Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 10.djvu/86

 NOTES AND QUERIES. [n s. x. JULY 25, 1914.

wife of Henry IV. of France, 81. 8s. ; an auto- graph letter from .Arabella Stuart to her grand- mother, " Bess of Hardwick," 1587, 50 guineas ; .and a list of the plate and jewels of Lettice Dudley, eldest daughter of Sir Francis Knollys, incorporated in the inventory of the property of her third husband, Sir Christopher Blount, forfeited for high treason, 1601, 20 guineas.

In Catalogue No. 93 we may mention having noticed Reinhard's Boethius (Strassburg, 1501), with 77 woodcuts imputed to Sebastian Brandt, 77. 15s. ; a copy, in contemporary English binding of calf over oak boards having at the beginning part of two leaves of a Psalter, and at the end a fragment of a leaf of the ' Golden Legend ' of the ' Silua nuptialis ' of Johannes de Nevizanis, in Gothic letter " Lugduni, Johannes Moylin, alias de Cambray, 1524," 81. 10s. ; and a copy of the 1545 edition, printed at Bale by Henricus Petrus, of the ' Geographica universalis, vetusetnova,' of Ptolemseus, 4Z. 15s. The whole catalogue is well worth reading.

MESSRS. SYDNEY HARPER & SONS of Bideford in their Catalogue No. 3 describe about 500 books, which cover a considerable range of interests, and are offered at a moderate price. One which we noted as particularly attractive is a volume made up of almanacs for the year 1697, bound in contemporary morocco, and offered for 31. 1ft?. A set of Coleridge's Works Pickering & Moxon, 1837-53, in 21 yols. is not dear at 31. 3s. if it is in good condition, as seems indicated. Two other books may also be mentioned : John Leo's " A Geographical Historic of Africa, written in Araoicke and Italian, translated by John Pory," 1690, 4i. 10*. ; and " American Historical and Literary Curiosities ; consisting of some Plates, Ac., relating to Columbus and Original Documents of the Revolution, &c., with a variety of Reliques, Antiquities, and Autographs," edited by John J. .-Smith, I860, 31. 10*.

MESSRS. SOTHERAX & Co.'s Catalogue 747 describes Engravings, MSS., and Books relating to 'the French Revolution, and the 1,430 items form a truly fascinating list, the captivating qualities of which are assisted by numerous illustrations. Marie Antoinette is the predominant figure ; the first seventy items or so are portraits of her, either alone or with other members of the Royal Family. Alix's coloured aquatint after Madame Le Brun is one of the best of these, offered here for 84Z. ; and another very attractive one is Malgo's mezzotint after A. Hickel, which is offered, with the portrait of the Princesse de Lamballe by the same artist and engraver, for 105?. the pair. There are portraits of most of the other cele- brated characters of the times, but we have only space to mention a pair of rare coloured aqua- tints by Alix portraits of two boys of 13 years, who were killed by " les Rebelles," and died crying " Vive la Republique " and " Je meurs pour la Libert4." There are about a score of views of Paris, of which the most important is an aquatint by Janinet after a design by Florentin Gilbert, ' Projet d'un Palais de Legislature.' The next heading, ' Events of the Revolution,' introduces us to a fine series of engravings arranged in chronological order, beginning with the ' In- te'rieur de la Salle construite dans la Place de Greve, a 1' Occasion de la Naissance de Mgr. le_Dauphin, 1782,' II. 10., and ending with an

engraving in stipple and line by Fogg, after Hamilton, depicting Sir Sidney Smith's defence of the breach at Acre in 1802. There is a good series of pictures of the taking of the Bastille ; a fine aquatint of the unlucky charge of Prince Lambesc at the Tuilejies, which preceded the attack on the Bastille, 21 if. ; and an aquatint by Le Cceur after Swebach's picture of the Sermon Fede>atif du 14 Juillet, 1790, 21Z. Of the books on the Revolution the outstanding one is a transcript made by herself of the Journal kept by the Duchesse d'Angouleme while imprisoned in the Temple the MS. from which the 1817 edition of the Journal was printed. It is here offered for 105Z. Another important item is a copy of the English translation of Duruy's edition of the Barras ' Memoirs,' published in 1896 in 4 vols., which have been expanded into 15 by the addition of more than 1,700 portraits, 380 views, pictures of historical events, &c., 116 caricatures, and over 116 autograph signa- tures. The price asked for this a collection of importance for Napoleonic history is 6501. A collection of 23 Nelson autograph letters, from 4 March to 27 May, 1801, addressed to Trou- bridge, with a holograph list of the ships forming the Baltic Fleet, and a letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty asking leave to return home on account of ill-health, is offered for 210Z.

[Notices of other Catalogues held over.]

BORROW HOUSE. We have received the following from Mr. G. A. Stephen, City Librarian at the Public Library, Norwich :.

"On the occasion of the George Borrow celebra- tion in Norwich last year, the house in which Borrow resided with his parents when in Norwich was acquired by Mr. A. M. Samuel (then Lord Mayor of Norwich), and generously presented by him to the Norwich Corporation with the view of its being maintained as a Borrow Museum. The Norwich Public Library Committee has just undertaken to collaborate in the development of the literary side of the Museum, and would there- fore gladly welcome donations or information respecting the whereabouts of any Borrow letters and manuscripts, engravings or photographs of Borrow's friends and places described in nis works, and other items of Borrovian interest."

Mr. Stephen would be glad to receive donations or information at the above address.

to

ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.

WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately, nor can we advise correspondents as to the value of old books and other objects or as to the means of disposing of them.

COL. J. RIVETT-CARNAC. For the custom of placing a be-ribboned tree on the roof of a house at its completion see " Raising Feast," 11 S. vii. 488; viii. 32, 57, 77, 134.

R. F. B. "The Crooked Billet" as a tavern sign was discussed at 10 S. ix. 190, 452 ; x. 38, 77.

DR. KROEGER. " All the world and his wife " has been discussed at 10 S. xii. 13, 93, 177.