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or two other situations in this romantic narrative which lack the touch of art; but fortunately the good points in 'Monica' outnumber its weaknesses. Miss EverettGreen is admirable in her delineation of feminine virtues, and she doubtless feels the necessity of a contrast to the extreme sweetness of her heroines. But she is not good at depicting men, and her villains are bogeys that never create a shudder.

It is almost superfluous to remark that Mr. Barrie's is a story which no lover of Scotland will read without being rewarded. The tale is rather thin, but the old people of Thrums are as good as ever; and although Rob Angus would seem little likely in real life to have drawn such a prize as the colonel's daughter, yet there are men who "make themselves" in a single generation, and such prodigies are commonly found to have been bred amid simple surroundings, and not far from communion with mother nature. Rob's experiences as a journalist involve some amusing episodes. A happy thought is that invention of a profession, the furnishing of rooms for interviews. Altogether Dick Abinger is a more interesting figure than Rob, finer strung, feeling more intensely underneath his cynicism, apart from the fact of his being made the vehicle of some excellent gnomic sentences on journalism. We are inclined to think with Tammas, the stone-breaker, "'at Rob was a lucky crittur to get sic a bonny wife."

In spite of its title, the ghostly element in 'The Grey Lady' is reduced to a minimum, and that is harmless. A certain amount of mild love-making, a couple or so of hairbreadth escapes, and a very inordinate quantity of theology from the Roman Catholic standpoint form its other main ingredients. The heroine, Alice Hardcastle, already "a Catholic by conviction" at the age of twenty, has a youthful enjoyment of burning discussions on the subject of her religious convictions, and her ritualistic young friends and relations share her taste for controversy. To the reader who has neither ritualistic nor Roman Catholic leanings the arguments are not likely to prove interesting, though somewhat curious his torical statements are to be found in them. Miss Hardcastle seizes the opportunity of her father's supposed death by drowning to be received into the Roman Catholic Church, a step he had violently opposed; hence a little domestic persecution on the squire's unexpected restoration to his sorrowing family, followed by the final triumph of Alice and her union with her moribund, but converted cousin. Her influence, however, does not stop here, but also interposes a most unnecessary division between an otherwise united young couple who have the

misfortune to be related to her. The book

would certainly have a better chance of success if it were less heavily handicapped by a strongly marked dogmatic purpose.

'Mondaine' is one of the best of M. Malot's books. It is pleasant to read, and contains a strong portrait, that of the wealthy bourgeoise married to a man of family, whose leading idea in life is to advertise herself, her parties, and her dress in Paris newspapers. The novel ends with a melancholy situation, represented by the author as though it were tolerable, or even

pleasant. But the conventional ending, arrived at by killing people who are in the way, is even further removed from the

truths of existence than is that of M. Malot's Mondaine.'

'Alain de Kerisel' is as good a novel as has appeared for some time, and contains the most lifelike account of daily life at sea that we have met with of recent years. Punkahs off Crete on the "26th of October" are, however, out of place, and greatcoats would be far more useful to passengers returning from the tropics. We wish that M. de Tinseau had not charged England with attempting to prevent the annexation of Tonquin to France.

In her new volume Gyp leaves aside for once her well-known characters, and becomes more "presentable" to the British public. 'Petit Bleu' is a beautiful story of convent life which might pass muster almost anywhere, and the other stories are in modesty half-way between this one and those which, to use the author's own phrase, are "sans voiles." The later portion of the volume is a little "thin."

OUR LIBRARY TABLE.

India, by Sir John Strachey, G.C.S.I. (Kegan Paul), consists of a series of lectures delivered by him in 1884 before the University of Cambridge, enlarged and corrected up to date. His object has been to present in a clear and definite form the main facts relating to India itself and our rule there: its justification, its difficulties, and its prospects. Those who seek a clear exposition of the system of our government in India need not go beyond the volume before Sir John Strachey is anxious to do equal justice to the Government of India and to the Council of the Secretary of State, to which he now belongs. Among the more ardent and the younger administrators in India there is a tendency to look upon the Council in Downing Street as obstructive and old-fashioned, and it is not uncommon to hear our rule described as "a benevolent despotism tempered by the indiscretions of a Secretary of State." Sir John Strachey, however, vouches for the fact that the inter

us.

equalled only by the general justice and patience with which they pacified and adminis tered it. This also was the opinion of Sir Henry Maine, who ascribed the perversion of history in question to the fact that at the beginning of the present century, when India was the chief topic of the great writers and rhetoricians such as Burke, Sheridan, Fox, and Francis-English classical literature was saturated with party politics.

MR. W. T. STEAD'S Truth about Russia (Cassell & Co.) having for the most part already appeared in print - some of it, indeed, twice over-it is not necessary for us to discuss it at great length. A little less haste and it would have been a better book, but, as it stands, it is a remarkable proof of the ability of its writer. The journalistic habit of over- statement, intended to produce effect, is noticeable throughout, as well as some controversial un fairness, but the volume is well worth perusal. As a specimen of newspaper "slapdash" we may point to the description of General Igna

tieff as "the Russian Mr. Gladstone," while in another chapter Sir William White is styled "the English Ignatieff," and we are left in doubt as to the relation of Mr. Glad stone to Sir William White. If, but for nationality, Sir William White = General Ignatieff, while General Ignatieff=Mr. Gladstone, we should have thought that the conclusion Mr. Gladstone=Sir William White must force itself upon the mind. As an example of unfairness we may quote the declaration, "According to popular prejudice in Eng

