500
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. x. DEC. 19, 1014.
delicacy to her descendants. Nor can we endure
to think that Southampton gave Shakespeare
" more or less good advice " on divers matters,
including " versification." Did Dante learn from
Can Grande the potentialities of the terza rima ?
But if we differ sharply from Mrs. Stopes on many points of controversy, these differences have not checked our admiration of her learning and industry. May she long continue her career of discovery ! We note that she has a grievance against Prof. Wallace, in which respect she does not stand alone.
A Concise Bibliography of the History, Topo- graphy, and Institutions of the Shires of Aberdeen, Banff, and Kincardine. By James Fowler Kellas Johnstone. (Aberdeen, printed for the University. )
THE compiler of this work deserves congratulation. Limiting his scope to the subjects mentioned in the title, he has brought together, and arranged in clear and convenient order, a mass of very various material which, as presented here, will undoubtedly fulfil his intention, and greatly facilitate the labours of historians studying these particular topics. The city of Aberdeen is first dealt with under seven headings, of which some are subdivided, the first, ' The Municipality,' requiring seven such subsections. ' Periodical Literature ' covers the highly interesting ' Aber- deen Almanac ' (to which a good note is appended), about a score of newspapers still current or defunct, and a motley array of magazines.
Under fifteen other headings are ranged the publications connected with the three counties. The sixty pages comprised under ' Parochial Annals ' form, perhaps, the most valuable part of this, and should certainly not be overlooked by workers. ' Education,' ' Dialects and Idioms,' ' Folk-Lore, &c.,' ' As Others See us,' ' Guide- Books, Views, and Maps,' serve to group other instructive articles.
Several names familiar to readers of ' N. & Q.' will be met with in these lists none more fre- quently than that of our correspondent Mr. J. M. Bulloch, the range of whose work on the Gordons s here well illustrated.
Britain's Case against Germany. By Ramsay Muir. (Manchester University Press, 2s. net.) PROP. MUIR in the Preface states that, despite the difficulty of maintaining an attitude of aloofness and impartiality during a great war, he has " honestly tried in this little book to see the facts plainly, and never to tamper with them." His main purpose is to show that the great issue for which we are now fighting is " no new thing," but " the result of a poison which has been working in the European system for more than two centuries, and the chief source of that poison is Prussia." " The action of Germany in 1914 is due to a theory of international politics which has taken possession of the minds of the German people since the middle of the nineteenth century," the o_utcome of the traditional policy of the Prussian state during the last two hundred and fifty years. Prussia had to fight against a " far nobler and more inspiring ideal, the ideal of the Germany of Goethe, of Stein, and of Dahl- mann, and only the dazzling success of the Prussian policy as pursued by Bismarck made possible its victory."
Prof. Muir gives a concise summary of the
events of the past summer, and points out the
strong contrast between the political theories of
Prussia and the rest of Germany. He also sup-
plies in detail particulars of the final attempt of
England for the preservation of peace. The
excellent Index is the work of Miss J. M. Potter.
Germans would find this work instructive.
(DMtuarjj.
BERTRAM DOBELL.
WE regret to learn that Mr. Bertram Dobell died on Monday last at the age of 72. His is a name familiar to every lover of literature, and in par- ticular to the lovers of by-ways, to those for whom an intimate realization of the past seems a more precious thing even than present literary creation and again to those whose feeling for what is beautiful is much enhanced by their feeling for what is rare. Mr. Dobell was of that tribe himself, possessing, in addition, no small measure of the poet's gift, and also the mysterious gift or quality, or whatever one ought to call it, o'f being lucky.
He was born at Battle, Sussex, on 9 Jan., 1842, and up to the age of 30 his life was a hard one, a severe struggle with poverty, and endurance in tasks both laborious and disagreeable. He began his career proper when he was at last able to found a small stationer's shop in the Kentish Town Road. This modest business, whose final home is in Charing Cross Road, developed into a centre known to all book-lovers.
Mr. Dobell was a great reader, spending five or six hours a day over books chiefly over out-of- the-way things, in which his knowledge became remarkable. He had, however, besides a true and sensitive taste for great literature, which not only freed his recondite information from pedantry, but also enabled him to do valuable service in the world of letters. He was the friend of James Thomson, author of ' The City of Dreadful Night ' ; his ' Sidelights on Charles Lamb ' form a real contribution to the history of Lamb ; and his interest in the bibliography of Shelley showed itself in practical ways. But his greatest achieve- ment and it is interesting as showing the acute- ness of his critical faculty, as well as his persistence and his luck was the discovery of Thomas Traherne. Traherne's poems were published with an Introduction by Mr. Dobell in 1906, and his prose two years later. This event, the importance of which was fully realized by bibliographers and men of letters at the time, is too recent to need further discussion here.
Mr. Dobell was an occasional contributor to our columns, the last note he sent us being an account of Anna Trapnel's ' Cry of a Stone,' virtually the completion of an article contributed to our Ninth Series, which may serve as an instance of his ready flair in the matter of the assigning of authorship.
flotius to <E0msp0ntottts.
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.
MR. J. S. UDAJJ. Many thanks for two replies anticipated ante, pp. 475, 477.
