1857-59 THE 'COLLIER CORRECTIONS' 87 



annotated and ' corrected ' throughout in a hand 

 of about the middle of the seventeenth century. 

 The facts of the case were these : — Early in 1852, 

 Mr. Collier, a well-known Shakespearian scholar, 

 came into possession of this volume, which he 

 presented to the Duke of Devonshire. On the 

 death of the Duke in 1859, the volume was de- 

 posited for examination at the British Museum, 

 at the request of Sir Frederick Madden and others. 

 The result of the scrutiny, made with the micro- 

 scope by Professors Maskelyne and Owen, went 

 to prove that the pretended old corrections were 

 nothing but modern forgeries in a pseudo-antique 

 script, traced first in lead pencil and afterwards 

 inked over. 



Amongst the reviews and articles written for 

 various magazines by Owen in 1859 maybe men 

 tioned an article on David Livingstone's travels 

 in the ' Quarterly,' and a review of the ' History 

 of Ceylon,' by Emerson Tennent, who wrote the 

 following letter of thanks, dated from the Board 

 of Trade, October 15, 1859 : — 



1 My dear Sir, — I have just laid down the 

 " Edinburgh Review " after reading your article on 

 my book : and with as much composure as I can 

 assume after the ecstasy of so much praise I 

 hasten to offer you my earliest acknowledgments 

 and my most grateful thanks. You have most 

 successfully condensed in one attractive chapter 