land, the Tzar" (why does Mr. Stead follow the Polish and not the Russian spelling?) "is the great disturber of the peace." There is an obvious ambiguity in the words "the Tzar," and the prejudice, if prejudice it be, which makes of Russia a disturber of the peace is not met by the proof, admirable and convincing though it is, that the present occupant of the Russian throne is at the present moment peaceful. He may be conquered by a war party, as his father was; he may be removed by the hand of the assassin, as was his father. The general value of the book is shown by the fact that Mr. Stead has undoubtedly been instrumental in causing a true view of the excellent side of the character of the present Emperor of the Russias to prevail in England. Moreover, no other foreign writer on Russia-neither Sir Donald Wallace, nor Mr. Hepworth Dixon, nor M. Leroy-Beaulieu-has so well described the wickedness of

ference of the Secretary of State with the action | Russian official religious persecution. Mr. Stead's

and is practically limited to matters of great of the Government of India is extremely small, importance. He urges that in such matters the control of the Indian Council, consisting for the most part of men who have seen much service, is absolutely necessary, owing to the incessant process of change in the personnel of the administration in India and the constant waste of mature experience. In respect to finances-as to which Sir John Strachey speaks with the authority of an ex-finance minister-India, he says, has become one of the great powers of the world. In 1840 the gross revenues of India were 21.000,000l. sterling; in 1857, the year before the assumption of the government by the Crown, they were 32,000,000l.; in 1886 they were 77,000,000l. In 1840 the total value of foreign trade was

20,000,000%.; in 1857 it was 55,000,000l.; and in

1886 it was 163,000,000l. In conclusion, we
commend to the attention of all students of

Indian history the timely remarks of Sir John
Strachey as to the non-existence of any history

of British India which is trustworthy and com-
plete in its facts, and which at the same time
possesses the essential quality of literary excel-
lence. Since the earlier part of the present cen-
tury the old stories of the crimes by which the
establishment of our power in India was attended
have been passed on from one author to another.
A few students know that for the most part these
stories are false, and that, in the words of Sir
Alfred Lyall, the hardihood and endurance of the
men who won for England an empire were

believe is clearly exhibited in the following parachildlike innocence in believing what he wants to graph: ""That is all very well,' I replied, but do you want the keys of the Bosphorus in order to exclude the Black Sea from the arena of war, or do you want to shut us out in order to convert the Black Sea into an immense arsenal, from which, at a given moment, a new Armada might issue forth and join hands with the French to sweep the British flag from the Mediterranean?' Nothing of that, I was always assured, was dreamed of by the Russians."

BIOGRAPHIES Ccontinue to collect on ovar table The Life of William B. Robertson, D.D., Irvine, by Dr. J. Brown (Glasgow, MacLehose contains an account of a minister of the Unite Presbyterian Church who was not only a popu lar preacher and lecturer, but possessed a variety of tastes not common among Dissenting ministers in Scotland. He fluent versi

fier, if not a poet; he was something of a musi cian, he was interested in archæology, and he his was fond of pictures; and although loyal to

own communion he was tolerant, and created no little dismay at Irvine by proposing that some French sailors, whose bodies had been washed ashore, should be buried with the rites of the Church of Rome. - The Life and Letters of William Fleming Stevenson, D.D, by his Wife (Nelson & Sons), contains a memoir of an Irish Presbyterian who, like Dr. Robertson, studied in Germany, and held position of much influence in his own Church. He was greatly con

a

cerned in superintending the missions of his Church, and was highly respected by men of various creeds. His widow has written his biography with considerable tact and taste.

Ir is impossible for us to write at length with regard to so strictly political a volume as L'Irlande et l'Angleterre depuis l'Acte d'Union jusqu'à Jours,

7108

M. Francis

de Pressensé, pub

lished by MM. Plon, Nourrit & Co., of Paris. M. Pressensé began to write upon the history of Ireland with a certain prejudice against the Nationalist party, but, as he himself states in his preface, by the time he reached the conclusion of his work he had a strong feeling the other way. The book will not, on the whole, be found very interesting or valuable by English readers, and is inferior to a series of twenty-five letters on Ireland which lately appeared in the République Française, and are to be reprinted as a volume.

In the Educational Annual, 1889 (Philip & Son), the compiler, Mr. E. Johnson, assigns the first and most important place to the Royal Commission on Elementary Education. A long comprehensive résumé of reports and recommendations of the Commission is given, followed by the current code of the Education Department, and the chief instructions, circulars, &c., issued to Her Majesty's inspectors and others concerned with grant - aided schoois.

More than half the volume is devoted to primary instruction, and our system of national education as it exists at present is fairly and fully described. The second part of the manual treats of secondary education. Mr. Johnson supplies a general sketch of its conditionat present by no means satisfactory-and then adds a mass of useful facts concerning "the schools and colleges of England and Wales intermediate in grade between public elementary schools and the universities." The schools and colleges will be found in alphabetical order under counties, while institutions devoted to "agricultural, evening, medical, musical, or technical education have been placed under separate headings." The list of schools, &c., is approximately complete, and the descriptive information given appears, so far as we have had opportunity of verifying it, trustworthy, although in several instances it should have been somewhat more comprehensive. The general index is ample so far as concerns matters in the Education Code, but for outside matters enlargement is desirable. We have received from Messrs. Street & Co. Street's Indian and Colonial Mercantile Directory 11888-9, and have only to say that this usefu book appears to be as well executed as usual; and from Messrs. Kelly & Co. Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed, and Official Classes, a work of which we have previously spoken in high praise, and which continues thoroughly to deserve such praise.

1

Green's (J. R.) Short History of the English People, Parts
1 and 2, cr. 8vo. 3/ each, cl.

Rawlinson's (G.) Phœnicia, 5/ el. (Story of the Nations.)
Thomson (James) (" B. V."), Life of, with a Selection of his

Letters, &c., by H. S. Salt, cr. 8vo. 7/6 el.
Welles's (A.) Genealogical Chronology, 4to. 25/ half-calf.

