Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 2.djvu/320

 NOTES AND QUERIES. cio- s. n. OCT. i, 1904.

KING'S CLASSICAL AND FOREIGN QUOTATIONS.

THIRD EDITION. 6s. net.

We have to announce a new edition of this Dictionary. It first appeared at the end of '87, and was quickly disposed of. A larger (and corrected) issue came out in the spring of 1889, and is now out of print. The Third, published on July 14, contains a large accession of important matter, in the way of celebrated historical and literary sayings and mots, much wanted to bring the Dictionary to a more complete form, and now appearing in its pages for the first time. On the other hand, the pruning knife has been freely used, and the excisions are numerous. A multitude of trivial and superfluous items have thus been cast away wholesale, leaving only those citations which were worthy of a place in a standard work of reference. As a result, the actual number of quotations is less, although it is hoped that the improve- ment in quality will more than compensate for the loss in quantity. The book has, in short, been not only revised, but rewritten throughout, and is not so much anew edition as a new work. It will be seen also that the quotations are much more "raconte's" than before, and that where any history, story, or allusion attaches to any particular saying, the opportunity for telling the tale has not been thrown away. In this way what is primarily taken up as a book of reference, may perhaps be retained in the hand as a piece of pleasant reading, that is not devoid at times of the elements of humour and amusement. One other feature of the volume, and perhaps its most valuable one, deserves to be noticed. The previous editions professed to give not only the quotation, but its reference ; and. although performance fell very far short of promise, it was at that time the only dictionary of the kind published in this country that had been compiled with that definite aim in view. In the present case no citation with the exception of such unaffiliated things as proverbs, maxims, and mottoes has been admitted without its author and passage, or the "chapter and verse " in which it may be found, or on which it is founded. In order, however, not to lose altogether, for want of identification, a number of otherwise deserving sayings, an appendix of Adespota is supplied, con- sisting of quotations which either the editor has failed to trace to their source, or the paternity of which has not been satisfactorily proved. There are four indexes Authors and authorities, Subject index, Quotation index, and index of Greek passages. Its deficiencies notwithstanding, ' Classical and Foreign Quotations ' has so far remained without a rival as a polyglot manual of the world' s famous sayings in one pair of covers and of moderate dimensions, and its greatly improved qualities should confirm it still more firmly in public use and estimation.

" In its third edition, which has been revised and rewritten, the present work is, in its line, the best available. It has been exposed during recent years to formidable competition, yet it maintains up till now its supremacy. The work of a

good scholar, it is thoroughly trustworthy as regards its classical quotations, in which, indeed, it approaches perfection

We can bear the tribute that, apart from its value as a book of reference, the work leads us on to sustained perusal. When once we dip into it we are scarcely able to lay it down." Notes and Queries.

" Is a thoroughly trustworthy collection, and the best single volume of its kind That admirable book, with which

ranks ' Chi 1* ha detto ? ' the Italian collection we noticed the other day, has passed through over twenty editions. We wish Mr. King similar success, for scholarly works of this kind are so rare that they ought to secure a wide circulation when once their worth begins to be recognized." Athenaeum.

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