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NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. xi. ju 12, wis.

recently brought into prominence by the acquisi- tion, by the Munich Gallery, of the important group of ' The Sacrati Family.' To this painter Mr. Cook attributes ' The Violinist' of the Dublin Gallery, and also the 'Concert' (hitherto ascribed to Ercole Roberti) at the National Gallery. Several other examples of Baldassare's work are discussed and reproduced. Mr. Francis Birrell illustrates further examples of Egyptian linen fabrics recently acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum. An account is given of the Exhibition of Chinese Art at the Burlington Fine Arts Club ; and Mr. Glutton Brock supplies photographs of some magnificent bronzes there shown, and discusses the peculiar vitality of Chinese art.

SEVENTEENTH- AND EIGHTEENTH- CENTURY BOOKS ON LONDON.

THE present article will of necessity be reduced to little more than a review of Mr. Francis Edward s's interesting catalogue, No. 350 for our other friends among booksellers have not furnished us with particulars of what they have to offer under this heading. We may, however, mention that we noticed under Rowlandson, in Messrs. Maggs's Catalogue No. 330, a good copy, bound by Riviere, of the ' Loyal Volunteers of London and Environs,' illustrating, in 87 plates of Rowlandson's design and etching, the uniforms of cavalry and infantry, and the whole manual of the different exercises (1798, 33Z. 10s.) ; and that Messrs. Young of Liverpool have a copy of Strype's ' Stow' (1754), 2 vols., bound by Clark & Bedford, which they offer for 111 17s.

One of the most imposing of those items in Mr. Edwards's London catalogue which fall within our limits is a collection of newspaper cuttings, ballads, broadsides, engravings, and other matters, to the number of over 100, illustrating Frost Fairs on the Thames. Many of the engravings of which most were printed on the ice are of considerable interest (30Z.). The best of the eighteenth-century plans of London listed here are Horwood's ' Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster,' (1799), on 8 large folding sheets, about which it is worth noting that every house is numbered, and two good examples of Rocque : the ' New and Accurate Survey of the Cities of London, Westminster,' &c., 1751, 16 sheets, 4Z. 10s. ; and the 1761 edition on 24 sheets, 51.

Kip's ' Nouveau Theatre de la Grande Bretagne ' is included here, containing as it does a number of highly interesting London views ; this copy 4 vols., royal folio, in 2, in old calf costs 32Z. A very pleasant item is a set of thirty original drawings in sepia by the miniature painter Bernard Lens, bound in a quarto volume under the title ' The Exact Dress of the Head, drawn from the Life at Court, Opera, Theatre, Park, &c.,' and depicting 87 varieties of female head-dress as seen in London in the early eighteenth century (1725-6), 151. A seventeenth-century MS. of over 200 pages, from the Beaufoy Library, is also worth mentioning 'The Free Customs, Benefits, aud Priviledges of the Copyhold Tenants of the Manors of Stepney and Hackney,' IQl. ; and another seventeenth- century item' of interest is a small quarto, entitled ' Brief Account of the Intended Bank of England,' by the first Deputy-Governor of the Bank, Michael Godfrey (1694), 21. 16s. We have an attractive

series of views" of London Bridge, old and new, described here, and several good general views of the City and its environs.

The social life of London is illustrated in these pages as well as its topography. We may take some instances connected with the " darkest London " of the past. Mr. Edwards has a copy of ' The Catter- pillars of this Nation anatomized in a Brief yet Notable Discovery of House-breakers, Pickpockets, &c., together with the Life of a Penitent High- way-man, to which is added, the manner of Hectoring and Trapanning, as it is Acted in and about the City of London,' 1659, 51. Under ' Prisons and Crime ' are 5 vols. of Sessions Papers, Dec., 1772, to Oct., 1777, 4Z. 10s. Besides the more expensive works, we noticed a considerable number of curious books which may be had for a few shillings, as, for example, Cruden s ' Adventures

of Alexander the Corrector with an Account of

the Chelsea Academies ' [for the insane], 1754, 4s. 6d. ; ' The Mourning Poet, or the Unknown Comforts of Imprisonment,' bound with * Reports ' on the state of the Fleet, Marshalsea, and King's Bench Prisons, and an account of the ' Proceedings of the Prisoners in the Fleet Prison,' by John Mackay, 12s. ; and a somewhat different topic a MS. of 56 leaves, written in 1721, being 'Remembrances for Order arid Decency to be kept in the Upper House of Parliament by the Lords when His Majestie is not there,' 15s.

Our next article will be on first editions and autographs of literary interest from c. 1790 to c. 1830. Particulars of items not yet included in catalogues may be sent for perusal if desired.

4 L'INTERMEDIAIRE.'

QUESTION : Le comte Axel von Schwering. Son journal et ses conversation* avec VEmpereur Ouil- laume II. Les Lectures pour tous d'avril et mai viennent de publier de tr6s curieuses pages relatarit des reflexions du comte de Schwering, et surtout ses relations et Conversations avec le Kaiser h, la veille de la " Guerre-Mondiale." La redaction de cette revue, en donnant la traduction franchise de la chose, parue en Angleterre, fait toute reserve sur son authenticity. Ceci dit, je me permets de poser les questions suivantes : Ce comte Axel de Schwer- ing a-t-il exists? Si oui, etait-il ami de 1'empereur allemand ? Si oui, etait-il assez intime avec lui pour en recevoir des confidences ?

Et pour finir, le comte de Schwering s'est-il suicid6 et pourquoi ? Je crois qu'on serait heureux d 'avoir quelques details sur 1'authenticite" et la redaction du manuscrit. Qu'en pensent ceux de nos allies qui collaborent a Notes and Queries ?

SAINT-SAUD.

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.

EDITORIAL communications should be addressed to "The Editor of 'Notes and Queries '"Adver- tisements and Business Letters to "The Pub- lishers "at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.C.