358
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io> s. m. MAY e, i9o&
journalist, who chooses The Nineteenth Century as
his favourite organ, describes ' >Sur la Pierre
Blanche,' by M. Anatole France, ' De Profundis,'
by Oscar Wilde, and 'Man and Superman,' by
Mr. G. B. Shaw. Of the fine talent of the first
named too much cannot easily be said. When we
hear of the religion of Daniel and Isaiah, of Heine
and Meyerbeer, Disraeli and Rothschild, we are
puzzled. Whatever he was by race, Disraeli was
not a Jew by religion. ' De Profundis ' is said to
be written in an "exalted and purified strain,"
while 'Man and Superman' is said to be "either
a monstrous piece of mountebanking or else an
immortal work." Lady Napier of Magdala con-
tributes in ' Then and Now ' a depressing picture
of modern womanhood. To The Cornhill Sir Row-
land Blennerhassett sends a good account of
' Arthur Strong,' the late librarian of the House
of Lords, whom he describes as a remakable per-
sonality. Dr. Rouse's ' Plea for the Useless ' is a
masterpiece of irony, and ends in an eloquent piece
of advocacy for compulsory Greek. Mrs. Frederic
Harrison's ' French Refugees in England in 1871-2'
is largely devoted to the eulogy of Communards.
Part I. of ' From a College Window ' appears, and
is anonymous, though its secret seems easily guess-
able. It presents very well the summer aspects of
a college life. Mr. Arthur F. Wallis's 'Sea-Painting
and Sea-Myth' is thoughtfuland well worth reading.
' Port Arthur, its Siege and Fall,' is impressive.
Mr. Andrew Lang, in Longman's, discusses at the
outset trout-fishing, and carries us out of our depth.
After that he is admirably satirical on the young
"scientists " of both sexes who object to being bur-
dened compulsorily with Greek. He presents the
Academic authorities as pleading that they
"did not know people could be such idiots." A
paragraph on an anonymous letter- writer we
cannot understand. Can any one seriously say that
under any calendar June, 1566, was nine months
anterior to March 9, 1566? Canon Vaughan dis-
cusses Sydney Smith, and Mrs. Louisa Jebb sends
an interesting paper on 'Arab Hospitality.' The
Easter number of The Pall Mall has a capital
article on ' Buried Turners,' in which the treat-
ment of Turner's will is spoken of in appropriate
terms. Some of the buried treasures are well
reproduced. A striking and illustrated account
follows of ' The Victoria Falls and the Bridge
over the Zambesi.' "The Little Father,' a character-
study of the Russian Tzar, is accompanied by
photographs and a caricature. Mr. William Archer
has a real conversation with Mr. Churton Collins.
This is less interesting than we hoped, since the
subject discussed is not literature, but criminology.
Dr. Nordenskjuld tells the story of the wreck oi
the Antarctic. Amidst endless stories in The Idle-i
is an article on ' Canadian Bass Fishing.'
FREQUENTERS of the Literary Room at the Publi
Record Office will have lately missed a familiar
figure in the person of the late J. A. C. Vincent
who passed away in the early part of Marcl
at the ripe age of seventy-five. John Amyat
Chaundy Vincent was born in India in 1830, hi
father being a Yorkshireman, and his mother, win
died comparatively young, an Elton of Devon
Commencing his work of research at the Publi
Record Office some forty years ago, he had seei
many changes there, not the least noticeable beinf
the influx of the female element of recent years
f the result of which to the future of historical
esearch he was wont to express some misgiving.
Ie was a frequent contributor to the columns of
N. & Q.,' and his settlement of the question of
ord Beaconsfield's birthplace will be fresh in the
nemory of many of our readers. Accuracy may be
aid to have been the keynote of his work, and
nany an historical fiction received exposure at his
ands, a noteworthy example being the proofs he
dduced that "the pretty little story" of Queen
"lizabeth at Helmingham was a pure myth, which
as gracefully acknowledged as such by Sir Bernard
iurke, and withdrawn from his ' Peerage.' He did
ood work on the Lancashire Lay Subsidies, which
e edited for the Record Society. His kindly dis-
osition, and his ever ready assistance in any
.ifficulty of reading or interpretation of documents,
vill long be remembered and missed among his
nany friends and fellow-workers.
BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES. MAY.
THE Antiquarian Book Company, Gray's Inn load, have some out-of-the-way books at low
rices ; also some scarce book-plates, comprising oreign examples dated 1646 and 165
The Chaucer Book Company has some interest- ng items under America, including a collection of New York street ballads, 1850-63> 21. 5s., and a list f the officers serving in America, 1777, Is. 6<l. A iopy of the first Edinburgh edition of Burns, 1787, is I. 10*'. There is a letter of Browning's to Mr. 3arnett Smith in praise of Smith's life of Shelley, '1. 2s. ; and a letter to Payne Collier, dated from lanover Cottage, Camber well, 1836, 30s. Under Jrama we find Bell's 'British Theatre,' 34 vols., >l. 15s. The general items include Milton's ' Doctrine of Divorce,' best edition, 1645, Anglesey copy, 21. 5s. There are a number of interesting items under Shakespeare, including catalogues and lists of Halliwell-Phillipps.
Mr. James G. Commin, of Exeter, has the four series complete of Barnard's ' Dartmoor Pictorial Records,' very scarce, 31. I5s. ; Debes's ' Islands of Foeroe,' 12mo, 1676, exceedingly rare, SI. 3s. ; and Devon Notes and Queries, 1900-1904, 42* Other items are a first edition of ' Tom Jones,' 6 vols., 1749, 10s. ; a collection of R. S. Hawker's works ; Langdon's ' Old Cornish Crosses,' l'5s. ; Millais's ' British Deer,' 21. 10s. ? a complete set of Pitt- Rivers's privately printed books on Archa?ology, Sec., 01. 6s. Mr. Commin also has one of the fifty copies of Rogers's ' Archaeological Papers,' If. 15s. ; and his 'Memorials of the West,' 16s. A unique set of Rome's 'Dartmoor,' large paper, is priced 4?. 10s. ; a set of the Somerset Archreological Society, Taunton, 1851-1900, 81. 8s. ; and 'A Report in reference to the Defence of these Kingdoms afc the time of the Armada,' 1798, II. 5s. This was privately printed for the use of ministers at the time of Bonaparte's threatened invasion. The catalogue closes with a collection of pamphlets.
Mr. Bertram Dobell has a collection of books from the library of Mr. Thomas Hutcliinson, of Morpeth, to which he wishes to call special atten tion, as most of the books contain letters from the authors, it being Mr. Hutchinson's custom to inser in his books letters he received from his literary friends. Among the entries are a copy of Black more's ' Ferlysross,' lirs-t edition (2^, 15s.); FJbs
