Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/361

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10th S. III. April 15, 1905.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
297

valuable paper on Scotch marks in particular was published by Mr. Chalmers in 1852. Again, in the Journal of the British Archæological Association (vol. xlv. p. 145) is a very able paper by Mr. T. Hayter Lewis, F.S.A., on 'Scottish Masons' Marks compared with those of other Countries.'

All the authorities, with the notable exception alluded to by Dr. A. S. Murray, are quoted in a contribution by Mr. Wyatt Papworth in the dictionary of the Architectural Publication Society, s.v. 'Mark.' Among these may be mentioned Street's 'Gothic Architecture,' 8vo, London, 1865 (marks in Spanish buildings); and The Freemason's Magazine and Masonic Mirror for 1862, p. 243, &c., and 1861 (Eastern), ii. 229; (Anc. Egyptian), 1861, ii. 487. See also article by Mr. Patrick Chambers in vol. xxxiv. of Archæologia; and in vol. i. an article by Dr. E. Freshfield on 'The Masons' Marks in Westminster Hall.' Gloucester Cathedral provides a large variety, so does Southwell.

J. Holden MacMichael.

6, Elgin Court, Maida Vale, W.

I recommend Mr. Kidson to consult 'Historical Treatise on Early Builders' Marks,' by G. F. Fort, published in 1885 by McCalle & Stavely, Philadelphia, a small book. He will there, I think, find his requirements.

Alfred Hall.


Authors and their First Books (10th S. iii. 247).—The suggestion in the editorial note is correct. Many articles appear in the first six volumes of The Idler, under 'My First Book.' Among the authors are Walter Besant, Rudyard Kipling, R. M. Ballantyne, W. Clark Russell, Conan Doyle, H. Rider Haggard, I. Zangwill, David Christie Murray, "John Strange Winter" (Mrs. Stannard), and Robert Louis Stevenson. All the articles which I have, have portraits of the authors and other illustrations. I do not know whether they were continued after vol. vi.


The Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly (10th S. iii. 163, 236).—Mr. Harland-Oxley's note contains some inaccuracies that, no doubt, he will pardon me for correcting. He states that Seurat, the "Living Skeleton," exhibited at the Hall in 1825, and, though it is so stated in 'Old and New London,' there is no verification of the fact elsewhere, so far as my researches go; nor do I find any trace of his ever having been there. In August of the year named he appeared at the Chinese Saloon, No. 49, Pall Mall, as stated in Hone's 'Every-Day Book.'

Again, I understand that Banvard's Panorama of the Mississippi came to the Hall upon 25 November, 1848, not in 1846. Also, Mr. Harland-Oxley states that Tom Thumb was exploited at the Hall by Barnum after 1846, but I do not find that this was so, though undoubtedly. "Tom" subsequently returned to London for show purposes.

The year 1874, given as the date of opening of Messrs. Maskelyne & Cooke's entertainment, is wrong; they commenced at the Hall in 1873. In addition, the name of "Mephisto," given as that of Mr. Maskelyne's cornet-playing android, should be "Fanfare." There was a "Mephisto," a chess-playing automaton, I believe, exhibited in London some years back, but it was in no way connected with the Egyptian Hall or its proprietor.

William Crompton.

I have a copy of 'Goodluck's Guide to the Sights and Amusements of London for 1847.' This is a foolscap broadside "Printed and Published by W. R. Goodluck, Prince's Square, Kensington, for M. Goodluck, 36, Upper Seymour Street, Euston Square," a second sheet, entitled 'The London Companion,' a sequel to the 'Sights,' being folded with it in a neat cloth cover, 16mo, for the pocket. Under the heading 'Additional Exhibitions and Amusements,' I find:—"Mysterious Lady, Egyptian Hall. Open Morning, Afternoon, and Evening. Admission, 1s." This exhibition does not appear in either the interesting list given by Mr. Harland-Oxley or the supplemental one of Mr. Aleck Abrahams.

G. Yarrow Baldock.

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.

A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. Edited by Dr. James A. H. Murray.Ree—Reign (Vol. VIII.). By W. A. Craigie, M.A. (Oxford, Clarendon Press.)

The latest instalment of the great Oxford Dictionary, issued under the care of Mr. Craigie, carries the alphabet so far as Reign. It contains more than double the number of words (1,496 against 652) of the most ambitious of its predecessors, and 7,848 illustrative quotations against 844. From the prefatory note we gather that the native words are largely outnumbered by those of Latin and French origin, a fact for which the number of words still in use with the prefix re is mainly responsible. Many such words in current employment have, we are told, obsolete senses, while some have entirely disappeared. An instance of such is advanced by Mr. Craigie in refel (Lat. refellere), to refute, confute, disprove. Common in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, this word is now obsolete. It appears to have come into use in 1530. Its literary employment is shown in Thomas Fuller, who, in his 'Church History,' writes: "He took occasion to