300
NOTES AND QUERIES. po s. n. OCT. s, im.
plishes a pious task in writing concerning William
of Wykehara. Miss May Bateman virtually in
troduces to the English public Grazia Deledda
the Corsican novelist, and her work 'Cenere.
A very erudite and suggestive paper is that
of Mr. Andrew Lang ou 'The Origins of the
Alphabet.' Mr. Lang is always most welcome
when, as now, we meet him in the domain of
primitive culture. Mr. A. Teixeira de Mattos
introduces us to Stijn Streuyels, a Belgian writer
with a message. Serial contributions by Mr. G. K.
Chesterton and Mr. H. G. Wells begin in the
October number. Mr. John Morley sends to the
Nineteenth Century an appreciation of ' Mr. Har-
rison's Historical Romance,' which first appeared
in what was once Mr. Morley's own venture, the
Fortnightly. In his review, with which we may
not deal, Mr. Morley tells afresh the story of the
three rings that form the basis of Lessing's ' Nathan
the Wise.' We are glad to meet incidentally
with the tribute paid to Walter Scott: "No
novelist has ever had so much of the genius of
history as Scott, that great writer and true-hearted
man; and if it be unluckily true that Scott is no
longer widely read, we may be quite sure that it is
so much the worse for the common knowledge of
history." Under her real name of Lady Currie
Violet Fane has a brilliant fantasy entitled 'Are
Remarkable People Remarkable - Looking ? ' in
which she tells admirably some capital stories.
'The Land of Jargon' deals with the Yiddish
dialect. Dr. Paul Chapman narrates some remi-
niscences of Coventry Patmore which are decidedly
characteristic. Lady Bloomfield's ' Recollections
of an Octogenarian,' in the Pall Mall, are very
interesting. They deal with statesmen such as
Nesselrode and Metternich, mpnarchs such as
Louis Philippe and Frederic William, and other
celebrities, such as Lord John (afterwards Earl)
Russell, Dean Stanley, Alexander von Humboldt,
Chopin, and La Taglioni. Portraits of all these
are supplied. A good deal of interest is natur-
ally inspired by the inquiry ' Can Old Age be
Cured?' The "sunny optimist" who says that
old age is curable startles when he adds that
" what we need is old men." What was once
called a symposium is held concerning our fiction.
Participants in this include John Oliver Hobbes,
Mr. H. G. Wells, Mr. Andrew Lang, Mr. Edmund
Gosse, and Mr. W. L. Courtney. ' An Old Herbal '
deals with our and everybody's old friend Gerard.
An interesting number of the ' Household Bud-
gets Abroad,' which constitute a pleasing feature in
the Cornhill, is No. IV., which is concerned with
Italy. It becomes increasingly apparent that the
advantage of living abroad is principally derived
from the opportunity foreign residence affords of
dispensing with needless outlay. General Grant
Wilson has much of interest to say concerning
'Washington, Lincoln, and Grant.' Miss Peard
writes on 'Autumn on Dartmoor.' In 'Historical
Mysteries ' Mr. Lang deals with ' The Case of Capt.
Green.' With this, the particulars of which are
taken from Howell's ' State Trials,' we were pre-
viously unfamiliar. ' The American Chloe,' by
Marion Bower, furnishes a curious insight into
American womanhood. Baptista Mantuan is dealt
with in the Gentleman's. Mantuanus has always
maintained a hold upon scholars, and a new edition
of him might be expedient. Our own edition is
Paris, three volumes in one, folio, 1513, and though
we are aware of one issued at Antwerp, 1576, we know
of no edition later, more useful, or more convenient
Mr. Holden MacMichael has an interesting com-
munication on the 'Sedan Chair.' Mr. H M
banders discourses pleasantly of ' Drummond of
Hawthornden.' Miss Barbara Clay Finch writes
on Reptile Lore.'-In Longman's Maud E. Sargent
writes on the ' Wren-bush ' familiar in our columns
In At the Sign of the Ship ' Mr. Lang exposes
some of the objections to the system followed in
the Cambridge Modern History.' He also com-
ments on incidents in Renaissance history which
are so sensational that a modern writer of fiction
would hesitate to use them.
M. PIERRE-PAUL PLAN is issuing in a handsome
Jc rm i- m - an edition Hmited to 350 copies, a
.Biblipgraphie Rabelaisienne,' consisting of a
catalogue raisonne" descriptif et figure" of the editions of the humourist and philosopher pub- lished between 1532 and 1711. It will contain 160 facsimiles of titles, portraits, &c., and will be an enviable possession to all true Pantagruelists. It is obtainable by subscription from M. Plan, 71 Rue Uaulaincourt, Paris.
MESSRS. JACK have in preparation a much en- larged edition of Fairbairn's ' Book of Crests.' The ever-increasing interest in heraldry, resulting in the issue of new grants of arms, has rendered expedient a complete revision. The number of illustrations will be very greatly increased, and the text, con- sisting of between 600 and 700 three-column quarto pages, has been thoroughly revised, brought down to date, and completely reset. The work will be issued in November.
to
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CLEMENT ("Birth-date of Christ"). This has been discussed at great length in 'N. & Q ' see 8 th S. v. 291; viii. 465; ix. 135, 175, 256, 309, 356 ; xi. 335, 436 ; xii. 336, 393, 495 ; 9 th S. i. 5, 174 ; iv. 82^
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