Geography and Travel,

and talk of opening branch libraries. They
also send us a Catalogue of Music in their lend-
ing library (Cardiff, Owen & Co). At Chelten-
ham also and Salford things are prosperous,
although from Salford comes the complaint of
limited means; at Cheltenham the new building
is nearly finished. Catalogues of the lending
libraries at Belfast (Belfast, Carswell & Son)
and West Bromwich (Oldbury, Midland Print-
ing Company) are also on our table. The latter Clare's (E) First Elements of French Grammar, cr. 8vo. 2/

has reached a fourth edition. From Padding-
ton we have received the first annual report of
its free library, which is supported by voluntary
contributions, as the ratepayers refused to adopt
the Act.

THE following booksellers have forwarded
their catalogues: Mr. Baker (largely theological),
Messrs. Dulau (zoology), Mr. Higham, Messrs.
Jarvis, Mr. Marvell (a handsome catalogue on
large paper of books on magic, alchemy, &c.,
introduced by a mystic preface), and Messrs.
Sotheran (rather interesting); also Mr. Clay
(chemistry) and Mr. Thin (Oriental literature
mostly) of Edinburgh, Mr. Hopkins of Glasgow
(fairly interesting), Mr. Simmons of Leamington,
and Mr. Howell of Liverpool.

Baedeker's (K.) Greece, Handbook for Travellers, 18mo. 10/
Parry's (Major G) Sketches of a Yachting Cruise, 8vo. 10/6
Wingfield's (Hon. Lewis) Wanderings of a Globe-Trotter,
2 vols. cr. 8vo. 21/cl.
Philology.

Hatch's (E.) Essays in Biblical Greek, 8vo. 10/6 cl.

Hauff's (W.) Das Bild des Kaisers, edited by J. F. Davies, 12mo. 2/cl.

Lange's (F.) Concise German Grammar, First and Second

Course, cr. 8vo. 2/ each.

Selecta ex Justino, Cæsare, Cicerone in usum Regiæ Scholæ
Etonensis, cr. 8vo. 4/6 cl.

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General Literature.

Curtis's (E. J.) A Game of Chance, 3 vols, cr. 8vo. 31/6 cl.
Dead Leman (The), and other Tales from the French, by A.

Lang and P. Sylvester, cr. 8vo. 6/ cl.

Doncaster's (M. W.) Luxurious Modern Cookery, cr. 8vo. 3/6
French Janet, by Author of 'Citoyenne Jacqueline,' 2 vols.

cr. 8vo. 21/cl.

Gibson's (G. R) Stock Exchange of London, Paris, and New
York, cr. 8vo. 4/ cl.

We have on our table History of the Waldenses of Italy, by E. Comba, translated by T. E. Comba(Truslove & Shirley), - Imperial Germany: a Critical Study of Fact and Character, by S. Whitman (Trübner), Lives of the Seven Sons of George III., by J. E. Ritchie (Charles & Co.), -Juvenile Literature as It Is, by E. Salmon (Drane), -Col. Quaritch, V.C., by H. Rider Haggard, 3 vols. (Longmans), - Flowers and Fruit from the Writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe, arranged by Abbie H. Fairfield (Low), - Narrative and Legendary Poems, by John Greenleaf Robinson's (F. M.) Mr. Butler's Ward, cheap edition, 2/ bds.

Hogan's (J. F.) The Australian in London and America, 6/ cl.
Kavanagh's (J.) Two Lilies, cr. 8vo. 2/ bds.
Nottim's (G. E.) A Loyal Heart, a Story of the Crimean

War, cr. 8vo. 2/6 cl.

O'Hanlan's (A.) Chance? or Fate? 3 vols. cr. 8vo. 31/6 cl.
Pask's (A. T.) The Eyes of the Thames, cr. 8vo. 6/ cl.
Phallism, a Description of the Worship of Lingam-Yoni, 7/6

Sheringham s (J. W.) Stromata, cr. 8vo. 2/6 cl. limp.
Winter's (J. S.) Harvest, cr. 8vo. 2/6 cl.

Wood's (H. F.) The Englishman of the Rue Caïn, cr. 8vo. 6/

Whittier, Vol. I. (Macmillan), - Semblance, and
other Poems, by C. T. Lusted (Kegan Paul), -
Lyrical Dramas, Poems, and Translations, by E. Wright's (J. C.) Outlines of English Literature, er. 8vo. 2/ cl.

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- A History of the Independents or Dissenters at
Mortlake, by J. E. Anderson (Laurie). - Great Wirgand (A.): August Neanders Leben, dargestellt f. Stu-

Thoughts, a Birthday Book (Marcus Ward), -
The Holy Scriptures in Ireland One Thousand
Years Ago, translated by the Rev. T. Olden
(Dublin, Hodges, Figgis & Co.), -Moffatt's Edi-
tion of the Gospel according to St. Matthew
(Moffatt & Paige), -Christmas Eve, by L. S. M.
(Bradford, Sewell), -Light through the Crannies,
First Series (Longmans), - The Thumb Bible, by
Bishop Jeremy Taylor (Hodder & Stoughton),
-The Divine Unity and Trinity, by H. Н.
Jeaffreson (Kegan Paul), - Le Mari de Lucienne,
by Yves de Noly (Paris, Lévy), and Volksbuch
über die Kunst glücklich zu Werden, by N. Gra-
bowsky (Würzburg, Kressner). Among New

Editions we have An Introduction to French
Authors, by A. Charlin (Hachette), - Corinna,
by Rita (Spencer Blackett), - Dulcibel's Day-
Dreams, by E. Marshall (Nisbet), - and Roots, a
Plea for Tolerance (Bentley).

LIST OF NEW BOOKS.
ENGLISH.
Theology.

