Page:Devon and Cornwall Queries Vol 9 1917.djvu/254

 196 Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries. of Ottevy St. Mary that it is said that Dr. Oliver " used to work in the Registry copying MSS. in pencil, to take home and re-copy for the Press ; but evidently he did not revise his proofs by the MSS. afterwards — a very dangerous omission." This explains the number of errors that have crept into the printed copies of the inventories. Among the 86 in the list published, there is one title wrongly given and the proof- words of the 2° folio in 17 cases are inaccurate. Dr. Craster thinks that all the MSS. now bound together were so bound in 1506, and he believes that Wood had access to no other information than that contained in the Bene- factor's Register when he gave the number of MSS. in the Exeter donation as 132 — this referring to the separate items as given in that list. He also says that the Grandisson Hebrew MSS. I mentioned were the gift of Sir Robert Cotton. Frances Rose-Troup. 164. John Mudge, Printer. — I have in my possession a leaflet issued by John Mudge, printer, of 3, Duke Street, Dock, apparently in the year 1814, in which he claims the right for all printers to print Acts of Parliament and sell them in competition with the King's printer. The particular Act in question was one for " Lighting, &c. the Town of Dock," which was passed in the year specified. The leaflet seems to be a particularly impudent production, for it bears the Royal Arms, which Mudge was certainly not entitled to use (whatever justice there might be in his general claim), and it is headed " Under Royal Patronage," which is almost certainly a false statement. Further, it has the misleading description of himself as " Printer to the King," followed in small letters by " and all his loyal Subjects." I have not been able to find any reference to this Mudge or his work, and he does not seem to have been connected with the well- known Mudge family, but such sublime impudence as is shown in this leaflet would augur well for his success in business. The whole leaflet is as follows : — [Royal Arms.] under royal patronage. Every Individual who has perused an Advertisement, stating that no one but the King's Printer can print Acts of Parliament, may have been (if they ever were so inclined) led to purchase an Abstract of the Act for " Lighting, &c. the Town of Dock " ; and have been also told