Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 4.djvu/349

 12 S. IV. DEC., 1918.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

343

they grow," a concise expression for which parallels could be quoted. " Bight as rain " and " as a trivet " are both obscure. Sense- shifting between adjective and noun is shown in as " good as gold," where the " good " refers to behaviour. But " guinea goicd" p. 316, is " gold." not " good," as it is made on p. 487.

Some foreign phrases are cited, such as the Oerman " as cold as a tailor." The suggestion that a tailor has only the vitality and warmth of a ninth of a man is fanciful for Mr. Svartengren. We take the phrase to refer to the tailor's seden- tary work in a cramped position, which makes for'a poor circulation. We think Mr. Svartengren is right about " dead as a doornail," but he should have made a reference to " cold as a wagon tire." The cold metal suggests the cold, dead body.

When imagination fails, we find a phrase like "" as right as right " or " as near as near." There is also " as near as a techer," which is recorded here, and which we know from rustic talk. Another variety from the same source which may please Mr. Svartengren is " as nigh as nigth," which we take to be " as near as nearness," " nigth " being a noun like " height."

The whole book is full of entertainment for the student, and we congratulate the author on carrying it through so well.

Stories from the Christian East. By Stephen Gaselee. (Sidgwick & Jackson, 3s. 6d. net.)

MB. GASELEE by his translation of these stories from Coptic, Nubian, Ethiopic, Greek, and Latin has provided a real Christmas treat. Here we may see our old friend Androcles transformed into an abbot, while the lion forswears his diet of flesh and bones in favour of bread and boiled vegetables ; and though he is accused of eating the donkey belonging to the monastery, and, as a punishment, made to do the donkey's work, he eventually clears his character, and at length dies of grief when he realizes that his old benefactor has passed away. Some of the stories inculcate the merits of almsgiving by relating how gold pieces are miraculously provided for those who, having given to the poor, find themselves after- wards in need of assistance ; and others furnish awful warnings against dealing with the Evil One, or forgetting what is due to a saint, or meddling with sacred things.

Readers who have been interested by Prof. Bensly's note, ante, p. 325, on Mohammed and the mountain, will be glad to know that an Ethiopic saint proved himself more powerful than either Mohammed or the Persian wonder-worker. For when Takla Haymanot adjured a tree in which .a devil dwelt, " Be thou torn up by thy roots and come hither, so that all the people may see the power of my God," the tree came lip and moved towards the holy man, and as it walked a number of people died from fear. The chronicler evidently desired to impress his readers with a sense of his veracity and exactness, for he goes on to record that on the morrow Takla Haymanot baptized " six hundred thousand and fifty-nine all the people of Katata : except one." What happened to that one must be read in Mr. Gaselee's delight- fully smooth and easy English version, though it seems rather hard on the saint that he should die of the plague after living ninety-nine years and eight months.

BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES.

MR. WILLIAM GLAISHER'S December Catalogue of Publishers' Remainders contains illustrated jooks of travel and exploration in many parts of
 * he world, besides works on big-game shooting in

Burma and Rhodesia. Books of special interest just now are Moorhouse's collection of ' Letters of the English Seamen, 1587-1808,' reaching from the Armada to Trafalgar (3s. 6d.) ; and ' Pull Fathom Five,' a sea anthology in prose and verse, compiled by Helen and Lewis Melville (Is. 3d.). Mr. G. L. Apperson's ' Gleanings after Time ' (Is. Qd.) should also appeal to readers of ' N. & Q.'

MB. JOHN GRANT sends from Edinburgh his Annual Catalogue, in which the books are arranged under authors' names, and again Under more than fifty classified headings, such as Anthologies, Biography, Classical Literature, Folk-Lore, Sport, and Travel. Following these are sections devoted to Scottish Literature and Gaelic Literature. Mr. Grant offers a set of ' Book-Prices Current,' 1894-1914, with the two Decennial Indexes by our contributor Lieut. Jaggard, for 81. 10s. ; and Arber's ' Term Cata- logues, 1668-1709,' 3 vols. privately printed, for 15s., or the large-paper edition for 11. 10s. The revised edition of Baring-Gould's ' Lives of the Saints,' including the supplementary volume, 16 vols. in all, with nearly 500 illustrations, may be had for 31. 3s. Reid's ' Concordance to Burns ' is priced 8s. 6d. ; Raven's ' Church Bells of Suffolk,' 1890, 6s. 6d. ; and several volumes of " The Gentleman' s Magazine Library," 2s. 6d. each.

MESSRS. MAGGS send us three catalogues. No. 371, consisting of engraved portraits, etchings, and engravings, contains many features of interest just now, such as a whole-length engraving of Henry Laurens, President of the American Con- gress of 1778, by V. Green after Copley (371. 10s.) ; and a whole-length of Washington, with a negro attendant, by V. Green after Trumbull (151.). A line engraving showing Boston from the south- east c. 1750, by J. Carwitham, is 42Z. ; and a pair showing New York from the south-east and the south-west, " drawn on the spot by Capt. Thomas Howdell, of the Royal Artillery," and engraved by Canot, are 150Z. The frontispiece is a mezzo- tint by C. Turner of Lord Collingwood, who commanded at Trafalgar after Nelson's death (321. 10s.). A mezzotint by Gilbank after Single- ton shows Nelson lying wounded on the deck of the Vanguard at the battle of the Nile (61. 6s.) ; and another by C. Turner after Eastlake depicts Bonaparte on the Bellerophon (631.). One of the most expensive things is a full-length mezzotint, by W. W. Barney after Gainsborough, of the Duchess of Devonshire who canvassed for Fox at the Westminster election of 1784 (1161. 10s.).

MESSRS. MAGGS'S Catalogue 372 consists of ' A Valuable Collection of Books relating to the British Islands, Heraldry and Family History, Voyages and Travels, and Natural History.' It contains 250 pages and 1,343 entries, but is so well arranged and indexed that any one can find at once the subjects in which he is specially interested. Many of the entries have valuable notes attached. We can indicate but a few of the important works. A fine copy of Lewis's ' Isling- ton,' 1842, with 323 extra illustrations, 3 folio vols., is 651. ; and a collection of 300 pieces illus-