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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. I. APRIL 9, '98.

article by that learned antiquary and accom- plished gentleman the late John Gough Nichols. EVERARD HOME COLEMAN.

71, Brecknock Road.

The word "stationer "is applied to a trades- man as opposed to a " pedlar," so a keeper of a shop, or mayhap only a "stall" at a fair. The Worshipful Company of Stationers of the City of London, wno keep guard over the copyright interests of authorship, arose thus, for they became a fellowship of text- writers on separating from the Scriveners; they occupied leasehold stations at various public resorts the Cross of St. Paul's, &c. They had ordinances for self-government in 1403, as "Writers of text letter and limners," as one guild, but with separate wardens for each mystery or calling. A. HALL.

13, Paternoster Row, E.G.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (9 th S. i. 143, 212). I think MR. RALPH THOMAS hardly makes sufficient allowance for that harmless, necessary being, the collector of first editions. The position of this creature in the economy of nature is justified by the fact that without him the original issues of many literary masterpieces would have perished. First editions are not usually the best, but in some cases they evidence a manifest superiority ; and under any circumstances it is desirable that the original thoughts of authors of repute should not be lost. It is easy to conceive that the first draft of FitzGerald's ' Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,' which many people prefer to the later and revised editions, would have totally disappeared if it had not been for the collector. At one time Mr. Quaritch was glad to dispose of his stock at any price, while now he cheerfully gives twenty guineas for a copy. But without a correct title-page it is impossible for a collector to know whether he has got hold of the " right " edi- tion or not, and it is therefore necessary to copy it as closely as possible in the biblio- graphies that are meant for such people very different things, maybe, from the bio- bibliographies that are near the heart of MR. THOMAS. The ideal plan is to produce, as nearly as possible, a facsimile of trie title- page in the manner adopted by Mr. Buxton Forman in his recently published bibliography of William Morris ; but this takes up space, and is necessarily expensive, and recourse must generally be had to some other method. The plan of dividing the lines of a title-page by uprights was, I rather think, introduced by Mr. T. J. Wise, and, if not ornamental, is at least useful and intelligible. I am afraid MR. THOMAS'S plan of marking the lines by

reversed commas would bring many a com- positor to grief. Few bibliographies are things of beauty ; but they can be made joys for ever to the conscientious collector by scrupulous accuracy, and by the adoption of diacritical signs which, introduced originally by the best writers on the subject, become in time invariable indications which are understood by the least instructed.

W. F. PRIDEAUX.

THE FRENCH EMBASSY AT ALBERT GATE (9 th S. i. 164). When the mansion now occupied by the French Embassy, together with the mansion opposite, were first erected, they were considered to be of prodigious height as compared with the humbler build- ings in the neighbourhood, and the wags of that period were fond of exercising their wits upon them.

In a burlesque by John Robinson Planche represented at the Haymarket Theatre at Easter, 1846 (it being the custom in those days to produce pieces of that kind at Easter- tide), the following amusing colloquy takes place between Jackanoxides (the Greek form of Jack Nokes), one of the principal cha- racters, and an architect, in which the build- ings are referred to :

Enter an Architect.

Jackanoxides. Here conies another ; pray, sir, what are you.?

Architect. An architect.

Jack. And what come here to do ?

Arch. Offer my service to erect your city, On a new plan approved by the committee For the embellishment of the metropolis. I 've measured every inch of the Acropolis, Been up the pyramids, and, what is more, Reached actually in one day the fifth floor Of a new mansion near the Albert Gate.*

Jack. Impossible !

Arch. Sir, had it not been late,

I should have mounted to the attic story !

Jack. That story would have covered you with

You would have gained, by every one's concession, The very greatest height in your profession. ' Extravaganzas,' by J. R. Planche^

testimonial edition, iii. 179. JOHN HEBB. Canonbury, N.

I remember in my early manhood that the two mansions at Albert Gate by juveniles termed " the stag-houses " were in the late "forties" commonly referred to as "Gibraltar" and " Malta." I never heard them called the " Two Gibraltars." According to an anecdote

" * The well-known mansions at Albert Gate, one of which is now occupied by the French Embassy, were at this time called 'Gibraltar' by the wags of London, because it was said they never could b taken."