Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/145

 ii s. ix. F EB. H, i9i4.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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also received attention, and it is interesting to know that the author of ' Vathek ' received in 1769 a gold medal for planting 61,800 Scotch firs at Fonthill. Col. Johnes of Hafod, Cardigan- shire, between 1795 and 1801, planted 2,065,000 trees ; besides these, he devoted 55 acres to the sowing of acorns or to planting with young oaks, receiving six gold medals from the Society.

From 1755 to 1849, 3,000 awards were made for the advancement of the fine arts, and a chapter is devoted to a selection from 450 of the prize-winners. The names show the discernment of the jurors, for among the successful competitors we find Millais, Eastlake, Lawrence, Bewick, Bonomi, Hook, Coventry Patmore, and Romney.

Between 1755 and 1851 awards were offered for artists' instrmnents * -and materials. In 1764 a premium of thirty guineas was given to Thomas Keyse for a method of fixing crayon drawings ; he was a still-life painter of some repute, and the Keeper of Bermondsey Spa.

One of the most popular things the Society ever did was, at Henry Cole's suggestion, to offer a prize for the best shilling box of water-colours. The competition was very keen, and the jurors had hard work in coming to a decision, but on the 14th of January, 1852, J. Rogers of Bunhill Row was declared the successful competitor. By 1870 eleven millions of these boxes had been sold. Another popular act was the offer of a prize for a cheap -set of drawing instruments, and this was awarded to J. & H. Cronmire.

Another service rendered by the Society was the establishment of periodical exhibitions of the works of contemporary artists. These were the precursor of the Royal Academy, and the original source from which that great institution was developed.

Of the Society's work in relation to the Exhi- bitions of 1851 "and 1862 full details are given. We have noticed only one slight mistake : that is in reference to Wentworth Dilke, who was made a baronet before (not after) the Exhibition of 1862. Queen Victoria conferred this honour in December, 1861, not many days after the death of the Prince Consort, to show the friend- ship which the Prince had felt for him. It was not officially announced, however, until the 22nd of January, 1862.

Sir Trueman Wood brings the history up to the date of his becoming Secretary in 1879. The volume is beautifully illustrated, and there is an excellent Index. No public library should be without it.

Fifteenth-Century Books: a Guide to their Identi- fication. By R. A. Peddle. (Grafton & Co., 5s. net.)

MB. PEDDIE'S name is already familiar to readers of ' N. & Q..' a^-that of one who has done much good bibliographical m>rk. Besides smaller books, he has published two volumes of a great undertaking, a ' Conspectus Incunabulorum,' covering A to G of an index by authors of all known fifteenth-century books. The present is a much less ambitious attempt, but not the less useful on that account.

Mr. Peddie states that about thirty thousand works printed by the close of the year 1500 have been identified ant! registered. Of these Ham included over 16,000 in his ' Repertorium ' ; Copinger added nearly 7,000 in his ' Supplement ' ; and Reichling contributed about 2,000 more.

Fresh finds are constantly being "made, and Mr. Peddie tells the beginner where he may obtain the information to aid him in his task of identifi- cation. Works covering the whole subject are first described, then those relating to particular countries, followed by others devoted to special; classes of books. Mr. Peddie then shows how many facilities are afforded by facsimiles for identifying the types used by various printers. Nothing has been forgotten. There are sections on woodcuts, initials, printers' devices, colophons, title-pages, signatures, and watermarks.

In addition, there are three Appendixes, per- haps the most valuable being that giving alpha- betically the Latin names of towns where books: were produced in the early days of the art, with their vernacular equivalents. Without a key of this kind, how is the budding bibliographer to know that " Csesaraugustae " represents Zaragoza, or that " Klein Troya " stands for Kirchheim ?

It is to be regretted that there are sundry misprints that will detract from the reputation of English bibliography. On one page (84) occur " dr " for du, " Elude bibliographique," and " le premier unprimeur 'beige." On p. 29, " Elrass ' appears for Elsass ; on p. 31, " zweiten (letzten) Duttel," for Drittel; and on p. 32, " Jahrhun- dundens." We hope that a second edition may soon enable such blemishes on a piece of good work to be removed.

Records of the Smythies Family. Compiled by Major

R. H. Raymond Smythies. (Mitchell Hughes &

Clarke,)

THIS is a nicely turned-out volume of a little over one hundred pages, with forty illustrations. The author, who produced some time ago a good volume of records of the 40th Regiment, has for more than thirty years collected information relative to his name t and family, and has now taken the laudable step of enshrining the results in print, without waiting for that completeness in all details which is so rarely, if ever, attained. He deems it neces- sary, however, to meet the objector, who is sup- posed to lie in wait for those who produce family histories, in his Foreword, making ationgst other sound observations the one that " few would ven- ture to assert that good family traditions have not helped to keep many a man straight on the road of life."

The pedigree commences with " Will'us Smythes de Wryngton in Com. Som'set de familia eodem no'ie in Com. Lancaster." In the line connecting him with the present family there is a weak or missing link in the early seventeenth century. The form of a chart pedigree is used, which is here not so difficult to follow clearly as it often is when the lines are run from page to page, as the family was not very widely spread.

The later Smythies, those following the " missing link," were located chiefly in East Anglia, and the majority of them were in Holy Orders in fact, they afford an example of a family of hereditarv clergy. In our own time one of them was the late eminent Bishop of Zanzibar.

Following the pedigree proper are a number of useful and interesting genealogical notes and extracts from wills, deeds, and^ other records also several female ascents, &c., giving pedigrees of Mangles, Raymond, Travers, and Gordon, and a table of the Royal descents of the Smythies from Edward III. through the Mortimers and Percies