MESSRS. DEAN & SON have sent us their
handsome "royal edition" of Debrett's Peerage,
Baronetage, and Knightage. The volume is, as
usual, brought up to date with remarkable care.
-The British Imperial Calendar (Warrington &
Co.) has reached its eightieth year. It is a highly
useful book, and its index makes it convenient to
consult; while the 'Companion' contains some
handy lists. The Service Almanack of Messrs.
Harrison is cheap and useful. We may be
excused for pointing out that 'The Chrono-
logical Synopsis of the British Army' has the
common defect of leading the reader to believe
that the British army was never defeated except
at Almanza and Fontenoy. A Dutchman would
probably give a different account of the naval
fights of 1665-1673 from what is found on p. 3,
and remember that his countrymen sailed up
the Thames in triumph. The printer's devil Kenworthy's (J. C.) The Judgment of the City, and other

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the book sales of 1888 fall, both in quality and in extent, much below those of the preceding six or eight years. According to Book Prices Current, the number of high-class auctions which take place during an average season may be calculated at about seventy; the one that has lately closed has only forty-nine to its credit, and the lots disposed of were, with exceptions, remarkable for their mediocrity. It is quite possible that accidental circumstances may regulate the market to a greater or less extent; but the question of a gradual absorption into the numerous public libraries now springing up all over the country is one that cannot be overlooked. Should this prove as important a factor as it would seem at first sight, the tastes of the majority of collectors will be forced into other channels, and the modern book of limited issue will then take the place of those relics of antiquity which drain the purse in proportion to the difficulty in obtaining them.

The season 1887-8 opened with the Husk sale, on the 7th and 8th of December of the former year. The books were good of their kind, but not valuable, the highest price realized being 8l. 10s. for a copy of Nichols's 'Literary Anecdotes,' 17 vols. 8vo. 1812-58. The only lot of much note at the Stourhead sale, which took place a few days later, was an extra illustrated specimen of Hoare's 'Modern Wiltshire,' in 6 vols. folio, large paper, 1822-43. The amount paid (2001.) shows that admirers of the barbaric system of "Grangerizing" are not yet extinct, though doubtless competitors would have been more numerous forty years ago.

Gould's ornithological works invariably bring large sums-in fact, the bidding commences at a high figure, and varies but little, whenever examples occur for sale. 50l. for the 'Trochilidæ, 200l. for 'The Birds of Australia,' and 60l. for 'The Birds of Europe' are average prices, condition as usual having everything to do with any material variation that may exist in particular cases. This average was during the season amply maintained, the first-named book selling for 35l., 58l., and 64l.; 'The Birds of Australia' for 136l. and 220l.; and 'The Birds of Europe' for 571. and 70l. respectively. The Birds of Asia' brought 12l. and 10l. at different sales, 'The Birds of Great Britain,' 36l., 'Birds from the Himalayas, 16l. and 19l., and the 'Trogonidæ,' 12l.

،

If Lodge's 'Portraits,' in 4 vols. royal folio, 1821-34, large paper, 58l., and Dugdale's 'Monasticon,' 1817-30, folio, 247. 10s., be noted, there is positively nothing further worthy of mention during the remainder of the year 1887, and it is not until we advance far into the follow

Without the slightest pretensions to rank with such collections as the Syston Park and Crawford, this library was, nevertheless, remarkable, as it contained nearly one hundred lots entirely devoted to Cruikshankiana, as well as some very choice examples of Dickens, Fielding, Smollett, and Rowlandson. Works on cockfighting and other forms of obsolete "sport" were also there in great profusion, and the prices obtained were inordinately high. The Douglas Stewart sale will long be remembered as the modern collector's chance, not only of one, but of several seasons, for securing the illustrated first editions of modern authors he covets, in the best condition and at the highest price.

The Aylesford collection, dispersed by Messrs. Christie in the same month of March, proved disappointing. The books were good of their kind, but of a class not much sought after at the present day. There were, of course, exсерtions, and among these may be noted Andrews's 'Engravings of Heaths,' 4 vols. folio, 1802-9, 131. 15s.; Arnold's 'Chronicle,' printed at Antwerp by Doesbrowe in 1502, folio, 88l.; Aubrey's 'Antiquities of Surrey, 5 vols., on large paper, 1719, 8vo., 34l.; the second edition of the Bishops' Bible, printed by Richard Jugge in 1572, from the library of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, with his arms on the sides, 90l.; and the Earl of Bute's 'Botanical Tables,' 9 vols. 4to., 1785, of which only twelve copies were printed, 60l. Whitechurche's Book of Common Prayer, 1549, 4to., is at all times an exceedingly scarce and valuable example of early typography; but with the rare leaf ordering the price of the volume, viz., 2s. 6d. unbound and 4s. bound, it becomes presque unique; 125l. was not considered too high a figure to pay under these favourable circumstances.

ing year that choicer examples become numerous.
A passing reference may, however, be made to
'Bentley's Miscellany, 1837 to 1868, in all
64 vols. 8vo., 271. (Carter sale, January, 1888),
and the Oriental Translation Fund Publications,
30 vols. 4to. and 33 vols. 8vo., 1829-42, 211. 10s.
(ibid.). The first edition of Burton's 'Anatomy
of Melancholy,' if possessing the leaf of errata at
the end, is scarce. A good example with this
desirable addition realized 25l. 10s. at the sale
of a miscellaneous collection in February, and
at the same time no less than 12l. 10s. was ob-
tained for the 'Pickwick Papers' in the original |
parts. Had these parts been carefully bound the
book would not have brought more than 4l., and
possibly not even that. Heywood's works in
4to., 1562, brought 10l. 15s., a small price, suf- ❘
ficiently accounted for when it is explained that
the last leaf was in facsimile. At this miscel- |
laneous sale a unique copy of 'Paradise Lost'
sold for 15l. It was the first edition of 1668,
but there were seven preliminary leaves not pre-
viously observed by any bibliographer. It may
safely be predicted that a few years hence this
copy will be worth five or six times the amount
given for it.

