Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 4.djvu/182

 176

NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s.iv. JUNE, 1918.

general portion of the Catalogue, numbering nearly 1,000 entries, is followed by the first part of ' The History of England in Church and State, comprising Biographies of History-Makers, in- cluding Roman Catholics and the Earlier Dis- senting Bodies.' This extends from Abbey to Green ; and Messrs. Higham hope to complete it in their next Catalogue.

MESSRS. MAGGS BROTHERS (who have removed to 34 and 35 New Conduit Street) send us another of their elaborate catalogues No. 366, its three parts being devoted to Books with Coloured Plates, Celebrated Book Illustrators of the Nineteenth Century, and Sports and Pastimes. Many of the items are expensive, the first being a special copy of Ackermann's Public Schools, 1816, containing a complete set of the 12 printed wrappers issued with the monthly parts, 151. There is also a complete set of Ackermann's Repository of Arts, 40 vols., 1809-28, containing about 2,000 fine plates, 94*. 10s. A series of thirteen Visionary Heads, drawn in pencil by William Blake between 1818 and 1820, arranged in sunk mounts, and bound by Riviere hi levant morocco extra, is 210J. ; a collection of 78 Napoleon caricatures by Cruikshank, Rowlandson, and others, also bound by Riviere in levant morocco, 84J. ; and a collection of nearly 100 original sketches, in pen and ink or pencil, by George Cruikshank, including his earliest extant, 851. The frontispiece of the Catalogue reproduces the emblematical engraved title of Alken's ' National Sports of Great Britain,' the original issue, 50 fine coloured plates, 1351. ; an uncut set of The Annals of Sporting and Fancy Gazette, 13 vols., 1822-8, is llOi. There are, however, many things priced between a half-crown and a sovereign, and so suited to pockets of modest capacity ; and the ' Brief Index of Principal Headings ' at the beginning of the Catalogue will enable readers to turn at once to the subjects in which they are specially interested.

WALTER CROUCH, F.Z.S.

THE older readers of ' N. & Q.' will regret to learn of the death of Mr. Walter Crouch, F.Z.S., late of Grafton House, Wellesley Road, Wanstead, which took place on April 15. Born hi 1840 at Stepney, he was the third child, and only son to survive youth, of Walter Crouch of Bow, and afterwards of Cheshunt, and came of a long luxe of Crouches who settled hi Hastings in the latter half of the seventeenth century, having previous to that resided at Rye.

He was a reader and occasional contributor for over fifty years, and for about half of this tune he belonged to a circle of literary men who passed their copies of ' N. & Q.' from one to another. He will best be remembered asfthe author of useful papers on the Mollusca and other branches of the zoology of Essex. He was also an ardent Shakespearian and Dickensian, and was for many years a member of the Essex Archaeological Society, the Essex Field Club, and similar societies, to whose proceedings he was a frequent contri- butor.

Mr. Crouch had a profound knowledge of Essex topography and heraldry, and was well versed in

genealogical studies and the tracing of pedigrees. His fine library included collections for the history of Wanstead and district, Barking, East Ham,. Stepney, Bow, and Canterbury. His charming personality assembled around him many friends, and he was ever willing to impart to others the results of his labours. He was buried La St. Mary's churchyard, Wanstead, the quiet God's acre he loved so much, and leaves a widow,, four sons, and three daughters. C. H. C.

Jlcitas to C0msp0ntonts.

A. L. Forwarded.

P. MERRITT (Boston, Mass.). Anticipated bya correspondent nearer home (see ante, p. 145).

H. S. B. (" Bray them in a mortar "). The phrase has long been familiar in England. See Proverbs xxvii. 22.

W. P. B. (Value of Engraved Plates). It is our rule not to give any opinion on such matters. You should apply to a fine-art dealer or second- hand bookseller.

H. S. BRANDRETH (Nine of diamonds the " Curse of Scotland "). References for the discussion of this subject hi ' N. & Q.' were supplied at p. 494 of the last volume.

O. B. (" Master "). Indicates that the two characters named hi the playbill were acted by young boys. " Master Betty " became famous at the age of 11 as " the Young Roscius." There is a life of him hi the ' Diet. Nat. Biog.'

H. GUINNESS (E O, a Game). The Oxford Dictionary supplies this definition : " A game of chance, in which the appropriation of the stakes is determined by the falling of a ball into one of several niches marked E or O respectively."

A. W. (18 Brumaire). On 18 and 19 Brumaire, year 8 of the French Republican calendar (=Nov. 9 and 10, 1799), the Directory was over- thrown. See the long articles on the Republican calendar, with explanatory tables, at 6 S. viii. 286, 332, 393, 471 ; ix. 138. Further articles on the calendar appeared at 9 S. iii. 208, 253, 281.

G. F. CUNNINGHAM (Tennyson's ' Maud ' : Variant Readings). Tennyson made numerous alterations hi the text of his poems, and stated his reasons for some of them. You will find these recorded in the " Eversley Edition," 9 vols. (sold separately), edited by his son the present Lord Tennyson, and published by Messrs. Macmillan.

J. W. F. (" Dorism "). The ' N.E.D.' defines " Dorism " as related to the dialect of ancient Greek, and gives as the secondary meaning of " Doric " " a ' broad ' or rustic dialect of English, as that of the North of England, Scotch, etc." This seems to suit well Whitaker's use of the word La his ' History of Richmondshire ' which you cite.

M.D., E.E.F. (" Tally-ho " derived from the Arabic). The Oxford Dictionary, s.v., says : " Apparently an altered form of the French taiaut (Moliere, ' Les Facheux,' 1662). tayau, tayaut (Furetifre), used in deer-hunting." Several earlier equivalents are cited, and the Dictionary adds : " The various French forms appear to be meaningless exclamations."

CORRIGENDUM. Ante, p. 129, col. 1, s.v. '' Decease," 1. 6, for " decessed " read decesed.