Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/67

 9-s.vn.jAK.i9.i9oi.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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what enigmatical entry " uas, s. paulus, fcetels, bydel" (5112). Most editors have, naturally enough, taken bydel to be synonymous with fatels, and have defined it as a "vessel," connecting it with byden. Dr. Napier, however, holds that it is only vas which is glossed by fvetel*, and that bydel was intended to elucidate S. Paulus as being the an- nouncer (beadle) or preacher of the Gospel. He mi"ht have added for it is not obvious to every- bodythat the allusion is to the apostle being " a chosen vessel," vas dectionis (Vulg., Acts ix. 15). The editor rejects Leo's p<zciff, cunning, on the ground that it depends upon pceciyere, which is itself a miswriting of patigere, the gloss upon collide (4980) ; but surely some such form is postulated by the Scottish pawky. In cucedreaiv, redivivus, Leo has manufactured a monster by running two words into one, i.e., cuced rceiv (quickened corpse), which form the gloss on cadauer rediuiuum (2213).

These instances are enough to show how warily and circumspectly an editor must pick his steps through the hidden pitfalls with which interlinear glosses abound. Dr. Napier is eminently keen- sighted, and if he gives a word his imprimatur we feel that we may have full confidence in his judg- ment and sagacity. Many of his foot-notes contain valuable matter for the etymologist. W T e may instance his remarks on "occa, ear, fealh," i.e., a harrow, where he makes it plain that " fallow means, not the yellowish soil, as Prof. Skeat and others have thought, but land ploughed or broken up by the harrow (A.-S. ftalga, ; of. Kluge, a.v. 4 Felge').

A Short History of English Printing, 1478-1898. By

Henry R. Plomer. (Kegan Paul & Co.)

To the " English Bookman's Library" of Mr. Alfred

Pollard Mr. Plomer has added 'A Short History

of English Printing.' That the epithet "short" is

well merited none will doubt, considerably less

than three hundred pages serving to carry the

account of English printers from William Caxton

to William Morris. Brief as it is, however, ii

supplies almost all that is known. Caxton, o

course, stands apart, and all concerned with biblio

graphical studies are bound to know the life by

Blades, to say nothing of previous lives by Charles

Knight and others. Printing in England has

been neglected. It was established here later

than in most European countries, and after it

birth it experienced a long period of decrepitude

While the Elzevirs were giving to the world the

matchless volumes which are still the delight o

the bibliophile, our printers were issuing work*

only less contemptible in respect of paper am

print than those of some obscure German presses

Nobody has, accordingly, cared to do for the pro

ductions of the English press what Renouard die

for the Alduses, Willems for the Elzevirs, Mr

Christie for Dolet, and other writers for th

Etiennes and the Didots, the Cazins, the Plantins

and even for Pierre Marteau and other less re

nowned printers of the Netherlands. So muc

ignorance, indeed, prevails concerning man

English printers that it seems probable that w

shall never be able to recover lost headway. No

insensible are we to the service that has bee

rendered in England by the publication by Pro

. Arber of the Registers of the Stationers' Compan

up to 1640 and to other contemplated obligation

on his part. We have also a Bibliographical Societ

which does something in a fragmentary way, bu

has as yet shown no strong tendency to concerted action. We are glad, accordingly, to take Mr. Plomer's book as a step in the right direction, and to own it the best work in its class that we possess. We should be sorry, however, to look upon it as final. Concerning John Day a good deal of infor- ation is supplied. There are other sixteenth- entury printers who remain names and little more, .r. Plomer, who is one of the most erudite of our )ibliographers, says which is, of course, true lat "the art of printing in England had never at ny time reached such a point of excellence as in } aris under the Estiennes, in Antwerp under Ian tin, or in Venice under the Aldi." He might ave added in Florence, and subsequently in yons, under the Giunti in Milan, and in many ther places. When the book reaches a second dition, we should like a chapter not very losely associated, it must be owned, with the ubject concerning the English books printed broad during the period of the Commonwealth, ome of them are before us, including the first nd highly esteemed ' Methode et Invention ^ouvelle de dresser les Chevaux,' printed in Antwerp in 1657. The volume has for frontis- )iece a good portrait of William Morris. Other )ortraits are those of Caslon, Baskerville, and 'ante de mieux, we suppose Sir Roger L'Estrange. t reproduces many printers' marks and facsimiles f types, and, by special permission, two pages from Kelmscott Press productions. Country presses, or, as Mr. Plomer elects to call them, " provincial )resses," are also dealt with, and due honour is done )urgh presses of Ballantyne and Constable. The enowned modern presses of Eyre & Spottiswoode and Whittingham come naturally within the cheme.
 * o the Glasgow press of Foulis and to the Edin-

With (Bell

Julius Ccesar ; Two Gentlemen^of Verona.

ihn

Dennis.

Introductions and Notes by Jol

& Sons.)

Two more volumes of the "Chiswick Shakespeare" lave appeared under the editorship of Mr. John Dennis, and with the illustrations of Mr. Byam shaw. The qualities of accurate text, clear and egible type, and pretty exteriors are as notable in these as in the previous volumes, and the suc- cessive books, which are suited for almost every purpose, are specially suited to be slipped into the pocket when the possessor is going to one of those performances of Shakespeare which are now happily coming once more into fashion.

Dr. Johnson's Table-Talk. (Gay & Bird.) THIS little work, not to be confounded with the Johnsoniana ' or the ' Beauties,' has been edited by Mr. Potter Briscoe, and included in the pretty series of the " Bibelots." The selection is well made, and the source is in every instance indicated.

The Clergy Directory and Parish Guide for 1901.

(Phillips.)

THIS best and most indispensable of guides to the clergy appears earlier than usual, no doubt as a tribute to the new century. It retains easily its supremacy, showing, in the case of the 'Alpha- betical List of the Clergy,' qualification, order, and appointment, with dates ; and in that of ' Parishes and Parochial Districts,' diocese, popula- tion, incumbent, annual income, and patron. It has also a patrons' list, showing the distribution of