On March 1st and two following days the library of the late Mr. Douglas Stewart was

The number of Shakspeare folios offered for sale decreases every year. At the Aylesford sale the first folio realized 200l., the second folio, 140l., the third, 93l., and the fourth, 29l. Of these, however, only the last was perfect. Of the early quartos there was not a single specimen, and as a matter of fact only three, and these indifferent copies, have been offered for sale during the last two years.

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There is at present what is known as a "run on early printed ted American works, or, indeed, on all early printed books relating to that continent wherever published. Thus at the Martin sale (March) a pamphlet of thirty-five pages, printed at New York in 1719, entitled 'The Charter and Laws of the City of New York,' sold for 75l., and a 'Brief Description of the Province of Carolina,' 4to., 1666, for 46l. The "verie eye," as the late Mr. Stevens had it, of New England literature is, however, the 'Epistola' of Columbus, of which there are several editions. One of these that supposed to have been printed by Planck at Rome in 1493-was sold at the Crawford sale last year for 236l., being at the rate of nearly 11. for every line of print. It will doubtless be a long time before another is unearthed and put up for public competition.

We now come to what is generally considered to be the sale of the season, viz., the dispersal of the second portion of the library of the late Mr. Gibson-Craig, which occupied Messrs. Sotheby & Co. for fifteen days. The first and by far the best portion had been previously disposed of in June and July, 1887, by the same firm, and the books that were left, though desirable, would not have been specially noticeable but for the almost universal dearth which prevailed all through the season. A block book, supposed to have been printed about the year 1500, sold for 20l. 10s.; and a work ('Camerarius de Prædestinatione,' 1556, folio) bound in white leather, the sides blind tooled with the emblems of Diana of Poitiers, for 146l. Both these were, of course, mere curiosities; but the prices realized clearly show that many collectors regard their books as so mary pieces of bricbrac and value them accordingly. In fact, this

brought to the hammer in Wellington Street. ( is the tendency of the modern school of biblio

Wal Waltz, 4to., 4 1813

philes, which advocates the payment of 78l. for the 'Prognosticatio' of Liechtenberger, printed at Cologne in 1526, not because the book is in trinsically worth any such sum, but on account of the inscriptions in letters of gold, "Io Gr et amicorum" at the bottom of the cover, and on the reverse "Portio mea Domine sit in Terra Viventium." It is a known fact that books from the library of the famous Grolier are worth their weight in gold, no matter what the intrinsic value may be. It would be a misnomer to call the Kilmarnock edition of Burns's 'Poems a curiosity, but the price paid for it (1117.) certainly merits that appellation. This is the highest figure ever paid for this small, but rare work, and perhaps the magic of "some uncut leaves" had much to do with the result; 50% also seems an enormous price to give for the first edition of Byron's Saxton's 'Maps of England and Wales,' published in 1579, is another curious book, which, when perfect, sells for somewhere about 50%.; the Gibson-Craig copy had a modern reprint of the portrait, and therefore only brought 311. A copy of the princeps Walton was sold for 23l., as fourteen leaves were absent, this making a difference to the estate of perhaps 40l., and, under certain conceivable circumstances, more. The total number of lots at this sale was 5,364, which realized 7,9071. 1s. 6d. The first portion of the same library consisted of 2,927 lots, and realized 6,803l. 8s., a very much better record. The remaining sales up to the end of May show nothing of importance. The Breese Library, dispersed on the last day of that month, contained a number of Welsh printed books, among which is noticeable the 'Testament Newydd ein Arglwydd Jesu Christ,' 1567, 4to., which sold for 58l. The collections of the Powys-Land Club, in 13 vols. 8vo., 1868-80, brought 11l.; and Eyton's 'Antiquities of Shropshire,' 12 vols. 8vo., 1854-60, 31l. It will be remembered that the year 1888 was the tercentenary of the publication of the first Bible in the Welsh language (Morgan's Bible, London, Christopher Barker, 1588, a good copy of which sold by auction in June, 1887, for 60l.).

The Turner sale (Sotheby, June 18th and eleven subsequent days) was productive of some good lots, for which competition ran high. 'Los quatros Libros del Efforçado y Virtuoso Cavallero Amadis de Gaula,' printed at Salamanca in 1519, brought 56l.; and another edition of 1533in folio, 28l. Another book of the same class Arthur King of Britaine and Acts of his Valiant Knights of the Round Table, 3 vols 4to., 1634, sold for 14l. Brandt's 'Stultifera Navis, Paris, 1498, realized 271.; Coryat' 'Crudities, hastily gobled up in five Moneth Travells,' 1611, 4to., 40l. 10s.; and Glanvil 'Batman uppon Bartholome his Booke,' 35 The most astonishing price certainly seems t be the 61l. paid for Rogers's 'Italy' an 'Poems,' in 2 vols., 1830–4; but it must be note that both volumes were splendidly bound b Bedford in morocco extra, covered with minut gold tooling, relieved by variegated leathers i the Grolier style, and this makes a wonderfu difference.

The highest figure reached during the seaso was 555l. paid for twelve tracts bound in or small quarto volume. As might have been ex pected, these brochures related to America, an comprised such rarities as Hamor's 'True Di course of the present Estate of Virginia,' 1615 Cotton's 'Abstract of the Laws of New En land,' 1641; and Ashley's 'Relation of Cochi China,' 1633. At the same sale (the Wimpo Library) nine other tracts, also relating America, sold for 66l.; Caxton's 'Game Play of Chesse,' imperfect, 1475, 260l.; and th same printer's 'Myrrour of the Worlde, ve imperfect, 1481, 60l. All the lots at this which together did not number 250, were the rarest description, but a great many of t books were imperfect.

ar

sa

After the Wimpole dispersion the Beas languished to its close, showing nothing out of

the common, and hardly meriting notice at all.

