Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/181

 9»s.vLAu«.25.i9oo.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 147 LONGEST WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LAN- GUAGE.—This matter has formed the subject of contributions to ' N. & Q.,' appearing in 6th S. viii.; 7th S. xii.; 8th 8. xi. xii. I there- fore offer no apology for sending for inser- tion therein the following paragraph, copied from the Publishers' Circular of 4 August:— "Dr. Murray points out in his note to 'In—Infer,' that those who are interested in the length of words will observe that incireumscriptibleness has as many letters as honoriticabilitudinity, viz., 22. The authority quoted for the former word is one Byfielcl, a divine, who in a treatise on Colossians, published in 1615, wrote: ' The immensity of Christ's divine nature hath incircumscriptible- ness in respect of place.' In the recent biography of Dr. Benson is an entry from the Archbishop's diary to the effect that 'the Free Kirk of the North of Scotland are strong antidisestablishmen- tariana,' 26 letters." EVERAED HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road. PAGINATION.—A good example of slavery to habit may be seen in the printing business, where custom has led to the omission of page-numbers from the pages which form the commencement of the divisions of a book, such as the introduction, the preface, the body of the work, the addenda, &c. I imagine the reason to be that there is some extra work involved in setting up the type for the pagi- nation when there is much blank space at the top of a page, which has to be filled in by "blocking." The custom is vexatious, and occasionally causes annoyance when preparing a work for the binders. I have before me vol. xxii. of the 'Index Library' (British Record Society), in which the first page-number is vi, which, in this instance, means that the pagination commences with fche first title-page. There is no page-number on the ninth page of the introduction, because a fresh heading is started. Of course, there is no page-number on the opening page of the body of the work ; I cannot remember any book in which there is. Pp. 244 and 245 are without a page-number, as also are pp. 254, 255, 256, and 263—all on account of the commencement of different headings. The difficulty—if it is one—could be overcome by printing the page-number at the foot of each page, as is done by Mr. F. A. Crisp in his excellent publications, which are models of typography. The pagination of his works noes not commence with the title-page. The question arises, Where should the pagination of a book commence ? I notice that printers are pretty equally divided about the matter, some commencing to count from the title- page, and others from the opening page of the body of the work. CHEVRON. MONASTIC CHRONICLE.—In the Times of 8 August there is an article from a corre- spondent on archseologicaj exploration in Gloucestershire, in which it is stated that "one of the most interesting discoveries of this year is an old chronicle of Hayles Abbey written about 1365." It is so seldom that the discovery of an English monastic chronicle is made in these days that it appears to me desirable that such an important find should be recorded in ' N. & Q.' It would, however, be interesting to know how and under what circumstances the discovery was made and by whom. Perhaps the fortunate finder will be so good as to give the information, and also state whether the chronicle is in private hands, or in a public library or museum where it may be seen by a stranger. H. W. U. PSALM XLIX. 6-12.—This psalm, exquisite in matter, yet textually inaccurate, is read in Jewish households during the week of mourning. Recited in Hebrew, it rarely fails to inspire a profound sense of the vanity of human wishes. Much of this effect is lost in the A.V. rendering, especially so in verse 11: " Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue for ever." I have no access to the Vulgate and Septuagint; but as the early translators were not impartial to Coverdale, whose ac- quaintance with Hebrew was strictly a bow- ing one, I dare say the Vulgate, at any rate, will show a similar rendering. Among Jewish authorities the only supporter of the A.V., &c., is Rashi. Ibn Ezra is not with them; Jonathan Ben Uzziel is decidedly against them. The point is, What is the true inwardness of D31J31 Kereb=inward parts of the body. By transition of thought the word might be strained to mean " the heart" (the seat of emotion) by Biblical writers. This is not so. Their word is leiv= heart, which they invariably employ to express thought or feeling. Now it is well known that many of the psalms are textually most imperfect, especially those which form part of our liturgy. These were, generations after their invention, orally conveyed to those who committed them to writing in post-exilic times. That some unknown copyist blun- dered by transposing the letters of " kirbom " is not an extraordinary suggestion in face of the fact that this form of error is not an uncom- mon one in the Pentateuch. Instances mightbe cited which have not escaped the miscroscopic icrutiny of the Massoretes. Even the Kuzari bas pointed out literal freaks, from which many subtle allegories abounding in Mid- rashic literature have primarily sprung.