398
NOTES AND QUERIES. [iis.x.Nov.i4,i9u.
the remark whatever it may be worth that
William had the round bullet head and square
shoulders of the Gaul," and that " the slight and
distant strain of Scandinavian blood seems to
have influenced neither his soul nor his body."
Mr. Belloc is at his happiest, perhaps, in showing
by what conventions the artist expresses military
movements such as the " act of deployment,"
or the " convergence of the three columns " of
William's army " upon the semicircular front of
the Saxon position upon Battle Hill."
It need hardly be said that in connexion with Hastings Mr. Belloc hurls a stone against Prof. Freeman's all -too -famous "palisade"; and, indeed, the younger writer has small patience with the departed historian. One of the main conten- tions of this preface, based, inter alia, on the evi- dence of the Confessor's crown, sceptre, and bier, and the incipient heraldry on the shields of the warriors, is that the execution of the Tapestry belongs to the twelfth century roughly, from 1140 to 1200 and not to the eleventh, the period to which it was assigned by Freeman. In this discussion citation of sources and authorities would have been welcome. Meanwhile, the note on the nasal of the helmet needs revision ; the meaning is not clear.
It is always a pleasure to renew acquaintance with the wonder of Bayeux, especially in company so fresh and original as that of Mr. Belloc.
Bulletin of the John Rylands Library : October. (Manchester University Press ; London, Quaritch, and Sherratt & Hughes, Qd.)
UNDKR ' Library Notes and News ' it is stated that since the library opened, fourteen years ago, 120,000 volumes have been added, including 7,000 manuscripts. In the early part of last year the extension of the present buildings was commenced, and it is expected that the first section of the extension will be ready for occupation towards the end of next year. The final portion will consist of a stack building to provide shelf accommodation for half a million volumes, sur- mounted by a reading-room and a manuscript- room, which will be reserved for special research. The whole will occupy an island site, thus mini- mizing, as far as possible, the risk of fire. A new department is a photographic studio, wnth a com- plete equipment of apparatus for the making of facsimiles.
The Lecture Session opened on the 14th ult., when Dr. Peake took for his subject ' How to Study the New Testament.' Other subjects include ' Babylonian Law and the Mosaic Code,' by Dr. Johns ; ' The Youth of Vergil,' by Dr. Conway ; ' Ancient Egypt and the Dawn of Civilization,' by Dr. Elliot Smith ; and ' World Literature : the New Departure in the Study of Literature,' by Dr. Moulton.
We are glad to find that the second volume of the ' Catalogue of Greek Papyri ' may be looked for towards the end of the year. The ' Catalogue of English Books to 1640 in the John Rylands Library,' which has been in course of preparation for a number of years, will also be in the hands of the printer in the course of the next two months. Two new issues of the " John Rylands Facsimiles " are in active preparation. The first will consist of a portfolio of reproductions of eight early engravings in the possession of the Library, jncluding the famous prints of ' St. Christopher '
and 'The Annunciation, 'for which the descript ive-j
text is being prepared by Mr. Campbell Doik-.m
of the British Museum. The other, the ' Odes]
and Psalms of Solomon,' will be reproduced iaj
facsimile of the exact size of the original!
Syriac manuscript, and will be accompanied byj
a typographical reprint or transliteration, and a
revised translation, upon which Dr. Renclell
Harris is at present engaged. There will be ai>>
exhaustive introduction dealirg with the varia-j
tions of the fragmentary MS. in the British]
Museum, the accessory patristic testimonies, and
a summary of the most important criticisms that
have appeared since Dr. Harris published his first:
edition in 1909. Prof. Thumb, who delivered a
lecture on ' The Modern Greek and his Ancestry '
in the lecture hall of the Library on the !'th of
October, 1913, has expanded it, with illustrated
notes, and it appears in the present number.
As the Bulletin w r as going to press the sad news was received of the death of the Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Stephen Joseph Tennant, which occurred on the 7th of October. He was the twin brother of the late Mrs. Rylands, the foundress of the Library, and was closely associated with the institution from its inception, and served it with] untiring devotion.
Bruges : a Record and an Impression. By Mary I Stratton. Illustrated by Charles Wade. (Bats- 1 ford, 5s. net.)
LOWELL, in one of his wittiest poems, thus describes the commercial decadence of a town in New England :
The railway ruined it, the natives say, That passed unwisely fifteen miles away, And made a drain to which, with steady ooze, Filtered away law, stage-coach, trade, and news. The railway saved it : so at least think those Who love old ways, old houses, old repose. The ancient city of Bruges lost its mercantile eminence long before railways were dreamt of, but preserved its old houses, its old repose, and man}' of its old ways. There is, indeed, no city easily accessible from London (at least in time of peace) in which the visitor feels more removed from the strenuous life of our age, and nearer to the fifteenth century, than Bruges. Mrs. Stratton, who is not a novice in the field of literature, has given us a delightful book, describing the streets, the quays, the churches, and the other public buildings of "the quaint old Flemish city"; Mr. Arthur Stratton has contributed a very useful chapter on its architectural features ; and the work is illustrated by Mr. Charles Wade in a manner admirably suited to the subject.
A Social History of Ancient Ireland. By 1'. W. Joyce. Second Edition. (Longmans & Co., 1?. Is. net.)
THIS is a valuable treatise upon the social life of ancient Ireland in all its phases. It is written in a clear and interesting style, and displays that intimate knowledge and deep research which one would expect from its author. It deals, in a broad and comprehensive manner, with the variety of subjects which must necessarily come under the purview of a writer upon social history. The three main sections of Part I. are Government, Military System, and Law. In this part are described the laws relating to land, which are of