Reference may, however, be made to a sum of 351. paid for a copy of Lamb's 'Poetry for Children, London, 1809. It is said that only one other copy of this infantile production is known to exist, and I cannot help thinking that if Lamb had burnt the entire stock it would have been better for the purchaser. Now that attention has been called to the book further discoveries are almost certain to be made, and with the inevitable result.

Though the larger dispersions are more interesting to wealthy purchasers, there is much to be learnt from the smaller and less important sales, because it is from them that the popular fancy can most certainly be gauged. At the larger auctions bidders are apt to raise their prices, and frequently pay more than the normal value of what they buy, thus setting an example which more often than not proves contagious, and affects the humbler class of purchaser. From a comparison of the prices realized at these smaller auctions I draw the following conclusions; and if there is any reliance at all to be placed on such evidence, or any possibility of foretelling the course of events dependent upon mere caprice, then the truth should not be far distant.

Early printed books relating to America

steadily increasing in value and should still in

crease. The same remark applies to works printed in Scotland during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Art books are decreasing in value, the works of Ruskin, Hamerton, Turner, and a few others being exceptions, and it is predicted that they will fall still lower. Old English works

gives no authority; and in the absence of evi

dence for so strange a tale, the somewhat different account of the matter given by the Abbé Dancoisne in his 'Histoire des Etablissements Religieux Britanniques fondés à Douai,' &c., may be perhaps accepted as authentic.

At the armistice which preceded the peace of Amiens the proprietors of the college obtained restitution of the buildings by virtue of a letter from the Minister of Finances, dated September 17th, 1801. They then rented the college for a spinning factory, and finally, in 1834, ceded it to the State for the modest sum of 80,000 fr. The buildings are now used, as is well known, for an arsenal of artillery under the name of Grands Anglais."

"Les

As to the college which the English Benedictines possessed in the same town, it appears that by an ordinance of Louis XVIII., September 4th, 1816, all their property, movable and immovable (except what had been already sold, and the church of St. Gregory of which the ownership was a disputed point), was restored to Thomas Lawson, the former prior; and accordingly in 1818 the English Benedictines returned to their old quarters in the Rue St. Benoît.

What was the precise form in which compensation was made to the Scotch College I am unable to say, but it may reasonably be doubted

if any portion of the proceeds found its way to the Treasury or to the pockets of the creditors of George IV.

Literary Gossip.

T. G. LAW.

An authorized memoir of the life and

which derive their interest from typographical work of the late Mr. Laurence Oliphant is

considerations appear to be stationary, so are illustrated first editions of modern authors, such Ainsworth, Dickens, Lever, and Thackeray,

38

the probability being that these latter have at last reached the zenith of their fame and value. Old Bibles are, as usual, much sought after, but the prices paid are stationary. Books on witchcraft, magic, and kindred subjects realize high prices, and a few years hence will be difficult to procure at all, unless, indeed, Mr. Redway or some other astute purchaser cares to duplicate his stock while there is time and keep it under lock and key, for the benefit of the next generation. County histories and other topographical works are improving, so are treatises on

antiquarian subjects. Sporting books never

grow out of date, and, it may be added, never

sell for less than they are worth. First editions of modern authors which are not illustratedsuch, for instance, as the works of Byron and Scott-have, as a rule, been selling for a few shillings each, but a sharp upward tendency is clearly observable in them at last. I have had occasion to point to this class of work before as one of the best investments in the

market. They are still cheap and easily attainable, and will be valuable hereafter, though probably they will never be so eagerly sought after as the earliest editions of Shelley in their covers of green. J. H. SLATER.

DOUAI COLLEGE AND THE BRIGHTON PAVILION. Signet Library, Jan. 28, 1889.

THE review of Mr. Gillow's 'Haydock Papers' in the Atheneum of last week very justly calls for proof of the editor's statement that the money paid by France in 1815, by way of indemnity for the property lost by the English College at Douai, was not handed over to the rightful owners, but, on the ground that such property was devoted to "superstitious purposes," was spent by the British Government in paying off the debts incurred by the Prince of

Wales in building the Brighton Pavilion. This story is a current tradition among Roman

Catholics, and may be found in print in Weale's 'Handbook to Belgium' (1859), where the exact sum paid by the French to the British Government is set down at 90,000l. Mr. Weale also

to be undertaken under the superintendence of his widow, and in the mean time premature attempts at biographies, which must necessarily be imperfect or misleading, are deprecated by his representatives, who will be grateful for the co-operation of any of Mr. Oliphant's correspondents in their task. Copies or originals of any of Laurence Oliphant's letters will be received by Messrs. William Blackwood & Sons, 45, George Street, Edinburgh, and safely transmitted to Mrs. Rosamond Dale Oliphant.

THE two new volumes of Letters of Carlyle' which Prof. C. E. Norton has edited are mostly addressed to the various members of Carlyle's family, and afford a tolerably continuous account of his life from his marriage to the period when his fame was about to be established by the publication of his 'French Revolution.' Messrs. Macmillan are to publish them speedily.

'THE LIFE OF STEELE,' by Mr. G. A. Aitken, to which we referred some time ago, is now in the printer's hands, and will be published by Messrs. Isbister during the autumn. The work, which will be in two volumes, will contain, it is said, a large amount of fresh information, and will be illustrated by several unpublished portraits of Steele and his family.

MESSRS. CHAPMANN & HALL are about to publish a short work entitled 'Galileo and his Judges,' by Mr. F. R. Wegg Prosser. It is in reply to various criticisms on the case of Galileo.

