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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. ix. JAN. 17, M4.

antiquarian interest, succinctly but pleasantly told, constitute the staple of the matter offered, which is intended not to supersede, but to supplement Baedeker and his congeners. We do not pretend to have verified all the editor's facts, but, so far as we have gone into them, the omission of St. Cajetan in the account of the founding of the Theatines is the most considerable point we have found to criticize. Mr. Maynard Smith has not failed to note that Evelyn was unjustly accused by his editors of inaccuracy in writing hoc for htc when he transcribed the second verse at the entrance of Virgil's tomb. It read hie as it should at a later date because Keysler corrected it.

A word of praise is well deserved also by the .get-up and printing of this little volume.

Mtuarjj.

WILLIAM EDWARD ARM1TAGE AXON,

LL.D., M.A, F.R.S.L.

WE owe the following notice of a correspondent, whose death we much regret to learn, to the pen of MR. ARCHIBALD SPARKE, the Chief Librarian of the Bolton Public Libraries :

" W. E. A. Axon was born inlManchester in 1846, and died there on Saturday, 27 Dec., 1913. When he was fifteen he entered the Public Library Department of that city as an assistant, serving part of his apprenticeship under Dr. Crestadoro. His duties there were conducive to the assimila- tion of much information, especially relating to 'his native town and county, its history and antiquities. Mr. Axon became in time a Sub- Librarian and retained that position until 1874, when he resigned in order to become secretary to a commercial company ; but, evidently finding the work not to his liking, he subsequently became Office Librarian on the staff of The Manchester Guardian, an appointment which he lield until 1905. Here he had scope for his many- ided activities, and contributed a number of well- informed articles to the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica ' and other English and American collective works, such as the 'Dictionary of National Biography.' He edited many valuable books, amongst which mention, must be made of Caxton's 'Game and Playe of the Chesse,' 1883, and 'The Annals of Manchester,' 1886; he (published 'Lancashire Gleanings' in 1883, and 'Cheshire Gleanings' in 1884. These three latter works form a huge storehouse of the folk - lore and antiquities of Lancashire and Cheshire. In 1907 he published 'Cobden as a Citizen,' which contained a fac- simile of Cobden's pamphlet, 'Incorporate your Borough.' He was a considerable worker for the Chetham Society, the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian and Record Societies, and the Man- chester Literary Club Transactions, and contri- buted extensively to ' N. & Q.' He was an accom- plished linguist, arid conversant with some Oriental and European languages. He was elected a Fellow ot the Royal Society of Literature in 1868, received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the Wilberforce University of America in 1899, and the Master of Arts degree of Victoria University was conferred on him on 27 October, during his last illness. On his being presented to the Vice-Chancellor, it was said ot him that * alike in the literary and social

activities of this community he has played a notable part, and (has won early recognition as one of the first authorities in the history, literature, and archaeology of the county.' Mr. Axon was also an acknowledged authority on the life of De Quincey, and did much to elucidate the life of that writer. A teetotaller and vegetarian, he took a prominent part in organized efforts to recommend those habits of life. He was twice married, but had been a widower since 1910."

GILLAN VASE'S 'A GREAT MYSTERY SOLVED (11 S. viii. 500). MR. J. D. HAMILTON is thanked for calling attention to the fact that this is not a new book, as our notice might seem to imply. It was published in three volumes by Remington in 1878. Messrs. Sampson Low, Mars ton & Co. courteously inform us that, in sending advance copies iii sheets of the present work to booksellers and libraries, as well as when sending copies for review, they stated that the original work was. issued over thirty years ago ; that to republish it as it then appeared would have been undesirable, but that it has been carefully edited by Mr. Shirley B. Jevons, who has cut out all characters that were not introduced by Charles Dickens himself in the original story.

Unfortunately, by some mischance, this letter does not appear to have been included in the copy we received. Messrs. Low inform us that very few copies were issued of the original edition. These are so much in demand by Dickensians that the market value of a copy approximates to that of a copy of a first edition of a work by Dickens himself.

MR. GEORGE POTTER (296, Archway Road, N.), under date 3 Jan., writes :

" In the Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, New Series, vol. ii. part iv., just issued, Sir Edward Brabrook is made to say in his Presidential Address, p. 491 :

" ' Mr. Potter informs me that the staircase of Cromwell House, Highgate, with the figures on the newels, has been sold for 1,000. and removed.'

"I certainly never made any such statement, and I am pleased to add that I saw the staircase in its original position this morning. Long may it remain ! "

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.

CORRESPONDENTS who send letters to be for- warded to other contributors should put on the top left-hand corner of their envelopes the number of the page of 'N. & Q.' to which their letters refer, so that the contributor may be readily identified.

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.

LADY LANGIIAM, LADY ROYDS, MR. JESSOX, and P. D. M. Forwarded.