Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 9.djvu/394

 310 NOTICES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS. title of The HeimskriDgla, or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, in three volumes, 8vo. These contain much relating to the manners and customs in early times, wherein a British antiquary must necessarily feel concerned ; for, though the history is professedly that of another people, occasionally it narrates or alludes to events, which occurred in the British islands ; and besides, from the known intimate connection, during a long period, of the Northmen with Britain, it may well be assumed that whatever illustrates the mode of life and the practices of the ancient Scandinavians may like- wise afford some idea respecting those of our own ancestors : and a peculiarity of the Icelandic Sagas is, that they comprise biographies of conspicuous individuals, kings or others, rather than strictly national records. We have been desirous to recall attention to the architectural monuments of the North, first noticed by Mr. Laing, in the hope that increased facilities of communication may encourage a more detailed investigation of those in- teresting remains. It is gratifying to learn that a distinguished member of the Institute, long known by his taste for architectural researches. Sir Charles Anderson, has devoted the past summer to a tour in Norway, and we hope that the results of his explorations, lately brought before the Lincolnshire Architectural Society, may at length call the notice of anti- quaries to the singular character and remote antiquity of the curious wooden structures existino- in Scandinavia. REMAINS OF PAGAN SAXONDOM, PRINCIPALLY FROM TUMULI IN ENGLAND. Described and Illustrated by John Yo.nge Akerman, Seer. Soc. Ant. London : J. Russell Smith, 1852. 4to. Parts I. and II. (By subscription). On a former occasion we invited the notice of Archaeologists to the an- nouncement of a work which may justly claim their cordial encouragement. The period which it is specially destined to illustrate is one of considerable obscurity, although numerous materials exist in private collections sufficing to present a series of examples unequalled, probably, by any European museum. Mr. Akerman has undertaken the publication of the most re- markable relics of that important period, displayed with the greatest pos- sible accuracy and artistic skill. The attractive coloured plates in the two parts already produced, present the assurance that this valuable work will supply a desideratum in archaeological literature, with a degree of perfection and beauty of execution unequalled even by the admirable publication (" Abbildungen von Mainzer Alterthiimern ") recently commenced in Germany by the brothers Lindenschmidt of Mayence. We hope to notice more fully on a future occasion the praiseworthy labours of Mr. Akerman. The parts already before us comprise several jewelled ornaments from Wilt- shire and Suffolk ; a glass vase, of most singular fashion, from Reculver ; the exquisite fibula found near Abingdon, exhibited in the museum of the Institute, at Bristol, through the kindness of the President of Trinity College, and now in the British iluseum ; and, lastly, a fictile urn — likewise in the National Collection, recently enriched by many valuable relics. We hope that Mr. Akerman will meet with that warm encouragement to which his spirited project is so fully entitled, and we regret to learn that the number of subscribers is hitherto wholly inadequate to meet the risks of so costly an enterprise.