Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 1.djvu/34

 NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. i. JAN. 9, 1901.

The British Museum purchased at the Dawson Turner sale the manuscript of Capt. Manby's 'Reminiscences.'

ALECK ABRAHAMS.

39, Hillmarton Road, N.

NATHANAEL CARPENTER'S 'GEOGRAPHY DELINEATED,' 1625.

FOR the sake of bibliographical accuracy, it may be as well that I should here reproduce the exact wording of the title page :

"Geography Delineated Forth in Two Bookes. Containing The Sphsericall And Topicall Parts Thereof. By Nathanael Carpenter Fellow of Exceter Colledge in Oxford. Ecclesiast. I. One generation commeth, and another goeth, but the Earth re- maineth for euer. (Printer's ornament.] Oxford, Printed by lohn Lichfield and William Tvrner, Printers to the Famous Vniversity, for Henry Cripps. An. Dom. 1625."

From this it will be seen that the work is divided into two books, and, I may add, with separate title-pages. The first book is dedi- cated "To the Right Honovrable William, Earle of Pembroke, Lord Chamberlaine," and the second book " To the Right Honovrable Philip, Earle of Montgomery," the "Incom- parable Paire of Brethren," to whom Shake- speare's Folio of 1623 is dedicated. In addition, the first named is supposed to have been the "Mr. W. H." of Shakespeare's ' Sonnets.' He died in 1630, -when he was succeeded in the title by his brother Philip, and, notwithstanding, Carpenter retains the dedications in the edition of 1635 exactly as they appeared in the edition of ten years before. In the edition of 1635 the author has a metrical address "To my Booke"; but as my copy of the first edition is slightly imperfect, I am in consequence not in a position to say whether the lines are common to both. I extract the following ; but, with this exception, all the quotations given below are from the edition of 1625 : Goe forth thou haplesse Embrion of my Braine, Vnfashion'd as thou art ; expresse the straine And language of thy discontented Sire, Who hardly ransom'd his poore Babe from fire, To offer to the world and carelesse men The timelesse fruits of his officious pen. Thou art no louely Darling, stampt to please The lookes of Greatnesse ; no delight to ease Their melancholy temper, whoreiect As idle toyes but what themselues affect. No lucky Planet darted forth his Rayes To promise loue vnto thy infant-dayes : Thou maist perhaps be merchandize for slaues, Who sell their Authors wits and buy their graues: Thou maist be censur'd guilty of that blame, Which is the Midwifes fault, the Parent's shame: Thou maist be talke for Tables, vs'd for sport At Tauerne-meetings, pastime for the Court : Thou maist be torne by their malicious phangs, Who nere were taught to know a Parents pangs.

I may mention that the edition of 1635 is stated on the title-page to be " The Second Edition Corrected."

A work of this kind does not afford much in the way of quotation ; but there are a few passages which may fitly find a place in these pages. Here is a pleasant reference to Columbus (book i. p. 9) :

" Especially of Columbus the Italian, who (as one wittily alluding to his name) like Noah's Doue plucking an oliue branch from this Land, gaue tes- timony of a portion of Land as yet vnknown, and left naked vnto discouery. And no question can be made, but a great quantity of land, not yet detected by our European Navigators, awaites the industry of this age. To which alludes the Poet in these verses (Seneca in ' Medea,' Act II.) : In after yeares shall Ages come. When th' Ocean shall vnloose the bands Of things, and shew vast ample lands ; New Worlds by Sea-men shall be found, Nor Thule be the vtmost bound."

The next reference is to the distinguished Sir Henry Savile, and a very pleasant little bit of personal history it is (book i. p. 143) :

" Here I cannot but remember a merry answer of that great Atlas of Arts, Sir Henry Sauile in the like question. Being once invited vnto his Table, and hauingentred into some familiar discourses con- cerning Astronomicall suppositions : I asked him what he thought of the Hypothesis of Copernicus, who held the Sunne to stand fixt, and the Earth to be subiect to a Triple Motion : His answere was ; he cared not which were true, so the Apparences were solued, and the accompt exact : sith each way either the old of Ptolomy, or the new of Copernicus, would indifferently serue an Astronomer : Is it not all one (saith he) sitting at Dinner, whether my Table be brought to me, or I goe to my Table, so I eat my meat ? "

It is not much in itself ; but I cannot help transcribing the following (book i. p. 167) :

" It is written of that learned man Erasmus Roterodamus, that hauing scene 50 yeares, he was delighted so much with these Geographicall Mappes, that vndertaking to write Comments on the Acts of the Apostles, he had alwayes in his eye those Tables, where he made no small vse for the finding out of the site of such places whereof he had occasion to treate."

And then follows this rather bitter reflec- tion by our author :

"And it were to be wished in these dayes, that yong Students insteed of many apish and ridiculous pictures, tending many times rather to ribaldry, then any learning, would store their studies with such furniture."

I may quote here another of our author's reflections (book i. p. 93) :

' To these haue associated themselues another sort, more to be regarded, as more learned; the Critickes (I meane) of our Age, who like Popes or Dictatours, haue taken vpon them an Vniuersall authority to censure all which they neuer vnder- stood. Had these men contained themselues iu