Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 1.djvu/171

 ii s. i. FEB. 26, i9io.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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in 1838 Mr. Wanklyn was at 36A. He was still there in 1839, with no one in either year (till the latter part of the second) at 36 ; but in 1840 we have " 36A, Mr. Wanklyn ; 36, Sir E. Bulwer." The novelist, who had been made a baronet in 1838, had thus returned to his old house, but only for a short time, during which period he did not publish any fresh romance ; though since ' Kienzi ' in 1835 he had published * Ernest Maltravers ' in 1837, and ' Alice,'- ' Leila,' and ' Calderon ' in 1838.

Boyle's ' Court Guide J for 1840 puts the two houses in their right order, but ' The Royal Blue Book ? reverses them ; and it was natural to suppose that 36 was next to 35, and 36A next to 37, though in reality it was not so.

In 1841, 1842, and 1843, we have ".36A, Mr. Wanklyn ; 36, Mr. Andrews " ; and both ' The Royal Blue Book ' and Boyle's ' Court Guide ' put them in the right order.

' The Post Office Directory * had its first Street Directory in 1841, but blundered by putting the two houses before mentioning the intersection of Hertford Street by Little Stanhope Street, as if both were to the west of that street. The blunder was repeated in 1842, but in 1843 it was partly corrected by putting the intersection by Little Stan- hope Street between the two houses ; but- then Mr. Andrews (36) was represented as living on the west side of Little Stanhope Street, and Mr. Wanklyn (36A) on the east, next to 37. That this was wrong is clear not only from the arrangement of the hovises in Boyle's * Court Guide ' and ' The Royal Blue Book,' but also from the fact that Mr. Andrews occupied his 36 at least according to ' The Post Office Directory ' right down to, and after, the time that the opposite house was made 3 5 A, which appeared for the first time in ' The Royal Blue Book,' Boyle's ' Court Guide,' and ' The Post Office Directory ' for 1861.

It is, therefore, certain that when Bulwer came to live in Hertford Street for the third time in 1843, and his address was given as 36A in the three works just named in their issues for 1844, 1845, and 1846, he was not in his old house, which was occupied by Mr. Andrews, but in the opposite one, just vacated by Mr. Wanklyn, who was living in, it when Bulwer occupied his old house in 1840. During his absence from Hertford Street he had published ' Night and Morning ' in 1841, and ' Zanoni * in 1842 ; whilst in 1843 though whether before or after he took up his residence at 36A I cannot say he published ' The Last of the Barons.'- In 1846, the year when he finally left the street,

he published ' Lucretia, 2 which was probably, therefore, written at 36A.

'The 'Royal Blue Book 2 for the three years 1844-6 placed the two houses in the right order, showing 36A (Bulwer) next to 35, and 36 (Andrews) next to 37 ; but ' The Post Office Directory l for all the three years, and Boyle's ' Court Guide ' for 1844 only, placed them in the wrong order, which was- enough to make any one who had not gone deeply into the matter suppose that Bulwer's old house, 36s, had now become 36A, and that he was living in it again, the old 36 A having become simply 36. It can safely be said, however, that 36s never became 36A, and that the real 36A was never simply 36 after it ceased to be so in 1823. In fact, the agents of the estate have told me that they have documentary evidence that 35A was formerly 3 6 A, and that it was certainly not 36 during an intermediate period.

It was in 1844, after the "death of his mother, and in consequence of her will, that. Sir Edward Bulwer added " Lytton n to his surname ; and Boyle's ' Court Guide * for 1845 gave him his new name, and corrected, its error abont the order of the houses by- putting first " 36A, Sir E. Lytton, n and them " 36, Mr. Andrews " ; but ' The Post Office Directory J continued to blunder, putting 36 (Andrews) before Little Stanhope Street in 1847 (when there appears to have been no one at 36A), and, strange to say, 35 on the opposite side, next to 37.

In 1848 'The Post Office Directory * managed to get the houses in the right order, putting first ;i 36A, Mrs. Clarke,' 1 and then "36, Mr. Andrews n ; but blundered by putting Little Stanhope Street after both, instead of placing it between them. The same blunder was continued till 1854, when at length Little Stanhope Street was placed between " 36A, Mrs. Clarke,' 2 and " 36, Mr. Andrews. 5 ' The numbers were also put right in 1855, 1856, and 1857. In the 'Directory 1 for 1858, 1859, and 1860 there was no 36A, which was apparently empty ; but in 1861 it reappeared as 35A, which it has been ever since. The name of Mr. Andrews as occupier of 36 appeared for the last time in ' The Royal Blue Book ' in 1858, in Boyle's * Court Guide * in 1859, and in ' The Post Office Directory l in 1862.

To sum up, it is clear that the present 36 was the one Mr. Andrews occupied, and that Bulwer Lytton could not have lived in it in 1843-6, because Mr. Andrews was there ; but that he lived opposite at 36A, previously occupied by Mr. Wanklyn. On the other hand, as Mr. Wanklyn was at 36A