Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/194

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. I. MAR. 5, '98.

of 8 February quotes the highest price ever yet obtained :

" The highest price ever obtained for a Kilmar- nock first edition of the 'Poems' of Burns was recorded at the sale of the late Mr. A. C. Lamb, of Dundee, in DowelPs Rooms, Edinburgh, yesterday afternoon. A local bookseller started the bidding at 50 guineas. The next bid was 100 guineas, and, with advances of 10 and 30 guineas, the price soon reached 250 guineas. Up to this point there were four or five gentlemen competing, but the contest for the coveted volume narrowed itself down to two London gentlemen Mr. Wheeler, of Messrs. J. Pearson & Co., and Mr. Frank T. Sabin, of Shaftes- bury Avenue. The bidding, which was of a spirited nature, rose to 500 guineas, at which point the sale was stopped a few moments to permit of a hearty round of applause at this unheard-of figure. With slight pauses, Mr. Sabin continued to force the price, and it was ultimately knocked down to him at the extraordinary price of 545 guineas. Hitherto, it is believed, 120 guineas was the highest sum reached for a first edition, though 160 guineas have been obtained for a copy along with a holograph letter by the poet."

JOHN PICKFORD, M.A.

Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge.

DR. JOHNSON'S PORTRAIT BY ZOFFANY. Lot 75 in the sale of Archibald ninth Duke of Hamilton's property at Ashton Hall, near Lancaster, By Mr. Christie, on 4 September and five following days, 1819, was a sketch by Zoffany, comprising the portraits of Dr. Samuel Johnson, Mrs. Johnson, and their female servant. It was sold for thirty guineas, the buyer being a Mr. Taylor. This portrait is not mentioned in the new edition of Bryan, and, for other reasons, it would seem to be very little known. W. ROBERTS.

MRS. EGERTON. It is curious, if Meg Merrilies, as is stated by MRS. HILDA GAMLIN (8* h S. xii. 64), was such a popular character with Mrs. Egerton, that I have no portrait of her in it. I have her in the character of Helen Macgregor in three different posi- tions on separate sheets, two published by A. Park, and one " pub d as the Act directs Oct. 9 th, 1837, by S. Fairburn, 40, Fetter Lane." I also have three of her as Joan of Arc, one standing with castle in the back- ground, " London, published by J. L. Marks, 15, Norton Folgate, Bishopsgate." This, I tell from the style, was from a drawing of W. Hornegold's (notice of him in Boase's ' Modern English Biography'). In two of the portraits she is on horseback. One is published by J. Dyer (about 1830?); the other, in gorgeous dress and trappings of tinsel, which must have cost, for boys, a considerable sum, pub- lished by Hodgson, No. 67, new series. Lastly. No. 1, taken by permission from an original drawing, 'Mrs. Egerton as Henry V.,' published

according to Act of Parliament by A. Park and J. Goulding, &c.

I should be much obliged for the exact title of the Act of Parliament above referred to ; I have never been able to find it.

RALPH THOMAS.

THE SATELLITES OF SATURN. Hunter's 'Encyclopaedic Dictionary' is so generally accurate that it may be worth while to point out an error under 'Saturn,' where we are told that Cassini discovered five satellites of that planet, and Sir W. Herschel one (a seventh, the first and by much the largest, was discovered by Huvgens). Cassini dis- covered four, and Herschel two (in 1789, with the then new fortv-foot reflecting telescope).

W. T. LYNN.

Blackheath.

ANCHORITES : Low SIDE WINDOWS. I cannot recollect to have seen in the notes of contributors to information on this subject a reference to C. Kingsley's statement respect- ing these windows :

"It is only recently that antiquaries have dis- covered how common this practice [of self -inclusion] was in England, and how frequently the traces of these cells are to be found about pur parish churches. They were so common in the diocese of Lincoln in the thirteenth century that in 1233 the Archdeacon is ordered to inquire whether any anchorites' cells had been built without the Bishop's leave ; and in many of our parish churches may be seen, either on the north or the south side of the chancel, a narrow slit in the wall, or one of the lights of a window prolonged downwards, the prolongation, if not now walled up, being closed with a shutter. Through these aperttires the ' incluse,' or anker, watched the celeoration of Mass and partook of the Holy Communion." 'The Hermits, s.a. p. 329. He refers to Ducange, s.v-. 'Inclusi,' for the statement "that the square cell must be twelve feet square, with three windows, one opening into the church, one for taking in his food, one for light." There is a reference " for many of these curious facts" to an article in the Ecclesiologist, August, 1848. As the ' Ancren Riwle ' refers to Kingston Tarrant, in Dorsetshire, can any contributor examine the church for illustration 1

ED. MARSHALL, F.S.A.

ROBERT FERGUSSON. Dr. A. B. Grosart has added a monograph on Robert Fergusson to the "Famous Scots Series" (Oliphant, An- derson <fc Ferrier). Reviewing this volume in the Literary World of 11 February, Mr. A. M'Millan says that " Fergusson died at the early age of thirty -four." This is, no doubt, a clerical error. Fergusson's age was only twenty-four at his death, and it is his poetical promise rather than any substantial achieve- ment that lends interest and charm to his work.