120
NOTES- AND QUERIES. [9 th s. vm. AUG. 10, ioi.
with Atlantic greyhounds, locomotive steam
engines, and first steam ships to cross the
Atlantic, the following account of the record
voyage of an Atlantic " flyer," which appeared
in the Daily Telegraph, dated Thursday,
18 July, may be given :
" Yesterday the Hamburg- American line steamer Deutschland arrived at Plymouth, after having excelled all previous best performances, and again lowered the Atlantic record for the eastward pas- sage. Her present voyage from New York has been accomplished in five days eleven hours five minutes, an average speed of 23'51 knots having been main- tained. Sandy Hook was passed at 2.16 P.M. (7.16 P.M. Greenwich time) on the llth inst,, and by noon the next day 479 miles had been logged. The following twenty-four hours saw 557 miles covered, the greatest distance ever run in one day on the eastward voyage. On the 14th there was a fresh westerly wind, and the Deutschland ran 551 miles. In a light south-westerly wind 544 miles was done the next day, whilst on the 16th the log showed 550 miles. The remaining distance to Plymouth was 401 miles, making a total of 3,082 miles. The Deutschland, which brought 676 passengers, 765 bags of mails and specie, value 820,195 dollars, has done the voyage from New York to Plymouth in five days seven hours thirty-eight minutes, but that was when running on the northern route, which is exactly a hundred miles shorter than the trip which ended yesterday. On that occasion, how- ever, the average speed was 23 '32 knots. This has several times been exceeded by the Deutschland, which on her last passage crossed the Atlantic at 23'38 knots."
H. J. B.
THE SMALLEST BOOK EVER PUBLISHED. The publication of this curiosity of literature ought not to pass unnoticed in the pages of 1 N. & Q.' It is a version of the * Ruba'iyat ' of Omar Khayyam, consisting of the fourth FitzGerald edition, with an introduction specially written for it by Mr. Nathan Has- kell Dole, editor of the Boston Variorum edition. It was issued by Mr. Charles Hardy Meigs, of Cleveland, Ohio, in a limited edition of fifty - seven copies, printed upon Japan paper and bound in paper boards. Each copy is numbered and signed by Mr. Meigs, and the plates from which it was printed have been destroyed. The volume consists of forty-eight pages, and the title-page reads :
" Rubaiyat | of | Omar Khayyam | of Naishapur. I Rendered into English Verse by | Edward Fitz- Gerald. | With an Introduction by | Nathan Has- kellDole. | Cleveland, Ohio,U.S.A. | Charles Hardy Meigs. | M.C.M."
On the back of the title is the usual copy- right notice, and "Printed by the Burrows Brothers Co. at the Imperial Press, Cleveland, Ohio, 1900," and opposite is the dedication, "To the Honorable John Hay, Poet and Statesman, Lover of Omar and beloved of
Omarians, this book is gratefully dedicated.
Mr. Dole's " Foreword " occupies eight pages,
after which comes the poem, without Fitz-
Gerald's- introduction or notes. The dimen-
sions of this volume are phenomenal. The
bound volume measures 3 / 8 in high by 5 /ie in.
broad ; the pages measure u /32 in. by 9 /32 in.
The full dimensions of the print, measured
on a full page of the introduction, are 3 /i 6 in.
by 3 /ie in. (square). The text has evidently
been set up in type and photographed down
on to a steel or copper plate, but it is difficult
to imagine how the printing off was done.
The book is quite legible under the micro-
scope with a 1 in. or iVz in. objective and "A"
eyepieces, the paper having taken the ink
with great clearness, and it is seldom one has
to go to the context to make out any indi-
vidual word. There are, 1 understand, in
existence seven copies of the original type-
printed edition taken before reduction,
EDWARD HERON-ALLEN.
" VEIRIUM." By writ dated at Kennington, 9 Oct., 1243, the guardians of the bishopric of Winchester received orders :
" Quod in castro nostro Wintonie summitatem veirii de camera Rosamunde plumbo cooperiri faciatis." 'Roles Gascons ' (1885), No. 1992.
I do not find the word in Du Cange, nor in Mr. Trice Martin's small glossary.
O. O. H.
LEADEN ROOFS. The enclosed cutting from the Coventry Standard of 5 July is interesting as showing the ages of leaden roofs. The great thickness of some of the lead formerly used may be noticed by the depth of the workmen's marks occasionally found on roofs, which would penetrate the sheets used in modern times :
" In making preliminary arrangements for the restoration of the roof of Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, Mr. H. W. Chattaway, the architect, found several ancient inscriptions, which are inter- esting as denoting the age of the lead used on the roof. The following are the inscriptions : Arch- deacon's chapel. 'These two roofes were repay red in the year 1658. P., T. B.' North chancel aisle. ' This roof was repayred Anno Salvtis, 1666. Thomas Bewle, plumber.' Marler's Chapel. A similar inscription to above, but the, plumber's name is here spelt 'Bewley.' South aisle. 'This roof was rebuilt Anno Domini 1728. Dr. Kimberley, vicar ; Thomas Lowke, Wm. Bosworth, John Hill, Simon Villers, churchwardens ; Thos. P.ewley, plumber.'"
W. H. QUARRELL
A "WICKED" PRAYER BOOK. There are several varieties of the 'Wicked Bible." It may not be without interest to note a remarkable misprint in an edition of the Anglican Prayer Book. The issue, it should
