Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 7.djvu/538

 442

NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. vn. DEC. 4, 192*.

Jeroense's 'Kodclige en ernstige Opschriften op Luyffens, Wagens, Glazen Uithangborden en andere Taferelen ' (1682), and H. van den Berg's 'Het gestoffeerde Winkelen en Lui- felen Banquet ' (1693). In the Preface em- phasis is laid on the necessity of translating the inscriptions of Dutch signs and other Dutch quotations, of which there are not a few, and these are always carefully translated. The translator, however, is often conscious of the inadequacy of the rendering, and complains of the difficulty of conveying the peculiar significance of the original into English. Other references to Holland and to Dutch life and manners occur, one of which I will give as reminiscent at once of the writer's nationality and of one episode in his some\vhat nomadic career, a brief account of which is given below : -

" The Dirty Dick has all the appearance of oae of those establishments that started up in the wake of the Army at Varna and Balaclava, a place that would 'set the whole Dutch nation frantic (p. 91)."

From Van Schevichaven 's note quoted above he does not appear to have been either liberally remunerated or fairly treated by his publisher in respect of this work. But it would be unjust to accuse Hotten un- heard of the wholesale theft of another's labours. A book of this description would ordinarily need a good deal of work upon it before publication, and its compilation by a foreigner, however well versed he might be in current English, would scarcely lighten the task, especially when that foreigner lacked, as Van Schevichaven admittedly did, an exact idea of scientific method. The Preface states that "this work has been two years in the Press, the passing events mentioned in the earlier sheets refer to the year 1864 " ; all this time would hardly be consumed in the actual printing of the volume, and it is much more probable that the amount of revision which Hotten considered necessary, and himself supplied in "correcting the proofs," was so great that he felt justified in assuming joint-authorship. It is in- structive, too, to find in the early part of the volume, on p. 68, a foot-note signed "Ed.," which seems to indicate that at one time he contemplated editorship only.

Whatever may be the facts as to the parts played by the respective authors, there can be little doubt that their joint production was a success. It was favourably reviewed by The Times newspaper, which devoted three columns (not six as stated by Van Schevichaven) to it, and by The Athenceum

which described it as "a valuable addition to our antiquarian and gossipping literature." A companion volume by the same authors was projected and announced as "in. preparation " in a " Special List for 1869 " appended to Hotten's edition of 'Doctor Syntax's Three Tours.' This was entitled ' The History of Advertising in all Ages and Countries. A companion to the History of Signboards, with many very amusing Anec- dotes and Examples of Successful Adver- tisers. ' The announcement remains in another List for 1872, at the end of Larwood's ' Story of the London Parks,' but the work was eventually compiled by Henry Samp- son, the founder and editor of the sporting paper, The Referee. It was published,, under a slightly altered title, by Chatto & Windus in 1874 without any indication that it was ever intended to form a companion to ' The Signboards. ' One companion volume, however, did appear in 1872, namely, 'Clubs and Club Life in London,' by J. Tiinbs. This was not a new work, but a reprint or rather republication, with the addition of numerous illustrations, of the' book published by Bentley under the title- of 'Club Life of London' in 1866. The- circumstances of its appearance as a com- panion volume to the ' History of Sign- boards ' are explained by Hotten in the following unsigned note printed in the 1872 edition ;

" Six years ago the publisher of the present work issued a ' History of Signboards ' which met with so much approval from the critical presa and from general readers, that the authors might not unreasonably have been accused of vanity or something very like vanity at their achieve- ment. A companion volume was then contem- plated under the title of ' A History of the Clubs, Tavern, Coteries, and " Parlour Companies" of Old London.' Material was gathered, and the late William Pinkerton, Esq., F.S.A. of Hounslow, undertook the preparation of the book. But in the meantime another active antiquary had prepared a work of similar character to the one we had proposed, and this interesting book, with numerous illustrations prepared expressly for the present edition, is now issued as a sequel to the 'History of Signboards.'"

Popular in this country the ' Signboards r soon found imitators in Holland, for the English book was no sooner published than it was seized upon by the Dutch romancist and poet, Van Lennep, as eminently suitable for imitation. Dr. Prinsen quotes a letter from Van Lennep to J. ter Gouw, dated Sept. 17, 1866, in praise of the ' Signboards/ and expressing the opinion that a similar work in Dutch would find a ready sale. His