Subsidy Rolls, the Episcopal Registers, and perhaps some of the principal parish registers in the county might be taken in hand. If two hundred subscribers will guarantee half a guinea each, Mr. Phillimore is prepared to an once undertake a quarterly series, to be styled the "Gloucester and Bristol Record Series," which shall give not fewer than two hundred pages annually in similar style to the "Index Library."

THE new edition of Mr. Wemyss Reid's 'Life of the Right Hon. W. E. Forster," which Messrs. Chapman & Hall are going to issue, is in one volume, and will contain additional matter and a new portrait.

MR. J. M. BARRIE, the author of 'Auld Licht Idylls,' is engaged upon a life of the late Mr. Russel, of the Scotsman, the most influential journalist of his day in Scotland. Mr. Barrie would be obliged by the loan of letters, which should be sent to him, 7, Furnival's Inn, E.C., and any other

aid.

MR. J. M. COWPER will have his fourth Canterbury register, viz., of St. Alphage, ready for the press in a few days. It will extend from A.D. 1558 to 1800.

MRS. OLIPHANT's new novel, 'Neighbours on the Green,' will be published immediately by Messrs. Macmillan & Co.

THE 'English-Persian Dictionary,' upon which Mr. A. N. Wollaston, C.I.E., has been for many years engaged, is rapidly approaching completion, and will be published by Messrs. Allen & Co. in the course of the present year.

MR. DU MAURIER has just finished the illustrations for the édition de luxe of Mr. F. C. Philips's 'As in a Looking-Glass,' which is to be issued in March by Messrs. Ward & Downey.

'THE WYVERN MYSTERY,' a novel written many years ago by the late Sheridan Le Fanu, and published in three volumes, will shortly be issued in a single volume, with illustrations by Mr. Brinsley Le Fanu, a son

of the author of Uncle Silas.' It is the

only one of Le Fanu's novels which has not been reprinted.

MR. EBSWORTH is at work on the preface and index to the sixth volume of the Roxburgh Ballads. The index is especially full. Ar the general meeting of London and provincial newspaper proprietors held on Monday, Mr. Edward Lawson in the chair, the committee submitted a report regarding the new Act, and presented a statement of accounts, showing that it had a balance still in hand of over 461. After the formal adoption of the committee's report, discussions took place upon the various subjects mentioned in the circular convening the meeting, and a resolution was passed "That this meeting, whilst of opinion that the new Act should receive a fair trial before further legislation is attempted, reaffirms the principles embodied in clauses 5 and 7 of the Libel Bill as introduced into Parliament by Sir Algernon Borthwick." It was also resolved to form a permanent association, and the Libel Law Reform Committee was reappointed, with instructions to prepare a scheme for the formation of its Association. An adjourned meeting of the conference will be held at a future date to receive the

MR. W. P. PHILLIMORE, editor of the "Index Library," proposes to publish a series of "Gloucester and Bristol Records." Mr. Phillimore will begin with the calendars of wills at Gloucester and Bristol, the marriage licences at Gloucester, and the 'Feet of Fines,' such as those printed by Mr. Walter Rye for Norfolk. Later on, the Gloucestershire Inquisitiones post mortem, the | report of the committee.

MESSRS. BELL & BRADFUTE, of Edinburgh, ❘ chemistry they mostly seem ignorant, they

have arranged for the immediate publication of a handbook to the new Local Government Bill for Scotland, upon its becoming law, by Mr. William George Black. Mr. Black is author of 'Local Government in Scotland, The Parochial Ecclesiastical Law of Scotland,' and other works, and has been for several years a member of the Parliamentary Bills Committee of the Commissioners of Supply for Lanarkshire. An article on the Law of Libel Amendment Act of 1888, by Mr. W. F. Finlason, editor of Reeves's 'History of English Law,' will appear in the new edition of the Newspaper Press Directory.

MISS FANNY FOWKE is to edit the enlarged edition of Miss F. Davenport Hill's 'Children of the State' which Messrs. Macmillan are going to publish.

MESSRS. FIELD & TUER write :

"A correspondent in last week's Atheneum who is certainly justified in asking for an explanation-wishes to know how it is that 'Kensington: Picturesque and Historical,' published by subscription at 28s. 6d., can now be had at a bookseller's for the same price, although the prospectus stated that the published price after the subscription list closed would be 45s. He further asks how the stores were able to take orders for this book at 27s., and how at least one bookseller is now selling copies at a trifle less than the subscribed price. The explanation is

this. For the trouble of sending out prospectuses

and booking orders we allowed booksellers and the stores a special (very small) commission from the subscribers' price of 28s. 6d. One of them, with a reputation for cheapness, took a shilling off, another followed with eighteenpence, and the mischief was done. Before the subscription list was closed some of the booksellers, including wholesale houses in the Row, speculatively subscribed for a certain number of copies, and it is these which are now being offered at 28s. 6d, and by cutting booksellers at even a slightly lower rate. So long as they remain undisposed of we are helpless; but the copies still in our hands being very few in number and the type distributed, 'Kensington' will eventually be raised by us to a much higher figure than the published price of 45s. The proof copies, over which there was no speculating, are now at a heavy premium. The terms of publication were the result of much deliberation, and it

was only

when too late that the one weak spot was discovered. Should we ever publish another book by subscription, a clause will be inserted in the prospectus to the effect that every order must be accompanied by name and address of subscriber, and that orders from booksellers for stock, except on the usual trade terms based on the full published price, will be declined."

THE Sussex Express, published at Lewes, has been purchased of the executors of the late Mr. W. E. Baxter by a limited company. The negotiations and valuations were arranged by Mr. W. Wellsman, of Messrs. C. Mitchell & Co.

THE philosophical writer Eduard von Hartmann will shortly issue a politico-historical work under the title of 'Zwei Jahrzehnte Deutscher Politik und die Gegenwärtige Weltlage.'

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could not draw, and the examiner in geo-
graphy seems to be almost the only one who
appears to be able to report favourably. Out
of forty-nine candidates but eight obtained
certificates.

