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NOTES AND QUERIES. [10* s. in. FEB. 25, 1905.

cember, 1676. The first of these entries relates presumably to the author of 'Liber Valorum et Decimarum.' H. C.

' CARENTINILLA. " (10 th S. iii. 108). I am able now to add the price of this fabric, which may throw some light on the question of its nature. In 1312-13 and 1314-15 it cost 3d. an ell. Q. V.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.

The Literature of the French Renaissance. By Arthur Tilley, M.A. 2 vols. (Cambridge, Uni- versity Press.)

IF the study of the literature of the Renaissance is more interesting and stimulating in France than elsewhere, the reason may be found in the violent hostility provoked in that country by the Refor- mation and the consequent persecution to which the thinker was subject. Nothing correspond- ing was visible in the same degree elsewhere. At a time when the Parlement and the Sor- bonne were burning men such as Dolet at the stake, Rome was the safest place in which a freethinker could take shelter. In Spain the trumpet blast of Reformation awoke no echoes, the intellectual Hfe of the country having been stifled by a system of scientific and continuous persecution. In Germany the boldest innovators found influential protectors, while the victims of " bloody " Mary consisted rather of the humble and the pious than of the learned and the wise.

In France meanwhile the strife between leaguer andHuguenotaboundswithpicturesqueandstriking episodes. Before the opposing sides were definitely formed the leaders of revolt in France had a sufficiently hard time. Some were put to death ; others committed suicide ; others, again, betook themselves to exile. Rabelais even, the greatest of all, owed his safety to the protection of patrons such as the Du Bellays and to the special favour of Francis I. It is interesting and saddening to trace the fate of the separate members of that brilliant party that met at Liguge. In place, then, of pleasant discussions concerning the humanists, we have to study the actions of men between whom and death interposed little except the protection of the Court (itself not too secure) of Navarre.

Upon the literary aspects of this thrilling epoch, and upon the writings of the principal poets, essayists, philosophers, satirists, moralists, &c., Mr. Tilley, the Lecturer at King's College, Cam- bridge, has written a comprehensive, serviceable, and erudite work, which the student may read with pleasure and will turn to with advantage. The circumstances under which the task was executed, and the sources of obligation, are stated in a preface, which the student will naturally con- sult. Beginning with the accession of Francis I., the work ends with Regnier and Malherbe, 1555-1628, thus covering virtually a century. Early chapters are devoted to Francis and his Court ; to Humanism, the leading spirit in which is Bude, the friend of Erasmus, born in the same year, the reviver of Greek learning, founder of the College de France and the Bibliotheque du Roi ;

and to the moulding of the language. It opens out with Clement Marot and his predecessor Cretin. Jean Marot, Coquillart, and Octavien (or, as Mr. Tilley prefers to call him, Octovien) de Saint-Gelais, the series of literary judgments which constitutes the most attractive portion of the work.

The school of Marot occupies a separate chapter, after which we reach Margaret of Navarre, who supplies, perhaps, the best portion of the book. Rabelais, Montaigne, and the Pleiade are naturally the subjects of chapters, and there is in the second volume a short but useful summary of the Renais- sance theatre, drawn from the tragedies of Jodelle- and the comedies (virtually translations) of Pierre Larivey, with a separate reference to tragi-comedy, the earliest instance of which is advanced in the ' Celestina ' of Fernando de Rojas, the longest of Spanish plays. In his ' Apology ' Sidney speaks of the "mungrell Tragy-comedie." We have closely studied a work which covers one of the most interesting epochs in the history of human thought, and have marked unavailingly scores of passages- for comment. Small opportunity for censure is afforded, though there are some pardonable academic strictures upon licences of speech, which in their own time were not regarded as such. In. the case of Rabelais, sufficient allowance is scarcely made for the fact that coarseness of speech was employed principally as a defensive measure, and was, like the guffaw of the clown, used to disguise or reduce to no importance the sagest and most pregnant utterances of the day. To Christie's great work on Dolet the best contribution in its way of any Englishman to French literature full justice is done. A very pleasant picture is afforded of Margaret of Navarre, whose attitude towards religion is said to have been very similar to that of the mass of English people at the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth. The work is excellent in all respects, and its contents are rendered generally accessible by a good index. Considering the large number of entries, a remarkable amount of space is devoted to the minor writers with whom the epoch swarms. We knowno other work, English or French, which gives within the same space so much service- able information. Most of the early French writers have been edited in the "Bibliotheque Elzevirienne" or in other forms. There are still some, however, to whom access is not easy. Mr. Tilley's work commends itself warmly to the- scholar.

Early Scottish Charters prior to A.D. 1153. Col- lected, with Notes and an Index, by Sir Archibald C. Lawrie. (Glasgow, MacLehose & Sons.) THE early Scottish charters granted before the death of David, " the good king," popularly known as "the saint," are mostly accessible in the pub- lications of the Scottish printing clubs, Dugdale, and such institutions as the Surtees Society and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Alone or in conjunction with the Maitland Club the Banna- tyne Club issued very many. Sir Archibald puts their number at 134. From various sources the present editor has collected no fewer than 271 charters, some of them printed for the first time. On the value of these it is needless to- insist. They constitute the chief source of in- formation we possess concerning Scottish history before feudal customs were virtually established by David I. Beginning with ' The Book of Deer,' the discovery of which in I860) sent a thrill to the-