56 [Proe. B. F. N. C, 



fully dilated upon being the very rare "Experienced Hunts- 

 man," written by Arthur Stringer, himself huntsman to Lord 

 Kilultagh, published by James Blow in 1714. A copy of this 

 work has been recently presented to the Linen Hall Library, 

 by the late Henry Bradshaw, librarian of Cambridge University. 

 Reference was here made to the unwearied exertions of John 

 Anderson, Esq., J. P., F.G.S., hon. Secretary of Linen Hall 

 Library, in getting up the valuable catalogue of Belfast printed 

 books, which has thrown much light on a subject hitherto 

 most imperfectly known. A sketch of James Blow's life was 

 given with an extract from a contemporary journal of a funeral 

 notice, in which his many virtues were fully recorded. Some 

 of his books were shown to the audience to illustrate his 

 practice of putting his autograph and the name of his customer 

 in a printed form for the purpose, James Magee, the printer 

 at the "Bible and Crown," Bridge Street, was next treated of, 

 and an extract given from " A Tour in Ireland, 1776," to show 

 the superiority of his books, of which copies were also exhibited. 

 By the kindness of the Misses Mackey, daughters of the late 

 Alexander Mackey, jun., whose father acquired the Belfast 

 News-Letter at the end of last century, several copies of early 

 Belfast News- Letters were shown, including the complete set 

 for 1770, which has been presented by them to the Museum. 

 The original founder of the paper, Francis Joy, as was pointed 

 out by the lecturer, was a remarkable man. He introduced 

 paper-making so far back as 1748 in the neighbourhood of 

 Belfast. A list was given of all the printers of Belfast from 

 1700 to 1800, as well as an analysis of the different works 

 printed by them, and given in the Anderson catalogue already 

 referred to. Some remarks were made on the advanced ideas 

 of education then prevalent, quotations being given from David 

 Manson's Dictionary of 1762, with a view to show his far- 

 sighted views on this subject. It was remarked that the muse 

 of poetry was not much cultivated by the public of that period, 

 "Marriott's Fables for the Use of the Ladies," 1771, was 

 quoted as the first original work composed in the locality. 

 Judging by the various text-books on law issued from the local 



