Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/259

 9* s. vi. SBPT. 15, im] NOTES AND QUERIES. 213 LIST OP BOOK SALES (9th S. vi. 168).— GNOMON can, by appointment, see here a copy of the late Mr. Geo. Offer's catalogue of the library that was partially destroyed by fire, with the prices paid for the first and second day's sales. GEO. CHAMBERS. Tyssen Library, Town Hall, Hackney. I shall be happy to lend GNOMON a copy of the Offor sale with prices and purchasers' names to the date of nre. I should question one or two points in his note. 1. Was not Offor a collector rather than a bookseller 1 2. The library could not have been worth seven, let alone seventy thousand pounds. 3. The refuse was sold to Mr. Steevens, I believe, but a large number of the books repaired were sold in England. Some are in the British Museum. E. GORDON DUFF. University Club, Sandon Terrace, Liverpool. A catalogue of the library of George Offor, London, 1865, may be seen in the Corporation Library, Guildhall, E.G. EVBKABD HOME COLIMAN. 71, Brecknock Road. "BUCKS" AND "GOOD FELLOWS" IN 1778 (9th S. iv. 225, 333, 399, 520).—The following is a continuation of my list of kindred societies. The Society of Civil Engineers (1800) met at the " Crown and Anchor " in the Strand. The "Clarence Club," of which a prominent member was Mr. Dilke, the first maker of the Athenaeum and father of the first baronet, was founded upon the "Literary Union," which was dissolved to get rid of some ob- jectionable members. Hence it was called by its detractors the " Clearance Club " (Serjeant Ballantine's 'Experiences,' 1883,, p. 76). Coal Merchants' Club.—The "Coal Hole," which at the beginning of the nineteenth century had a separate existence, was once part of the old Fountain Tavern " in the Strand, and was a name conferred upon it by a club of coal merchants who frequented it ('Epicure's Almanack,' 1815). See Wolves' Club. The Cocked Hat Club.—An offshoot of the Society of Antiquaries, amongst whose mem- The Cocoa Tree Club, No. 64, St. James's Street, was transferred thither from the house in Pall Mall afterwards occupied by Messrs. Ransome, Morland & Co., bankers ('Epicure's Almk.,' 1815). See, further, Wheatley's 'Cun- ningham'; Jesse's 'London,'1871, p f&etseq.; ' Old and New London'; and L. Hutton's Lit. Landmarks.' Cogers' Hall (Lat. cogito, to think), 15, Bride Lane, Fleet Street, was a nursery, like the " Green Dragon " Forum, of the sucking De- mosthenes. Primarily it was a political club where members met to exchange the results of their cogitations. The Cogers first estab- lished themselves in 1756, having been founded by Daniel Mason the year before. Curran, Daniel O'Connell, and Judge Keogh were among its supporters. Admission was gratis, and those who attended were, though not required to speak, expected to observe the unwritten rule of drinking " for the good of the house." There is an account of the Society of Cogers — who apparently more often spelt the word with a d—in All the Year Round, 15 Feb., 1868. Some few years ago " Ye Olde Cogers' Hall" was put up to auction at "Masons' Hall Tavern," when, as the bidding did not reach 8,OOOA, the reserve, the property was bought in. Until 1756 Coders' Hall was probably the " Twelve Bells," a sign in allusion to the bells of St. Bride's. Cf. the Madrigal Society. There was a Society of Free and Independ- ent Codgers who used to meet about 1786 at the "Black Raven" in Tooley Street, where no doubt the importance of their deliberations was accentuated by the presence of the "Three Tailors." And again in 1815 "a whimsical society of humourists who called themselves the Codgers" held their lodge at the "Red Lion " in the New Cut, Lambeth, which was at the top of the street then known as New Lambeth Marsh Road, the " Dover Castle" being at one corner and the " Red Lion " at the other. The Society of College Youths were accus- tomed to meet at the " Half Moon " in Cheap- side, 1766 ('A Merry Come-Twang,' p. 5). The bers it was instituted to promote " union and friendly feeling." It was required of each member that he be " introduced to the Cocker! Hat of the Society of Antiquaries." In the magna charta of the club it is not stated where it met, but it was apparently a very exclusive coterie. The Society of Cockneys.—The Friendly Society of Cockneys held their annual meet- ing at the "Jerusalem Tavern," St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell. sicie, net* {-A Merry oome-i wang, p. 5). The " Half Moon," latterly known as the " New London Tavern," ceased to be a tavern in 1817. A fire destroyed the whole in 1821, when No. 140, Cheapside, was built on its site. The Committee of Taste, i.e., of culinary taste, was a club which held its meetings at the " Old Drury Tavern," No. 50, Catherine Street, Strand, and was composed of "philo- sophers, anatomists, and metaphysicians," but their meeting-place was then known as " Mollard's," in compliment to the proprietor,