Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/579

 ii s. vi. DEC. 14, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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The partners separated in 1848, and Putnam took a shop at 155, Broadway, as an independent publisher. Washington Irving placed his books with him, while another valued friend, Bayard Taylor, did the same. In November, 1859, Putnam had to mourn the loss of his friend Irving, and the writer of the memoir was taken by his father to the funeral at the picturesque little house of Sunnyside in Irvington. Putnam first met Irving in London at the Literary Fund dinner on the llth of May, 1842, when Prince Albert presided. The speakers included Campbell and Moore for the poets, Talfourd for the dramatists and the Bar, and Bunsen and Brunnow for the diplomatists. Irving was no speaker, and in acknowledging the vociferous applause with which his name was greeted could only reply, " I beg to return my sincere thanks." Putnam heard an Englishman remark, " Brief ? " " Yes, but you can tell the gentleman in the very tone of his voice."

Putnam was present at the battle of Bull Run, and a chapter is devoted to his account of it, in which he traverses the description given in The Times by " Bull Run Russell." In 1869 he was again in England, and he notes the changes that had taken place since his first visit in 1837, and refers to " the bright-sided ' liners,' the sailing packet ships of New York, which were our pride and boast. Their fine models, excellent accommodation, and wide-awake ' gentlemanly ' captains, were proverbial all over the world. Where are they now ? " He dislikes the large advertisements' at the railwsiy stations, and marvels how full-size double daily papers like the Standard, News, Star, &c., " can be sold for two cents, and The Echo (larger than our Evening Hail) for one cent. How can they afford to pay thousands of pounds a year' for street advertise- ments ? and how is it that with all this heavy incubus of expense of publicity the supply of reading for the million has so wonderfully in- creased in England, and its cheapness in propor- tion ? Thirty years ago English newspapers cost 10 cents to 15 cents each, and new books were a luxury for the select few, while ours cost comparatively nothing. Now, both papers and books may be had for less than half the price of ours."

Among visits to literary friends is one to Miss Thackeray, now Lady Ritchie " the charming daughter of the great novelist, simple as a child and as polished as a duchess. ' The changes among the publishers are noted : Baldwin, Moxon, Tilt, the elder Bohn, Pickering, and others, have passed off the stage. Henry Bohn, " the Napoleon of remainders, had partially retired, " after printing 500 library volumes. " The elders of the houses of Murray, Longman, and Whittaker, who had hospitably received me in 1837, have passed away, but the business of the first two is vigorously pursued by the present generation." This gives room for delightful gossip about past dinners at the house in Albe- marle Street, where the rarity of the adyont of American bibliophiles rendered them objects of curiositv There were dinners also at the Long- mans' in the Row, " where the excellent Brown s bachelor-hall in the warehouse used to provide a hot joint for their authors and business friends. Bohn would give holiday dinners at The Star and Garter" at Richmond, where ex-bheriff

Whittaker " used to tell us how many men he had hanged when * the City ' had the benefit of his services."

Putnam as early as 1837 interested himself in the question of International Copyright, and acted as secretary for what was probably the first association formed in America to secure this. It is interesting to know that his son is the present secretary of the American Publishers' Copyright League.

G. P. Putnam died on the 20th of December, 1872. He had attended the funeral of his old friend the artist Kensett, and returned to the office, where he fell into his son's arms, and never recovered consciousness.

This life of him by his son is a noble record of a noble life. Putnam left no fortune to his children, but he bequeathed to them a stainless and honoured name. He never sought either personal emolument or personal fame. His life was full of happiness to himself and to others, and his memory will be long cherished both in th Old World and the New.

Warwickshire Place-Namcs. By W. H. Duignan.

(Frowde. )

The Place-Names of Oxfordshire : their Origin and Development. By Henry Alexander. (Claren- don Press.)

THE study of place-names has hardly got beyond the pioneer stage ; and the most promising way of bringing order into chaos would seem to be the production of monographs. Mr, Duignan has already done good service in this field, as readers of ' N. & Q.' can attest. In his Preface we note that he has a good word for Dugdale, who, if in other respects as some of our contributors have warned us he is to be trusted with caution, is comparatively sound in etymology, having, he says, spent twenty years in searching out the modifications in forms.

Contrary to more than one writer on Shake- speare, Mr. Duignan declares that the Forest of Arden had no existence outside ' As You Like It.' Among the odd names in the county is Barnacle. As Mr. Duignan says, it will probably be derived by some wiseacre from an ancient invasion of Barnacle geese ; its true etymology is bern, a barn, and hangre, a wood on a hillside. There are most interesting articles on Icknield Street, Watling Street, and Coundon to mention one or two- instances out of many ; on the etymology of Coventry we observe that Mr. Duignan has no particular light to throw ; here and there along- side of ancient names we get a quite modern one as in Penns, from the name of a manufacturer who established a mill in the spot so called at the turn of the last century.

Mr. Duignan, enlivens his pages with bits of mis- cellaneous information, historical and etymological. We were glad to see him, when writing on Lad- broke tackle the common misunderstanding of the word " viking," which by no means implies a mysterious sort of royalty.

Another careful and interesting study of this kind we owe to Mr. Alexander, a Research Fellow of Liverpool University. He adheres to the ordinary convenient method for such a work. The principal part of the book is an alphabetical list of place-names, each followed by an account of its origin and divers forms. The forms to be given are often very numerous, and the accuracy