58
NOTES AND QUERIES, [io< s. m. JAX. 21, 1905.
Pliilologus on p. 21 is curiously significant in face of
the statement concerning him of Camden : " Never-
theless, being too much given to dicing and cock-
fighting, he lived and died a poor man." Among
modern reissues of English classics this series is
entitled to a foremost place.
Theodore Watts-Dunton: Poet, Novelist, Critic.
By James Douglas. (Hodder & Stoughton.) MR. JAMES DOUGLAS has accomplished in a remark- able fashion a task from which most writers have shrunk that of furnishing a sustained biography of a man still happily living. Under such con- ditions the work constitutes rather an apologia or a eulogy than a criticism or a life. It is natural to compare Mr. Douglas's work with the immortal life of Johnson by Boswell, which, however, was published after the death of its subject. Ben Jonson was also the recipient of an extraordinary eulogy, which, as the title, 'Jonsonus Virbius,' indicates, was written after his death, a work in which Lord Falkland, Lord Buckhurst, Sir John Beaumont, and many poets and wits of his time participated. ' Letters and Poems in Honour of the Incomparable Princess Margaret, Dutchess of Newcastle,' appeared two years after her death. 'An English Miscellany,' presented to Dr. Furnivall in 1901, is perhaps the nearest precedent in serious literature for such a tribute as is now given.
A few years ago the claims on consideration of Mr. Watts-Dunton were known only to the esoteric. Such recognized the 1 , importance of his contribu- tions to The Athenceum, and his steps towards the substitution of his own " poetics " for that of Aristotle. Since his publication of ' Aylwin,' however, he has sprung into popularity, and his name throughout the reading public is now one with which to conjure. No half-hearted disciple is Mr. Douglas. With the zeal of the true "con- vertite " and worshipper, aided, it is to be supposed, to some extent by Mr. Watts-Dunton himself, he has traced his subject from his birth in what is variously styled Cowslip Country or Buttercup Land, by the Ouse, on the confines of East Anglia, to his present residence in Putney, which he shares with our one great living poet Mr. Swinburne. To this long-sustained pursuit well on to 400 pages are devoted, the work thus putting to shame all but a few acknowledged and immortal biographies. Full information is supplied concerning a life inter- esting in itself, apart from its associations and intimacies, and a bright light is cast upon an all- important epoch in our literary history. Mr. Douglas has enjoyed the closest friendship with Mr. Watts-Dunton, and has turned to best advan- tage his opportunities and privileges, showing the relations between his friend and the great poets of the last century, and flooding the life of Mr. Watts-Dunton with a light such as is cast upon none of his associates. Mr. Douglas's style is cul- tivated and animated, and his descriptions are lifelike and natural. He has enriched his volume, moreover, with numerous illustrations, the value of which it is hard to overestimate. One of these is a portrait of Mr. Watts-Dunton serving as frontispiece. So like is this to Mr. Swinburne, the closest associate of the original, that we had to rub our eyes and look again and again before we were sure that a mistake had not been made. Others consist of reproductions of pictures of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and views of Cowslip Country and of spots associated with 'Aylwin.' Most numerous
and important of all are representations of the
exterior and interior of The Pines, Mr. Watts-
Dunton's present home. We have less than we
could wish about Mr. Swinburne. In other respects
the information is ample and well conveyed.
Students of the literature of the latter half of the
nineteenth century will rejoice in the possession
of Mr. Douglas's work, the loyalty and eloquence
of which are alike remarkable.
THE Rugby School Register, Vol. III., May, 1874, to May, 1904, revised and annotated by the Rev. A. T. Michell, is printed for subscribers by Mr. A. J. Lawrence, the school bookseller at Rugby, and deserves warm commendation. Old Rugbeians are said to cherish the memory of their school with more than usual pertinacity, and this admirable record shows, at any rate, the unwearying devotion of one of them. Mr. Michell's is not a bare list of names, but supplies the after career of each boy. Such detail could only be secured by unremitting assiduity, and the compiler has employed special efforts, with remarkable success, to make thelistcom- plete. Full indeed and interesting it is, and we hope that all Rugbeians will secure a copy of it, and that other schools of note will follow the example set by Mr. Michell. We believe that no such up-to-date record is available of any other school, or, indeed, college. We have tested the list many times and found it invariably accurate, even in cases where a change of name has been made, which is always difficult to trace and verify.
BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES.
THE booksellers have plenty of treasures and works of general usefulness for New Year pur- chasers.
Mr. H. Cleaver, of Bath, offers four works on costume for 61. 6s. These include Russia, Austria, China, and Turkey. There are 273 coloured plates. Other noteworthy items in the catalogue are original editions, in parts, of ' Bleak House ' and ' Little Dorrit ' ; Fielding's works, 1898, 6^. 18s. 6d. ; and Noel Humphreys's ' Butterflies,' 3 vols., 45*. The works on India include Forrest's ' Picturesque Tour,' 2?. 10s. Under Ireland we find Trench's ' Realities of Irish Life,' O'Brien's ' Round Towers,' and works by Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall. There is a first edition of Leech's ' Follies of the Year,' price 30*. This is scarce. A handsome set of Marryat's novels, 24 vols. , is priced at 11. 10s. : a beautiful set of Morris's ' Birds,' 61. 6s. ; a set of Punch, 1841-1902, 22Z. 10s. ; a set of Scott, the Author's Favourite Edition, 88 vols., 1829-36, 9Z. 9s. ; and Smollett, the 1901 edition, 61. 67.
Mr. Bertram Dobell's list contains many first editions, and some books in old morocco from the late Prof. Corfield's collection. The first editions include ' Paracelsus,' 12mo., 1835, 11. Is. ; ' Sordello,' 1840, 15s. : Mrs. Browning's ' Seraphim,' 1838, 11. 10s. ; Coleridge's ' Fall of Robespierre,' Cam- bridge, 1794, 51. 5s. ; ' Addresses to the People,' Bristol, 1795, 4. 4s. ; ' Zapolya, a Christmas Tale, un- cut,, 1817, 31. 3s. ; 'Sibylline Leaves,' 21. 5s. ; Lamb's ' Tales from Shakespeare,' with the plates by Mul- ready, engraved by Blake, 2 vols., 1807, bound by Bedford, very rare, 271. 10s.; 'Blank Verse,' by Lamb and Lloyd, 12mo, 1798, blue morocco, uncut, 21/. ; Shelley's' Queen Mab,' 1813, 311. ; ' The Revolt of Islam,' 1818, 41. 10s. ; IKeats, 1817, 101. 10s. ;
