Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/267

 10 s. XIL SEPT. 11, im] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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reproductions of some 260 book-stamps, with the blazon below, and to each is added an interesting genealogical note as to the personality of the owner. The book-stamps are those of book-lovers of all sorts and conditions. There are many royal book-stamps of various periods, and samples of those used by many great families, and among them will be found archbishops, doctors, clergymen, and City gentlemen ; indeed, not a few of those portrayed belong to the humble book-loving esquire.

Among the most interesting of the book-plates are those of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. and his

Sieens, Anne Bullen and Catherine of Aragon ; eorge I. ; Hugh Boscawen ; Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester ; Lucy, Earl of Sussex ; Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester ; and Sir Robert Nauntoh. The last-named gentleman has a book-stamp full of bezants bearing a Hebrew cipher in one quarter.

The blazoning appears generally to be correct, though thearms of Hutchinson (p. 238) seem wrongly described, and the blazon of J. Wright appears in error ; and in the case of Thomas Tash (p. 366) one of the escallops is missing in chief. The supporters of the second Earl Spencer are not delineated in accordance with their blazon.

Dispersed among the book-stamps reproduced occur interesting memoranda as to the various alterations in the royal arms, and the different binders employed by royalty during the period when book-stamps prevailed ; and the volume is completed by ample and accurate indexes both to the introduction on the laws of heraldry, and the book-stamps and their owners.

The author appeals to his readers to provide him with materials tor a second volume, and we trust that those who are interested in the subject will send him the necessary rubbings to complete one. It will be very welcome if it proves as good as the present instalment. We suggest that he might obtain rubbings of the book-stamps in use by our great public schools and colleges.

Among the rare heraldic animals which will be found depicted in this book we notice " a lion with tail nowed " in the stamp of Campbell, Earl Cawdor; "an extended wyvern" (p. 339), "a griffin segreant" (p. 325), and "a lion dechausse" (p. 277).

The simplicity of the oldest and best coats is very noticeable. A plain bend-or was the subject of litigation for years between the Scropes of Bolton and the Grosvenor family, while the De Veres, Earls of Oxford, bore a single mullet only. Harley, Earl of Oxford, has but a bend cottised, and Nevill of Raby a single saltire, all of these coats of arms being found within Mr. Davenport's pages.

We would add that the book is beautifully printed on the best of paper ; such details are, however, only expected from an authority with the taste and knowledge of Mr. Davenport.

The National Revieio is as pungent as ever in its survey of current politics, and loud in condemnation of Sir John Fisher. Mr. W. J. Courthope will have the sympathy of many in his criticism of ' Party Government and the Empire.' It is, we believe, increasingly felt that the Party System has ceased to be an effective means of government in this country. Mr. Herbert Ives has an interesting sub- ject in ' George Borrow in Russia.' This is the only literary article with the exception of that by Mr. George Hookham on ' The Shakespearean Problem,'

which we cannot take seriously. It is difficult to- believe that Mr. Hookham has a proper mastery of the literature of the subject. Mr. W. Roberts has an interesting account with some statistics of the ' Modern French Pictures ' which have of late years reached such high prices. Sir Home Gordon indulges in strong denunciation in 'Lessons of the Test Matches.' Agreeing with his main conclusions, we think that he certainly underrates the capabilities- of the Australian side. Their first batsmen are- easily above ours, and their bowling does not call for contempt. In ' The Craze for Nursing Homes ' Mrs. Harris makes a strong attack against doctors who are said to recommend such institutions for their own profit. 'A Sinner against Light 'is an amusing account of a visit to an up-to-date estab- lishment in which co-education is the rule. Sir George Arthur in 'Lord Kitchener in India' tells us briefly and clearly what has been achieved by our chief master of military organization.

IN The Nineteenth Century Mr. Sidney Low's article on ' Matrimony and the Man of Letters ' has already been widely quoted, and is a clever exposition of facts pretty well known. At the same time Mr. Sidney Low is hardly fair in his brief list of authors and their wives. Dr. Johnson was happy with his Tetty. Why not say so? What Mr. Low or anybody else thinks or thought of her is less to the point. In ' His Parochial Majesty' Mr. P. D. Kenny (well known as "Pat" in another quarter) brings a severe indictment against the priesthood of Ireland. Unfortunately, we are led by abundant evidence to believe that he has a good case. ' The Wings of War,' by Mr. H. F. Wyatt, contemplates the time when flying machines have made an army and a navy of little use. The writer's hyperbolical statement of future war does not appeal to us. M. Andre Beaunier has a brilliant and crushing summary in French of ' L'Art Francais Contemporain.' Anarchy, it appears, reigns everywhere except in sculpture, where Rodin is regarded as a demigod and produces ugly, distorted figures. The guidance of some new strong spirit is urgently needed. In painting those- who pretend to be original are no better than the old school. Mrs. Alfred Lyttelton has a pleasant summary of some points in 'The Book of Lismore.' An article like this on a publication well known only to scholars is decidedly useful. Mr. Pett Ridge is clever and impressive, too, in his ' Virtues of the Londoner.' It appears that the denizens of the great city are nothing like so given to insolence and Bacchus as they used to be. 'The George Junior Republic,' by Mrs. Rose Barran, is to us the most interesting of practical articles that we have seen for some time. Mr. George has developed " a great American institution for reclaiming boys and girls who, from the viciousness of their surroundings or other causes, have made a bad start in their life's journey." The members of the republic, for such it is, are self-governing, make their own laws, and arrange their own punishments. Even rich parents send their sons and daughters to this republic, if they are beyond control, a fee being taken from those who can afford it. The " G. J.R." makes excellent bread, which is sold to the public, and each citizen has a cheque-book, available in the Republic only, instead of coin. Everybody is made to work. Imprisonment is a serious matter, the prison rules being very strict. This remarkable institution was started in 1895, arid already a National Association of Junior Republics has been