500
NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. vi. DEC. 21, 1912.
same lines by making from time to time such'addi-
tions as may seem suitable. " For this purpose
he will be obliged by the communication of such
practical suggestions as may occur to users of
the Thesaurus, and would take this opportunity
of expressing his thanks for help already afforded
in this direction." The work is published at
half-a-crown, so it is well within the reach of all.
It is beautifully printed in good clear type, on
paper that will bear the strain of constant use.
Archceologia JEllana. Third Series. Vol. VIII. (Newcastle-on-Tyne, Reid & Co.)
THESE miscellaneous " tracts relating to anti- quity " have been gathered by Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and edited by Mr. B. Blair. The Annual Report for 1911 shows the good work done by the Society. After many months of continuous work, the classification of the Society's publications has been completed by Mr. Matthew Mackey and Mr. John Gibson, and a working catalogue com- piled.
At the last outdoor meeting in 1911 Corstopitum <Corbridge) was visited, when Mr. R. H. Forster gave an account of the results of the season's excavations ; but the gold coins which had just been unearthed were described by Prof. Haverfield and Mr. Craster at Messrs. Lloyd's bank, where they were lodged. More than ordinary attention has been attracted to the excavations by the dis- covery there, on the 4th of September, 1911, of a bronze jug containing 159 gold coins in excellent preservation, together with two worn bronze coins of the second century. The latest date repre- sented in the hoard is the year A.D. 159. The work of investigation was begun in 1906, and in 1908 a hoard of 48 gold solidi of the second half of the fourth century was turned up by the spade of the excavator. Besides these, pottery has been obtained in such profusion that by the help of it and the coins it is rapidly becoming possible to construct the history of this important site. " We already know that it was founded by, or at least in the time of, Agricola, and that it con- tinued to be occupied (possibly with periods of abandonment) until the eve of the departure of the Romans from Britain."
Other work of the Society has included the drawing-up of a list of ancient historical buildings and monuments within the province of the Society's operations. The volume is profusely illustrated with coins and medals, and there is also a plan pi the excavations made at Corsto- pitum. We cannot praise too highly the entire get-up of the volume, and cordially agree with the statement in the Report : " If the tale of our years as a society is anything, its vitality con- tinues with the vigour and energy of youth."
The Adventurous Simplicissimus. Written in German by Hans Jacob Christoph von Grim- melshausen, and now for the First Time done into English. (Heinemann. )
WE are glad to see ' Simplicissimus ' made available for those who do not read German. As a literary work it ranks among the most delightful of the Picaresque romances. Taking
- it merely as a pastime, the reader cannot fail to
enjoy its liveliness, freshness, and good-humour, the telling delineations of character, the ingenious
but unexaggerated handling of many amusing
situations. Its value to the modern student is,
however, no less literary than historical ; pub-
lished in 1669, it forms the chief, almost the only
important, contemporary witness to the social
condition of Germany during the Thirty Years'
War.
The translator gives a careful and adequate summary of its significance and history, and of the little that is known of the author's life. Born, it is supposed, in 1625, Grimmelshausen who died in 1676 as Schultheiss of Renchen was the son of poor parents, and captured as a child of ten by Hessian troopers. Now on one side, now on the other, first as a musketeer's boy, then as a soldier, he seems to have spent many years in the War, perhaps serving till the end of it, though this has not been ascertained. Wild scenes of cruelty and terrible misery, such as he sketches in ' Simplicissimus,' must have been enacted before his own eyes : he was probably acquainted personally with the one or two commanders whom he introduces into his narrative ; probably also the strains of piety and of superstition which run through the book reflect his own beliefs and experiences. For the customs, opinions, and general life of the times his work is a mine of information.
The translation has been happily done ; spirited and pleasant to read, it has also been skilfully modelled on the diction of the period. German idioms are naturally rendered into English idioms of equivalent sense without regard to words, yet, date and place being considered, it seems odd to find here the expression " as one had been at a Quakers' meeting."
t0
ON all communications must be written the name
- nd address of the sender, not necessarily for pub-
iicntiol), but as a guarantee of good faith.
WE beg leave to state that we decline to return communications which, for any reason, we do not print, and to this rule we can make no exception.
WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries,
- n ^rder that answers may ho sent to them direct.
CORRESPONDENTS who send letters to be for- warded to other contributors should put on the top left-hand corner of their envelopes the number of the page of ' N. Q.' to which their letters refer, so that the contributor may be readily identified.
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.
A. N. G. and A. T. M. Forwarded.
J. S. CURWEN (" Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorree.") Discussed at length at 10 S. x. 210, 278, 377, 452, 497.
DR. KRUEGER (" German Funeral Custom ") writes that the capital in G. Freytag's ' Soil und Haben ' (see ante, p. 436) is Breslau, the most important city in Silesia.
