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Chronicle of the Mayoes and Sheriffs of London, from 1188 to 1274. — Liber de Antiquis Legibus. — Cronica Majorum et Vicecomitum Londoniarum et quedam, que contiiigebaut temporibus illis ab anno 1 178 ad annum 1274; cum appendice, nunc primum typis mandata curante Thoma Stapleton, Londoniis ; Sumptibus Societatis Camdenensis, 1846. This curious work is the most valuable chronicle extant of English affairs, particularly those of the city of London, in the thirteenth century. It was consulted by Stow, transcribed by Selden, and at a still later time by the learned Hargrave ; but so jealously was it guarded by the corpora- tion of London, from a mistaken belief that it contained matter which, if published, might affect their enjoyment of certain ancient privileges, that it was not without some hesitation the Commissioners of the Public Records were permitted to take a copy of it. We believe it is from that transcript, collated with the original MS., that the present volume has been printed, at the cost of the Camden Society ^ This jealousy on the part of the cor- poration was entirely needless, inasmuch as the transcript of Selden, and parts of that of Hargrave, were accessible in the British Museum, though not generally known ; indeed we believe it was not until the Record Com- mission had incurred the expense of the copy referred to, which was very indifferently made, that attention was called to the existence of Selden's manuscript. Although this remarkable work has been frequently cited for its chrono- logical details, no real use has been hitherto made of the important evi- dence it affords of the internal condition of the metropolis in that great period of transition, not only in the arts, but in political institutions, the thirteenth century ; we are, therefore, glad to hear that it has been translated by a gentleman well qualified for the task, and will be shortly published with an illustrative introduction. It is at the possible risk of anticipating some of his observations that we now attempt a slight sketch of the state of the English capital in those times to which the Chronicle refers. And here we cannot but express our surprise that so little has been hitherto written on the history of London, both topographical and political. There are, indeed, the labours of Stow, and the productions of compilers since his time ; but Stow's work is after all very imperfect, containing little original research, and referring, for the most part, to very ordinary authorities; yet such as it is it must be regarded as the grand source from whence succeeding writers drew their chief materials for the early history of the ' city. Topographically considered it is of great value, and especially in a purely antiquarian point of view, for the great fire, and the improvements made subsequently to that event, have almost entirely changed the character and material features of that laby- rinth of dwellings which the honest tailor described so circumstantially in a It is to be regretted that tlic preface affords no information on tliis point.