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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. i. APRIL ao, 1904.

anticipated. Since Wood's day the condition attending genealogical investigation have changed Nothing in the way of printing or calendaring publi or private records had then been done, and th writers had to forage as they could among ill arranged and unindexed collections. What advancj has been made in these matters in recent years i known to all, and especially to students of ou columns. During the last half century have appearec ' The Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, ' The Register of the Great Seal,' ' The Exchequer Rolls,' 'The Privy Council Registers,' and 'The Lord High Treasurer's Accounts.' To these must be added the publications of the Bannatyne, Maitland and fepalding Clubs. About one-fourth has been added to the matter contained in Wood's Douglas As the task of revising and ordering the whole of the information was too much for one man, the greater portion of whose lifetime it might well occupy, and as, moreover, the need for a new edition was urgent and imperative, it has been entrusted to a syn- dicate presided over by the most accurate and authoritative of Scottish antiquaries. There is, indeed, no work of the class more necessary and none likely to be so welcome. The aim is, of course, primarily genealogical, historical detail being neces- sarily subordinate. To the historian, however, the work also appeals, and its conclusions will be eagerly anticipated by all concerned in the study of both subjects. Fulness of reference has been a special aim, and the peerage seems likely in this respect to set a notable example. Vol. i., which, after the preliminary portion dealing with the Kings of Scotland, begins with Abercorn, Hamil- ton, Earl of, ends with Balmerino, Elphinstone, Lord ; a second volume is in the press, and the whole, which is to be in six volumes, will be issued with all the rapidity reconcilable with thoroughness of workmanship. The illustrations form a striking and important feature. A richly coloured plate of the arms of the Kings of Scotland constitutes a frontispiece ; full-page achievements are furnished of the arms of sixteen peers. Other heraldic designs are numerous.

It is interesting to find that the cost of the work, which is issued in a limited edition and is brought up to date, would have been almost prohibitive but for the assistance furnished by our former friend and contributor Sir William Fraser, K.C.B., who left a sum of money to be spent in printing works elucidatory of the history of Scotland. It must not, however, be sup- posed that the sum in question was sufficient to cover the entire outlay, or does much to lessen the obligation due to the enterprise of the publisher. In the opening portion, on the Kings of Scot- land, the point of departure is Malcolm III., Ceannmor, c. 1031-93, the record closing with the Cardinal Duke of York, the last male of his line, who died 13 July, 1807. All concerned with this fine production are to be congratulated on its inception, and the execution so far as it has gone, and scholars generally will not hesitate to acknow- ledge their obligation.

Great Masters. Part XV. (Heinemann.) FOR ' The Rest on the Flight into Egypt ' of Lucas Cranach, from the Berlin Museum, it is claimed that though the artist was a manufacturer who turned out pictures as a cobbler turns out boots, this work, painted in 1504, when he was thirty-two years old, is his masterpiece. It has but recently passed from

a private collection into its present home, and is, perhaps, the most notable acquisition of the Museum during recent years. From the Louvre comes Leonardo's ' Mona Lisa,' ordinarily known, by a name Gabriele d'Annunzio has once more brought into celebrity, as ' La Gioconda.' The expression, half pleased, half amused, of this lovely portrait is wonderfully reproduced, and the work constitutes one of the gems of the series. Another recent acquisition of the Berlin Museum is ' The Farm ' of Adriaen Van de Velde, dated 1666. It is a thoroughly characteristic picture, the trees in which are beauti- fully painted. Before them the animal figures, which are, however, much praised, seem insignificant. Raeburn's portrait of Mrs. Hart comes from Major Hotchkis's collection. It was painted in the nine teenth century, its date being about 1810, and so is outside the general scheme of the series. Few will complain that the directors have stretched a point in order to include it.

CASSELL'S "National Library," which has been much improved in shape and appearance, opens with a cheap, pretty, and handy little edition of George Eliot's Silas Mamer, with an introduction by Stuart jr. Reid, and a reproduction of Sir Frederick Burton's portrait of the author from the National Portrait Gallery.

BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES.

IF the April catalogues are any indication as to )laint of depression. Fresh lists are constantly >eing received by us, and most of them contain many books exceedingly valuable and rare, requir- ng those desirous of possessing them to be provided ,vith a well-filled purse.
 * he condition of trade, there should be no com-

Mr. Blackwell, of Oxford, has two lists of heological works, the first chiefly English, and he second foreign. The prices are moderate, but among the more expensive are 'Chrysostomi Opera 3mnia,' 26 vols. in 13, royal 8vo, half- vellum, 1839, 01. 10s. ; ' Brentii Opera,' Tubingse, 1576-90, 51. 5s. ; Salmeronis Opera,' 1606-15, 3/. 3s. ; Melancththon, Brunswick, 1851-80, 28 vols. 4to, 51. ; and Erasmus, 540. There are two Hone of the fifteenth and six- eenth centuries.

Those seeking works relating to Scotland will do rell to consult the list of Mr. Richard Cameron, f Edinburgh. Among many items referring to cottish burgh records, market crosses, scenery, nd music printers will be found ' Acts of the 'arliament of Scotland,' 1224-1707, 12 vols. folio, 1. 10s. ; Scots Magazine, complete, 97 vols., 1739- 826, W. 10s.; a set of The Ten Pounder, 1832; Spottiswoode Miscellany'; Drummond's 'Ancient cottish Weapons ' ; and a set of Constable's Miscel- any, the 80 vols. for 21. 15s. Among the trials is hat of James Mackoull for robbing the Paisley >.ank of 50,OOOZ. in 1811.

Mr. James Coleman, of Tottenham, has a mixed atalogue of manuscripts and printed books, early >ourt and Rent Rolls, charters, printed pedigrees, nd old wills. There are some curious deeds relat- to London, comprising one with reference to and in Walbrook in 1659; another (1712) as to the anding-place at Fauxhall, in Lambeth ; an account f lands given to St. Giles, Cripplegate, 1642; a eed between the Governors of the Grey Coat lospital, Tothill Fields, and Thomas Cooper, of t. John's, Westminster, 1756 ; and a lithographic