Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 7.djvu/367

 ns.vii. may 3,1913] NOTES AND QUERIES. 350 this period fully show how ugly the costumes were. Then we come to the quiet routine of English home life in 1837—the time of the reign of the chaperon, when railways were still in their infancy, and the means of locomotion were wavering between the old and the new. In spite of the dominant conven- tionality, the emotional character of the women developed, and they were readily receptive of out- ward impressions. Thackeray has described the fashionable life of those days, with its routs and kettledrums—how obsolete in this sense the latter word has become ! Almack's was then the centre of an exclusive eoterie. Lord William Lennox in ' Fashion Then and Now' describes it as a " Matrimonial Bazaar." The table would be spread "with tepid lemonade, weak tea, tasteless orgeat, stale cakes, and thin slices of bread-and-butter—the only refresh- ment allowed"; and "often have Colinet's flageolets stifled the soft response, ' Ask mamma.'" Mr. Price, in treating of this period, naturally refers to the Eglinton Tournament, " the grandest play ever performed since the ' Field of the Cloth of Gold, when the Queen of Beauty was Lady Seymour." The Parisiennes in 1836 were so considerate for the comfort of gentlemen at the theatres that they would wear small bonnets to give those sitting behind them a better chance of seeing the stage. The favourite hobby was ballooning, the ladies being particularly enthusiastic. In the early forties a material was used called sarsenet, a lighter make of silk. This was very much in demand. Although the name still survives for a ribbon, the word has almost completely died out. At this period the account of smart women in Paris reads somewhat like a description of our own times. There were Adamless luncheon parties at which cigars were handed round ; and many of the ladies were good shots and expert fencers. In the record for 1851 there is mention of the Bloomer costume, and Punch'* illustrations of the "Bloomer Convulsion," as well as of the group of figures at Madame Tussaud's in Bloomer costume. There is also a description of the fashions of the Second Empire, with many illustrations. Among historic festivities was the ball given by the Due de Morny on the 17th of February, 1856, when the lovely Comtesse dc Castiglione appeared as the Queen of Hearts. This important work closes with the changes of recent years, consequent upon women taking part in golf and other sports which necessitate special costumes. The advent of the motor-car has also to be taken into account. We congratulate Mr. Price on giving us a valuable addition to the literature of costume. Bibliographia Boltonienxis. By Archibald Sparke. (Manchester University Press.) This compilation by the Chief Librarian of the Central Reference Library of Bolton is a sound and useful piece of work, valuable not only in itself, but also in that it may well serve as a model and encouragement towards other work along the same lines. It is divided into three parts: (1) an alpha- betical list of Bolton authors, with a concise bio- graphy of each, and the titles, &c, of their works; (2) an index of books about Bolton, arranged alpha- betically by subject; (3) an alphabetical list of Bolton printers, with the titles of the books and' pamphlets printed by them. It will be seen that the compiler has altogether abandoned the chrono- logical arrangement hitherto usual in biblio- graphies, ana we think that, on the whole,, students will be ready to justify him, finding the- alphabetical easier for reference, though we should1 have liked, as an addition, at least a list of authors chronologically arranged. According to this pre- sent scheme, one gets nowhere any conspectus of what material is available, so far as Bolton is con.- cerned, for work on any particular period. The literature with which Mr. Sparke had to deal extends from c. 1550 to the present day, with one or two earlier fragments, of which the most interesting is the charter granted to the town by William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, in 1253, dis- covered and transcribed by Mary Bateson, and published in The English Historical Review, 19US&. Of this we were unable to find any mention in. Part II. of the Bibliography. As to the nature of the material, a large proportion of it consists o£ pamphlets, which treat chiefly of religious subjects,, problems of practical science, and questions of antiquarian or social interest. It is surprising how many of the works catalogued under the names of Bolton authors are marked by the asterisk which denotes that they are not in the Library. Mr. Sparke makes a well-grounded appeal to collectors to place in the Library—for the public advantage— any books of local interest which they may have on, their shelves. Nonconformity has been an active factor in, Bolton life for generations, and is the parent of a great number of the productions here catalogued. Bolton was also, however, the dwelling-place of- the Andertons, who in the early half of the seven-. teenth century had a secret printing-press, first at Lostook Hall, and then at Birchley Hall, from, which they disseminated Catholic books and pam- phlets. Altogether twenty-five titles of works, appear under their names, of which every one is asterisked. A residence of seven years is taken as. qualifying a man to be accounted a Boltonian, wherefore John Lempriere and his ' Classical Die-" tionary,' unluckily, have to fall out, he having been master of Bolton Grammar School for no more than, three years (1790-93). Ainsworth, of course, is here, but apparently there is no copy in the Library of the first edition of his long-lived ' Thesaurus Linguae Latinte Compendiarius.' Interesting items . in the catalogue, because the oldest, are the lives and works of Lever and Pilkington, two divines , who, after fleeing from the severities of Mary, returned, upon the accession of Elizabeth, to the . enjoyment of honour and prosperity. Pilkington became the first Protestant Bishop of Durham. The first printing-press seems to have been set up . in Bolton in 1785, the printer, John Drake, issuing as his first book a ' Description of the Memorable . Sieges and Battles in the North of England that happened during the Civil War.' The part which Bolton had played in the war had been recounted i in contemporary tracts printed in London, of which. several may be found in the Library. A rival Srinting-press to Drake's was set up in 1786 by one ackson, whose executors in 1790 printed a Bible, " illustrated with notes and annotations theological, critical, historical, biographical, practical, and ex- planatory." The first Bolton newspapers go back to the twenties of the last century, as does also ,