Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 12.djvu/267

 9*S. XII. SEPT. 26, 1903.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

259

Cobbett. The first letter, from Edward Rushton, Sen., the father of the author of the correspondence, is addressed to Samuel William Ryley, of 19, Charlotte Street, Manchester, whom we must take to be the author of 'The Itinerant,' one of the rarest of theatrical works, for whom see 'D.N.B.' The illustrations include a photograph of a fragment of Tom Fame's tombstone, and a facsimile of the sketch by Thackeray of a Mr. Edward Dowling, with a smudged likeness of Thackeray himself with a tankard in the back- ground.

Sir David Wilkie, R.A. By William Bayne.

(Walter Scott Publishing Company.) To the series of "Makers of British Art" Mr. Bayne has contributed an excellent life of Wilkie. Few of the obstacles that usually retard the path of genius seem to have beset the path of the great Scottish painter. He was still little more than a lad when the Ettrick Shepherd, to whom, on the introduction of Laidlaw, Scott's amanuensis, he was made known, called him " the great Mr. Wil- kie," and added, " I cannot tell how proud I am to see you in my house, and how glad I am to see you are so young a man." He had experiences of poverty and sickness, but no more than fall to the average lot of man; and he died at sea full of honours and with undiminished powers. Mr. Bayne's task is confined to records of accomplishment and inti- macies and to appreciation and exegesis. The story of an honourable and uneventful life is capitally told, and the work is well worthy of its subject. It is illustrated with a photogravure of a striking por- trait of Wilkie and with engravings of twenty pictures in Wilkie's very different manners.

The Doukhobors. By Joseph Elkinton. (Ferris

& Leach.)

WITH its interesting descriptions and its abundant illustrations this volume supplies a trustworthy guide to the most remarkable religious movement of modern days. The history of the Doukhobors in Russia, and the particulars of their migration to Canada, are both told, and the little volume, with its admirable text and illustrations, may safely be commended to others besides those who seek in- formation on the subject.

Shakespeare's Garden. By J. Harvey Bloom, M.A.

(Methuen & Co.)

SHAKESPEARE'S flowers and flower-lore have been the subject of several books, the best known of which are 'The Shakespeare Flora' of Leo H. Grindon, and ' The Plant-Lore and Garden-Craft of Shakespeare,' by the Rev. H. N. Ellacombe. One more book has been added to the subject by the rector of Whitchurch, who has two qualifications for his task a close knowledge of botany and a familiarity not less close with Shakespeare. His book is conveniently arranged under months. Mr. Bloom is not always quite trustworthy in his deri- vations, as when he finds feuille a component part of filbert, but he writes pleasantly, and his quota- tions are often happy. His book is prettily got up, and has four illustrations.

A Selection from the Poetical Works of John Skelton.

With Introduction, Notes, and Glossary by W. H.

Williams, M.A. (Isbister & Co.) SKELTON'S works have long been virtually inaccess- ible. Original editions are among the rarest of poetical tracts, and on their infrequent appearance

in the sale-room fetch very long prices. Dyce's edition, in two volumes, is eagerly sought after, and even the ' Pithy, Pleasaunt, and Profitable Workes,' 1736, is highly priced. Under these conditions, though we care little for selections, we welcome Mr. Williams's volume, which brings within reach of the student four characteristic works, ' The Bowgeof Courte,' 'PhyllypSparowe,' ' Colyn Cloute,' and ' Why come Ye Nat to Courte ? ' For the young scholar the work is adequate. Omissions, excision, and bowdlerization confine it to such. The notes and glossary are, however, generally serviceable.

House Mottoes and Inscriptions : Old and New. By

S. F. A. Caulfield. (Stock.)

THESE house mottoes, dial mottoes, &c., are not without interest. Many of them are taken from contributions of Miss BUSK to 'N. & Q.,' from Mrs. Gatty's 'Book on Sundials,' and similar sources. Unfortunately they are often painfully inaccurate. The bungalow occupied by J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps at Hollingbury Copse is described as " Hollin- bury [sic] Copse, the residence of Mr. Phillipp " [wcL In the line " Francesci gignunt insitone [sic] rosas " both sense and scansion demand that the third word should be insitione ; in "Sit pax intranti sit dratia digna precanti," "dratia" should be gratia.

Selections from the British Apollo. Edited by the

late G. W. Niven. (Paisley, Gardner.) IF ever works could be said to have anticipated ' N. & Q.' they were the ' Athenian Oracle ' and the ' British Apollo ' of John Dunton (1659-1733), of which the latter is the more interesting and valuable. In days in which the process described by Sir Walter Scott of gradually boiling down into 8vos or 12mos the folios and quartos of earlier days is assiduously followed, selections from books once popular, but now known only to the curious, may well prove judicious. The book, one chapter of which saw the light in ' N. & Q.,' may be read with the possibility of gain, and the certainty of amusement. It has an introduction by the Rev. Hugh Macmillan, D.D.

Old Cookery Hooks and Ancient Cuisine. By W.

Carew Hazlitt. (Stock.)

THIS popular work of Mr. Hazlitt has now been issued in a handy shape as one of Mr. Wheatley's series known as "The Book -Lover's Library." The get-up is pretty. We miss any reference to the ' Patissier Francois,' the rarest and most highly priced of Elzevirs, and find no mention of the a true classique de la table.
 * Physiologic du Gout ' of Brillat-Savarin, the latter

A NEW and revised edition of * How to Decipher and Study Old Documents,' by Mrs. John Haute- ville Cope (nee E. E. Thoyts), is announced to be published by Mr. Elliot Stock immediately.

BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES. IN their latest catalogue Messrs. Henry Sotheran & Co. announce many works of highest interest. Dyce's 'Beaumont and Fletcher' is one of the scarcest and best editions of the dramatists. A copy of this bound by Riviere is priced IQl. 16s. A set of the ' Historical Biographies of British Queens and Princesses ' is 221. 10s. ; Shakespeare's Plays, ed. Johnson and Steevens (a special copy), is 84 ; a