observator, Distinct from the Consideration of any 

 Previous Meritorious Services, and in Consideration 

 thereof was required and did bind himself, with his own 

 Consent, to the Express Condition of Delivering up his 

 Observations to the Royal Society, by which express 

 Stipulation, together with the Augmentation of the 

 Salary thereupon, it seems to be granted on the part of 

 the Crown that no such Condition had before been under- 

 stood, and that the small Salary before annexed was not 

 sufficient to Ground any such Expectations upon. 



"Fifthly, That the Observations in question were writ- 

 ten and Registred in Books Purchased at the Private 

 Expence of the said Dr. Bradley, without any allowance 

 over and above the before-mentioned small Salary having 

 been made on the part of the Crown, or of any other per- 

 sons whatsoever, for the several Articles of Books, paper, 

 pens, and Ink; which allowance your Memorialist is in- 

 formed is constantly made in all offices where the papers 

 and writings are kept or intended to be kept and secured 

 as Official Records belonging to the Crown for the beue- 

 fit of the Publick. 



" Lastly, That the said Observations are allowed by 

 the most competent Judges, as your Memorialist is well 

 informed, to be farr more accurate and valuable than 

 those which have been hitherto made by any Observator 

 Royal, or perhaps by any other person before or since Dr. 

 Bradley's time, and also to be of more Extensive Utility 

 than the Lunar Tables of Mr. Meyer for which the Par- 

 liament voted a Reward of 30U0/. It must therefore ap- 

 pear a Peculiar Hardship on the Representatives of Dr. 

 Bradley to be placed in a worse condition than those of 

 all his Predecessors and Successors in office, for no other 

 Reason than because the said Dr. Bradley is supposed to 

 have discharged the Functions of his office with more 

 attention, Ability, and Skill, and because his Labours are 

 believed more likely to prove beneficial to the publick 

 than those of any other. 



" Your Memorialist therefore presumes most respect- 

 fully to submit the Circumstances of his Case to the 

 Candour and Equity of your Lordships, humbly hoping 

 and requesting your Lordships to take the same into 

 your Consideration, in order that, thro' the Generous 

 Interposition and favour of your Lordships, some Suitable 



Gratuity and Acknowledgement may be mado him for 

 the Delivery of the before-mentioned Observations; and 

 also that an Immediate Stop may be put to the further 

 Prosecution of the Suit commenced against your Memo- 

 rialist and others on account of the same, which, what- 

 ever may be the Issue, must be attended in the progress 

 with considerable Expence and Vexation to your Me- 

 morialist. 



" And your Memorialist will ever pray," &c. 



This was read on the 14th January, 1772, when 

 we find this minute : — 



" Acquaint the Petitioner, that the information not 

 having been filed by the orders of this Board, My Lords 

 are not informed of the reasons of such proceeding, and, 

 therefore, cannot give any directions to stop the prosecu- 

 tion of the suit, according to the pra3 - er of his Memorial." 

 — "Treasury Minute Book," No. 4L p. 417. 



William Henry Hart. 



Folkestone House, Roupell Park, Streatham. 



"HAMLET" BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



Mention has recently been made in these pages 

 of that valuable contribution to Shakspearian 

 literature, • for which students of the text of the 

 great poet are indebted to the enterprise and 

 labour of a provincial printer — Mr. J. Allen of 

 Birmingham. I allude to the "pastorally-named" 

 Devonshire Hamlets, — verbal, and indeed fac- 

 simile reprints on opposite pages of the editions of 

 1603 and 1604. For the happy idea of these re- 

 prints, the Athenceum (No. 1683., p. 137.), I know 

 not with what justice, takes credit : for the man- 

 ner of execution, this truly charming volume 

 brings no shame, in an age of inferior taste and 

 more sordid objects, on the town which produced 

 and boasts a Baskerville. The type, the paper, 

 the reverential fidelity of the text, leave little or 

 nothing to be desired : as to size, perhaps a small 

 4to. would have been preferable ; and with regard 

 to binding, one cannot help thinking that the 

 "appropriate (?) boards" might have been well 

 replaced by a half-morocco or roan binding, such, 

 for instance, as that which enables the historical 

 publications issued by the Treasury under the 

 auspices of the Master of the Rolls, to take their 

 place at once upon the shelf, without farther ex- 

 pence or trouble, by the side of volumes clad by 

 the skilful hands of Bedford or Riviere. Nor is 

 the price to be complained of: though, by the 

 way, subscribers cannot but be struck by the 

 anomalous relations of the publisher and book- 

 seller, and the incongruity between the nominal 

 and actual price of books, when they find that 

 they, who trustingly supported the publisher in 

 his undertaking, have to pay nearly 20 per cent, 

 more than those, wiser in their generation, who 

 bide their time, examine the book at their leisure, 

 and, if it answers their expectations, purchase it 

 with the usual allowance from " new books" of 

 twopence in the shilling. Altogether, we can only 



