220
NOTES AND QUERIES, [ii s. VIL MAR. 15, 1913.
Boole-Prices Current. Vol. XXVII. Part I. (Elliot
Stock.)
THESE Parts, like catalogues of old books, are always to us delightful reading, though here we get to know the prices paid by booksellers, and in the latter the prices we ourselves have to pay. There lias been much said about the large profits which antiquarian booksellers make, but, except in special finds, we do not think this to be the case, and a book may be stocked for a long time (perhaps for years) before a purchaser is found. Among old favourites in the present Part we note the original Pickering's Aldine Poets, 1839, 30Z. : Gardiner's 'England,' original Library Edition, 271. ; the first edition of Keats' s ' Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems,' 39Z. ; La Fontaine, 1762, 23/. : first edition of * Far from the Madding 'Crowd,' SI. 10s., and a set of Hardy in 38 vols., 42Z. ; Captain Marryat's Works, 71 vols., first editions, bound by Riviere, 611. ; and Borrow's Works, 17 vols., 247.; while in the original boards 'The Zincali'sold for 12. 5*., 'The Bible in Spain' for 61. 6s., 'Romany Rye' for 6Z., and ' Wild Wales' for 11 5.9. First editions of Dickens, George Eliot, the Brontes, and George Meredith keep up in price ; .and there are some beautiful Horse.
The largest amount realized was for a choice illuminated manuscript on vellum, ' Chroniques d'Angleterre,' Sc. XV., 1,640?. The next highest price was given for collections of plates of Freude- berg and Moreau "pour servir k 1'Histoire des Mosurs et du Costume des Francais dans le dix- huitieme siecle, 1774 et 1776," OOOL
A foot-note to the Folk -Lore Society's Publica- tions states : " The term ' Folk-Lore ' was suggested bv an anonymous writer (? W. J. Thorns) in The Athenceum of August 22, 1846." We thought it was -generally known that our founder coined the word. We have his own authority for it on the back of his -carte-de-visite which he gave us, and which we reproduced in our Jubilee Number :
If You would fain know more
Of him whose Photo here is, He coined the word Folk-Lore
And started Notes <fc Queries.
MESSRS. BELL <fe SONS send us four more volumes
of their delightful edition of Trollope's novels, being
the Phineas Finn series. This edition should
bring about a Trollope revival, especially with such
an attractive Introduction as Mr. Frederic Harrison
provides. He reckons the Finn series among
Trollope's best work, and we are inclined to agree
with him. Phineas, the handsome Irishman, with
his personal charm, wildly beloved by women, pitch-
forked into office while a mere youth, should alone
"be sufficient to attract readers: "Women of rank
contend as to who shall give him their friendship,
their love, or their fortunes. He becomes the talk
of the town ; he is tried for his life ; a sensational
scene saves him from the gallows." In these pages
the inner life of the governing classes of fifty years
ago is vividly depicted, while the scenes in the
House of Commons are true to life.
Referring to Trollope's other works, Mr. Harrison marvels " how the burly busy Post Office inspector we used to meet in clubs, or in the saddle, ever came to pry into the very souls of Bishops, Canons, and
curates, into the heart of a demure country girl or a
society beauty he who had never seen more than
the outside of a cathedral cloister, or of a Duchess's
drawing-room." While with regard to 'Phineas'
he asks : " Where did he learn the secrets of a
Minister's Cabinet, how did lie know the ways of
the lobbies as well as any Whip of many sessions? '
Mr. Harrison writes of Trollope's accuracy with
enthusiasm ; he has not, however, been content with
his own opinion, but has sought from others having
special knowledge, and lawyers have told him "that
Trollope's books are almost the only novels free
from gross blunders in law."
Church and Manor : a Study in English Economic History. By Sidney Oldall Addy. (Allen & Sons.)
IN this book, which contains a great deal of high interest in the way of curious facts, Mr. Addy sets out to prove a revolutionary theory the identity, throughout England, not to say through- out Europe, of the ecclesiastical benefice and the manor, the manor house and the church, and the lord and the priest. It is a theory which, like a change of light, has the fascination of setting fami- liar matters in a new relief, and it is clear that the writer has yielded to that fascination without sufficiently considering the relation between the evidence for his ideas and the evidence for the customary view of the Church and the world. Throughout he brings forward nothing but isolated examples to support his preconception ; he does not mention, still less deal with, the mass of examples and arguments which tell fatally, we think the other way. Even in his own statements, too, there is a confusedness which makes it difficult often to gather the exact force which he desires them to have.
While we are unable to follow Mr. Addy to his main conclusions, it is but fair to repeat that the book gives evidence of close and careful learning, and as to matters of detail is full of pleasantly imparted instruction.
WE have received the following from the
Oxford University Press: "Mr. Henry Frowde,
the publisher to the University of Oxford, is at his
own wish retiring on 31 March, after thirty-nine
years' active work as manager of the London busi-
ness of the Oxford University Press. Mr. Humphrey
Milford, who has for some years been associated
with Mr. Frowde, has been appointed as his suc-
cessor. Though Mr. Frowde is retiring from the
active supervision of business at Amen Corner, he
will, it is understood, be available for consultation,
so that his knowledge and experience will not be
lost to the Press."
Mr. Frowde retires with our earnest desire that he may long enjoy his well-earned rest. The enthusiasm with which he has worked during the forty years he has been the manager of the London departments of the Oxford Press is well known, and the interest he has taken in 'N. & Q.' has been frequently shown in our columns.
Mr. Milford, who succeeds him, has been con- nected with the Oxford Press for thirteen years, and edited Cowper in the "Oxford Poets," and Clough in the "Oxford Library of Prose and Poetry." He has our hearty good wishes.
