138
NOTES AND QUERIES. uo s. XL FEB. is, uoo.
In fact, I believe its similarity to the latter
phrase has greatly conduced to its popularity.
I venture to suggest that the expression
is derived from the scene of havoc at the
end of the tragedy, in which Hamlet plays
the leading role. C. E. LOMAX.
Louth, co. Lincoln.
Is not the reference to the hamlet or village in which a stir is made ? J. T. F. Durham.
"PSYCHOLOGICAL MOMENT" (10 S. x. 488 ; xi. 13, 54, 94). I look upon this as being an imposing substitute for that well- worn expression " the nick of time." In 'The Happy Valley' Mrs. B. M. Croker has another supposable synonym :
" I must admit that fishing is a most selfish and absorbing passion. Give me the one physio- logical moment before the river rises, when the water just begins to creep give me a fine day, a good sixteen-foot rod, a treble-gut cast, the fly of my heart, and leave me alone." P. 112.
Mentalite, which your latest correspondent says is now a favourite word in France, is much used by Pierre de Coulevain, author of ' L'lle inconnue,' ' Sur la Branche,' &c., who first made me aware of it.
ST. SWTTHIN.
The following quotation shows that the expression was currently used in France thirty-six years ago :
" Les Prussiens se decidaient, pour reduire la ville assiegee, a hater le moment psychologique en frappant non seulement Mezieres fortifiee, mais Charleville desarmee." Jules Claretie,' His- toire de la Revolution de 1870-1,' ed. 1872, chap. xiv.
The italics are in the original. F. A. W.
I have met with an example of this ex- pression which clearly shows how well both Q. V. (ante, p. 13) and M. HAULTMONT (ante, p. 94) are aware of its origin. G. Rothan, in his ' Souvenir diplomatique : 1' Affaire du Luxembourg,' printed at Paris in 1882, says (p. 203) :
" De douloureuses circonstances avaient oblige M. Benedetti a quitter Berlin dans un de ces moments psychologiques qui decident du sort d'une negociation."
A. M. CRAMER. Amsterdam.
NORTHIAM CHURCH (10 S. x. 488). There is a water-colour drawing of this church, circa 1770-80, in the Burrell Collection in the British Museum. The reference is Add. MS. 5697, fo. 92.
PERCEVAL LUCAS. 188, Marylebone Road, N.W.
NOTES ON BOOKS, &o.
The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb. Edited by Thomas Hutchinson. 2 vols. ( Oxford, Uni- versity Press.)
" I AM the publishers' ruin " ; "I never had luck with anything my name was put to " ; " Nothing with my name will sell, a blast is upon it." These remarks, extracted from Lamb's ' Letters ' and elsewhere, read strangely when viewed in the light of his present-day popularity. Doubtless the failure of his various works, from a financial standpoint, may have been due to the high price asked for them, for that they were appreciated by at least a select few is well known ; but, as he once observed, " being praised and being bought are different things to a Book." Nowadays, however, the praise and the expenditure neces- sary to secure one or other of the numerous edi- tions of Lamb's works seem to run concurrently. That unblessed word " copyright " is, we under- stand, responsible for the fact that the name of his latest editor has not been earlier associated with a complete edition of Lamb. The present reviewer well remembers, some seven years ago, noting with delighted interest the announcement that such a project was in contemplation, and it is a matter for sincere regret that it was allowed to fall through. No scholar more capable, pains- taking, or sympathetic than Mr. Hutchinson could have been found, and all Lamb students are greatly to be congratulated on the fact that he has been called on to perform what must have been to him a labour of love.
When the large extent of ground covered is taken into consideration, it is not surprising that here and there in the two volumes a few in- accuracies, misprints^ and omissions should be discoverable. Rather would the wonder be if a work of this kind existed which was free from those lapses which are a matter of trouble to an editor rather than of observation by the majority of readers.
We wish it had been feasible to include the ' Specimens of English Dramatic Poets ' and the ' Extracts from the Garrick Plays ' as well as Lamb's notes on the same, in which case the latter would have possessed an added interest and value. This supplementary material would, however, have made the work too big for two volumes.
The ' Bibliographical List ' in the first volume is most useful, and we have detected but few omissions. Of these the most important is the absence of any reference to an edition of the ' Poetical Works ' published in Paris in 1829 by A. & W. Galignani. In it were first collected the following poems, afterwards included in ' Album Verses ' : ' Living without God in the World,' ' On an Infant dying as soon as Born,' ' Verses for an Album,' ' Quatrains to the Editor of the Everyday Book,' ' Angel-Help,' ' Sonnet : They talk of Time,' and ' The Christening.' Further, no mention is made of ' The Christmas Box,' 1828, edited by T. Crofton Croker, in which were first printed ' Verses written on the First Leaf of Lucy Barton's Album ' a title altered in ' Album Verses ' to 'In the Album of Lucy Barton.' The Annual referred to is clearly the " trumpery book " to which Lamb alludes in a letter to the Quaker poet.