AN "investigation" into the administra-
tion of the Civil List pensions for the last
fifty years has been completed for the com-
mittee of the Incorporated Society of Authors
by Mr. W. Morris Colles. The list, giving
the reasons for each grant and the amount,
has been reprinted with some comments and
suggestions, and will appear in a few days
under the title 'Literature and the Pension
List.'

MR. NIMMO is going to publish a photographic facsimile reprint of 'Immerito,' the original edition of Spenser's 'Shepheardes Calender,' printed by Hugh Singleton, London, 1579. Dr. O. Sommer will edit it and contribute an introduction.

L'ABBÉ HENRY HYVERNAT, professor at the Papal University at Rome, and author of a splendid work on Coptic palæography just published, has started for a literary tour in the East before settling at Washington, where he has been invited to take the Professorship of Biblical Archæology in the Catholic University. It will, perhaps, be of interest to our readers to see the following

extract from a letter written to one of our

correspondents, dated Djesireh Ibn Omar,

December 14th, 1888:

"Nous voici, mon compagnon l'Abbé Muller
et moi, à la fin de notre cinquième mois de
voyage. Nous nous sommes rendus à Constanti-
nople par Vienne. Après quinze jours de séjour
dans la capitale du puissant empire ottoman,
nous avons filé sur Tiflis par Batoum et Kutaïs.
Nous avons parcouru tout le Caucase dans sa
plus grande largeur de Vladi Caucase à Djoulfa.
Ace dernier point nous avons franchi la fron-
tière de Perse, avec l'intention de nous rendre
à Talmas et à Ourmi, pour aller ensuite à Van
par le Hakiari et revenir plus tard en Perse afin
de visiter Tauriz, Teheran, Hamedan et Kirman-
chah, d'où nous devions nous diriger sur Baghdad.
Il en a été autrement. A Van nous avons,
malgré nos lettres vizirielles, été pris pour des
espions, qui disait de la Russie, qui disait du
Pane
Pape, pour soulever les arméniens. Il en est
résulté un retard de quatre semaines et demie,
qui a été fatal au parfait accomplissement de ma
mission. Car la neige est arrivée et nous a
fermé l'accès de plus d'une inscription inconnue
jusqu'alors. Je reviens néanmoins avec une
dizaine de photographies d'inscriptions, pas mal
d'observations topographiques et géologiques,
quelques monnaies anciennes et plusieurs
giles de premier ordre à cause des miniatures
qu'il contient. Pour nous rendre à Djesireh
Ibn Omar, d'où je vous écris, nous avons con-
tourné la partie septentrionale du lac, par
Ardjiche, Aklat et Tadwan, toujours dans la
neige. Le Trojet de Bitlis ici a été des plus

manuscrits, dont un MS. arménien des évan

pénibles à cause des horribles montagnes qu'il
faut franchir et de l'inclémence du temps.

Mais, Dieu merci, nous sommes tous les deux
aussi bien portants qu'au jour de notre
départ. Nous nous
Moussel, Baghdad, Basra, Bombay, l'Égypte

et la Palestine."

rendons maintenant à

M. BOURGET's friends are a little astonished

to find him writing in the Vie Parisienne
on the lightest subjects in that which is
politely called the lightest style-at any rate,
general report attributes the articles to M.
Bourget.

To the already large number of books on

Dickens will shortly be added a French work, entitled 'L'Inimitable Boz: Etude Historique et Anecdotique sur la Vie et l'Euvre de Charles Dickens,' by M. Robert du Pontavice de Heussey. It will be illustrated with portraits and engravings.

THE venerable Bishop of Funen, Dr. Christian Thorning Engelstoft, who died in his palace at Odense on the 24th of January, in his eighty-fourth year, besides being a prominent Churchman, has enriched Danish literature by a variety of works, chiefly in ecclesiology. He published a history of the city of Odense in 1862, and he was the first editor of the leading Church review in Denmark, the Theologisk Tidsskrift, which he founded in 1837. He has been Bishop of Funen since 1852, with the exception of a short interruption in 1864, when for six months he accepted the portfolio of a cabinet minister during the war with Germany.

In the January number of the German Magazin für das Ausland has appeared a translation by Mrs. Freiligrath Kroeker of Matthew Arnold's 'Heine's Grave.' This is the first attempt to render a poem of Mr. Arnold's into German.

THE Hebrew texts relating to the Ten Tribes in the Middle Ages to be found in MSS. and rare books, of which Dr. Neubauer makes use in his essay with the

title of Where are the Ten Tribes?' (Jewish Quarterly Review) will appear in the original in the next "Sammelband" of the Mekitze Nirdamim (Society for Publication of Hebrew Texts) at Berlin.

MESSRS. KERR & RICHARDSON, of Glasgow, are going to bring out 'A Complete Concordance to the Poems and Songs of Robert Burns,' compiled and edited by Mr. J. B. Reid. The words of the 'Concordance' number over 8,000; the quotations over 40,000.

THE second volume of the 'Marriages at St. George's, Hanover Square,' 1788 to 1809, which Mr. J. H. Chapman has just finished editing for the Harleian Society, contains the marriage of the late Duke of Sussex with the daughter of the fourth Earl of Dunmore, which was afterwards declared null and void; and that of the twelfth Earl of Derby with Miss Farran, besides many other entries of note.

THE deaths are announced of M. R. Saint

Hilaire, of the Sorbonne, well known by his writings on Spanish history, and of Dr. W. Schott, the Berlin Orientalist.

THE chief Parliamentary Papers of the week are Public Records, Forty-ninth Annual Report (38. 3d.); Royal College of Surgeons, Supplemental Charter, Correspondence (10d.); and Consular Report on the Trade of St. Petersburg for 1887 (3d.).

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