Reviews and Book Notices. 13 



The History of the Castle of York, by T. P. Cooper. London : Elliot 

 Stock. 379 pp., 12/6 net. 



Some time ago we had the pleasure of drawing attention to Mr. Cooper's 

 excellent book on ' York, the Story of its Walls, etc' The present is a 

 fitting companion thereto, and has been written in the same thorough and 

 painstaking manner, and, like its predecessor, contains much valuable and 

 new material as a result of the author's own researches. Only those who 

 have attempted to get a reliable and connected account of the history of 

 the Castle, from the various and nunaerous Histories of York already in 

 existence, can appreciate to the full the amount of new matter that Mr. 

 Cooper has been able to bring forward. It is evident from the Preface 

 that the author is on good terms with the various York authorities, who 

 have rare documents and records in their charge, otherwise the book could 

 never have been so complete. The chapters deal with the Norman origin 

 of the Castle ; the Plantagenet Period, a detailed description of the 

 castle and its site ; Early Assise and Prison Records and Punishments 

 (the latter being delightfully varied!); the Castle-guard; Mills; the 

 Chapel of St. George ; the ruinous state of the Castle in the fifteenth and 

 sixteenth centuries ; the Royal Mint in the Castle (an unusually interesting 

 chapter) ; Clifford's Tower ; Scaffolds ; Great Elections, etc. (including an 

 interesting account of the Wilberforce — Lascelles — Milton election, which 

 cost the houses of Harewood and Wentworth alone over ;^20o,ooo), and so 

 on. There are also numerous valuable appendices. We must con- 

 gratulate Mr. Cooper and the publishers in producing so sound and so 

 readable a record of Yorkshire's ' strong point.' 



The Ruins of Fountain's Abbey, by the Rev. A. W. Oxford, with illustra- 

 tions by J. R. Truelove. Oxford : Henry Frowde. 245 pp., 3/6 net. 



The first 125 pages of this little book form ' an attempt to put in simple 

 language for the unlearned the results of the investigations of the ruins 

 made by Messrs. W. H. St. John Hope and J. Arthur Reeve. To make it 

 easy to understand, architectural terms have been explained, Latin quota- 

 tions translated, and a few facts given about the life and habits of the early 

 monks.' The rest of the volume is occupied by translations of Serlo's 

 ' History of the Abbey and of the Chronicle of the Abbots.' As such 

 it answers its purpose, though we are not aware that it contains more than 

 is to be found in any of the many works dealing with this fine ruin. It 

 is, however, particularly well illustrated by blocks from Photographs and 

 sketches. It is printed on thin paper, on small pages, and will easily 

 go into the pocket. The price is sufficient, and there is no index. 



A Bibliography of Sheffield and Vicinity, Section I. to the end of 1700, 

 by W. P. Freemantle. London : Simpkin, Marshall, etc., 191 1. 285 pp.', 

 price 10/6 net. 



We cannot too heartily commend the way in which scholars in our 

 different cities and towns are carefully compiling lists of local works for 

 the benefit of the future historian and antiquary. This is now being done 

 in many places, but we do not remember having previously seen it done 

 so well and so thoughtfully as is the case with this ' Section I ' of the Shef- 

 field Bibliography ; albeit the ' vicinity ' is a wide one. Probably few 

 were previously aware of the wealth of material bearing upon the history, 

 etc., of Sheffield. Mr. Freemantle has unquestionably most assiduously 

 searched for every scrap of information bearing upon the district he knows 

 so well, which has resulted in a volume of over 280 large pages of closely 

 printed matter; and this up to the end of 1700 only. The book also is 

 not a mere list of titles, but is full of valuable biographical and historical 

 details, and in addition is illustrated by a large number of reproductions of 

 quaint title-pages and curious woodcuts; the view of Hell (?) page 171 ; 

 and of ' the passage of Thomas, late Earle of Strafford, over the river of 

 Styx, ' being particularly noticeable. Mr. Freemantle has certainly placed 

 students under a deep debt of gratitude for his work. 



1912 Jan. I. 



