420
NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. vm. NOV. 22, 1913.
WILLIAM PRIDEAUX COURTNEY,
IN the death of William Prideaux Courtney, which occurred on Friday, the 14th inst., * N. & Q.' loses one of its most valued and erudite contributors. He was born at Penzance on 26 April, 1845, and in 1865 entered the office of the Ecclesiastical Com- missioners, whence he retired in 1892, being then Principal Clerk in the Pay Office. Since his retire- ment he has published a large number of works, mostly connected with biography and bibliography. His contributions to our columns were chiefly in the same lines, bringing us the results of his happy re- search in recondite regions to which comparatively few have access. Perhaps the most notaole among them was the series of communications on Dodsley's 'Collection of Poetry,' which ran through seven volumes of our Tenth Series, and in 1910 was issued privately in book-form ; but a glance at the headings under his name in the Indexes will show that this is to single one item out of a multitude. The sight of his handwriting could not but awake pleasure : one knew one was about to read a clear, trustworthy statement without padding, and so far as possible without gaps or matters worth recording. His articles extend, as our readers well know, over a great number of years. He was joint author with Mr. G. C. Boase of the ' Bibliotheca Cornubiensis,' and contributed to the later volumes of The Encyclopaedia Britannica,' and to all the volumes of the 'D.N.B.' Among his best-known works are 'A Register of National Biography' (1905), ' The Secrets of our National Literature ' (1908), and ' Eight Friends of the Great ' (1910).
BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES. NOVEMBER.
MR. WILLIAM BROWN of Edinburgh offers, we notice, in his Catalogue 209 copies of nine Family Histories prepared by Sir William Fraser. The most important of these are ' The Annandale Family,' 2 vols., 4to, 1894, 18Z. 18s. ; ' The Book of Carlaverock,' 2 vols., 4to, 1873, 15?. 10s. ; and .* The Bed Book of Menteith,' 1880, 2 vols., 4to, 10?. 10s. Robertson's ' Genealogical Account of the Principal Families in Ayrshire, more particu- larly in Cunninghame,' complete, with the Supple- ment, in 4 vols., cr. 8vo, 1823-7, is here to be had for 211. A very good item is ' Scottish Arms,' a collection of armorial bearings, 1370-1678, con- taining numerous coats reproduced in coloured fascimile from contemporary MSS., with notes by R. R. Stodart, 1881, which is offered for 42?., being one of the two copies printed on vellum. A complete First Series of the publications of the Scottish Text Society, 65 parts in 50 vols., costs SQL In this price are included the four volumes yet to be issued to complete the series.
MESSRS. MAGGS'S Catalogue No. 316 gives a list of works on Travel, Topography, Heraldry, and Natural History. The first part consists of books connected with English counties, many of great interest. We may mention from among them (under 'Cambridgeshire') the original un- published MS. by Nicolas Robinson of the ' Com- mentarii Hexemeri rerum Cantabrigiae actaruni cum Serenissima Regina Anglie Elizabeth in Academiam Cantabrigie Advenerat Anno Domini
1564, Aug. 5,' bound up with ' Of the Actes done
at Oxford when the Queenes Matie were there,'
1566, 15?. 15s. Under ' London ' we have the
black-letter small folio of Arnold's ' Chronicle '
(Antwerp, John Droesbrowe, 1502), containing
the first edition of ' The Nut-Brown Maid,'
offered for 251. The Loggan items under ' Ox-
fordshire ' are the ' Oxonia Illustrata,' a good
copy, for ll. 14s., and in one volume the ' Oxonia
Illustrata ' and the" ' Cantabrigia Illustrata,' 1675
-1690, 24?. There is an interesting collection of
Manuscript Tracts in Welsh in the handwriting
of David Jones of Trefriw, c. 1630, offered for
311. 10s. Perhaps the most important items in
the whole Catalogue are the original MS. of Lord
Macartney's Official Journal whilst Governor of
the Cape of Good Hope, 1797-8, 125?., and his
Letter - Book for the same period, 871. 10s.
Hardly less attractive an item is William IWs
Log-Book, whilst, as Duke of Clarence, he was
in command of the frigate Pegasus on the North
American station, running from 21 March to
3 Nov., 1786, having no fewer than 80 original
drawings in water-colour, sepia, and pen and ink
inserted in it, 105?. Under ' Australasia ' D'Ur-
ville's ' Voyage de la Corvette 1'Astrolabe,' a
good copy, with most of the plates in the atlas
volume in two states (proofs on India paper, and
colours), Paris, 1830-35, calls for mention. It
is offered at 63?. And under the same heading,
offered for 105?., comes an original autograph MS.
of R. L. Stevenson's, written from Honolulu to
his cousin R. A. M. Stevenson, giving a report
of his cruise in the South Seas, 1889. Under
' Portugal ' we noticed the Official Copies of
Treaties between Elizabeth, Cromwell, Charles II.,
and the Kings of Portugal, 1574-1672, belonging
to Sir Robert Southwell, who was Envoy Extra-
ordinary to Portugal in Charles II. 's reign, 21?.
Two noteworthy Natural History works are
Bleeker's collection of original drawings and
engravings of fish, made chiefly in the Dutch
East Indies, 66 vols., comprising about 25,000
illustrations, which formed the material for
Dr. Bleekers ' Ichthyological Atlas ' (c. 1840-78),
110?., and Vols. I. to XXVII. of the ' Catalogue
of Birds ' in the British Museum, 52/. 10s.
[Notices of other Catalogues held over.]
ta (K0msp0nJfants*
We must call special attention to the following
notices :
ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
EDITORIAL communications should be addressed to " The Editor of ' Notes and Queries ' " Adver- tisements and Business Letters to " The Pub- lishers " at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.G.
DR. MAGRATH. Many thanks for reply on ' Bishop Richard of Bury,' anticipated at p. 397.
PLACE-NAME PENCE. MR. S. HODGSON will find a discussion of this name at 11 S. iv. 330, 437, 497 ; v. 18, 97.
J. L. Forwarded.
