Chapter 1

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NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

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"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

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No. 60.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21. 1850. [Price Threepence. Stamped Edition 4d.

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CONTENTS.

Notes:-- Page Division of Intellectual Labour 489 On a Passage in "Love's Labour's Lost" 490 Treatise of Equivocation 490 Parallel Passages, by Albert Cohn 491 Minor Notes:--True or False Papal Bulls--Burning Bush of Sinai--The Crocodile--Umbrella--Rollin's Ancient History, and History of the Arts and Sciences--MSS. of Locke--The Letter [gh]--A Hint to Publishers 491 Queries:-- Bibliographical Queries 492 Minor Queries:--Meaning of "Rab. Surdam"--Abbot Richard of Strata Florida--Cardinal Chalmers--Armorial Bearings--"Fiat Justitia"--Painting by C. Bega--Darcy Lever Church--R. Ferrer--Writers on the Inquisition--Buckden--True Blue--Passage in "Hamlet"--Inventor of a secret Cypher--Fossil Elk of Ireland--Red Sindon--Lights on the Altar--Child's Book by Beloe 493 Replies:-- Mercenary Preacher, by Henry Campkin 495 "The Owl is abroad," by Dr. E.F. Rimbault 495 Old St. Pancras Church, by J. Yeowell 496 Replies to Minor Queries:--Cardinal Allen's Admonition--Bolton's Ace--Portrait of Cardinal Beaton--"He that runs may read"--Sir George Downing--Burning to Death, or Burning of the Hill--The Roscommon Peerage--The Word "after" in the Rubric--Disputed Passage in the "Tempest"--Lady Compton's Letter--Midwives licensed--Echo Song--The Irish Brigade--To save one's bacon--"The Times" Newspaper and the Coptic Language--Luther's Hymns--Osnaburg Bishopric--Scandal against Queen Elizabeth--Pretended reprint of Ancient Poetry--Martin Family--Meaning of "Ge-ho"--Lady Norton 497 Miscellaneous:-- Notes on Books, Sales, Catalogues, &c. 501 Books and Odd Volumes Wanted 501 Notices to Correspondents 502 Advertisements 502

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Notes.

DIVISION OF INTELLECTUAL LABOUR.

Every one confesses, I believe, the correctness of the _principle_ called "Division of labour." But if any one would form an adequate estimate of the ratio of the effect produced, in this way, to the labour which is expended, let him consult Dr. Adam Smith. I think he states, as an example, that a single labourer cannot make more than ten pins in a day; but if eight labourers are employed, and each of them performs one of the eight separate processes requisite to the formation of a pin, there will not merely be eight times the number of pins formed in a day, but nearly eighty times the number. (Not having the book by me, I cannot be certain of the exact statistics.)

If this principle is proved, then, to be of such extraordinary utility, why should it not be made serviceable in other matters besides the "beaver-like" propensity of amassing wealth and satisfying our material desires? Why should not your periodical be instrumental in transferring this invaluable principle to the labours of the intellectual world? If your correspondents were to send you abstracts or _precis_ of the books which they read, would there not accrue a fourfold benefit? viz.:

1. A division of intellectual labour; so that the amount of knowledge available to each person is multiplied in an increasing ratio.

2. Knowledge is thus presented in so condensed a form as to be more easily comprehended at a glance; so that your readers can with greater facility construct or understand the theories deducible from the whole circle of human knowledge.

3. Authors and inquiring men could tell, before expending days on the perusal of large volumes, whether the _particulars_ which these books contain would be suitable to the object they have in view.

4. The unfair criticisms which are made, and the erroneous notions diffused by interested reviewers, would in a great measure be corrected, in the minds, at least, of your readers.

You might object that such _precis_ would be as partial as the reviews of which the whole literary world complain. But, in the first place, these abstracts would be written by literary men who are not dependent on booksellers for their livelihood, and would not therefore be likely to write up trashy books or detract from the merit of valuable works, for the sake of the book trade. And besides, your correspondents give their articles under their signature, so that one could be openly corrected by another who had read the same work. Again, it is only the _leading idea_ of the book which you would require, and no attendant praise or blame, neither eulogistic exordium nor useless appeals to the reader. The author, moreover, might send you the skeleton of his own book, and {490} you would of course give this the prior place in your journal.

Another objection is, that the length of such _precis_ would not permit them to come within the limits of your work. But they _should not_ be long. And even if one of them should take up four or five pages, you could divide it between two or three successive numbers of your periodical. And, besides, your work, by embracing this object, would be greatly increased in utility; the number of your subscribers would be multiplied, and the increased expense of publication would thus be defrayed.

But, if the advantages resulting from such a division of intellectual labour would be as great as I fondly hope, I feel sure that the energy and enterprise which caused you to give a tangible reality to your scheme for "Notes and Queries" would also enable you to overcome all difficulties, and answer all trifling objections.

R.M.

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ON A PASSAGE IN LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST.

In _Love's Labour's Lost_, Act II. Sc. 1., Boyet, speaking of the King of Navarre and addressing the Princess of France, says:

"All his behaviours did make their retire To the court of his eye, peeping thorough desire: His heart, like an agate, with your print impressed, Proud with his form, in his eye pride expressed: His tongue, _all impatient to speak and not see_, Did stumble with haste in his eyesight to be; All senses to that sense did make their repair, To feel only looking on fairest of fair."

This speech is a remarkable specimen of the affected style of compliment prevalent in the time of Elizabeth. The third couplet, at first sight, appears to have a signification exactly opposed to that which the context requires. We should expect, instead of "the tongue all impatient _to speak_," to find "the tongue all impatient _to see_."

No one of the editors of Shakspeare appears to me to have given a satisfactory explanation of this passage. I therefore venture to offer the following.

In the Latin poets (who in this followed the Greeks) we find adjectives and participles followed by the genitive case and the gerund in _di_. Thus in Horace we have "patiens pulveris atque solis," "patiens liminis aut aquae coelestis," and in Silius Italicus (vi. 612.), "vetus bellandi." For other instances, see Mr. Baines' _Art of Latin Poetry_, pp. 56-60.

The Latin poets having taken this license, then proceeded a step further, and substituted the infinitive mood for the gerund in _di_. I cannot find any instance either of "patiens" or "impatiens" used in this connection; but numerous instances of other adjectives and participles followed by the infinitive mood may be found in pp. 68. to 73. of the _Art of Latin Poetry_. I cite two only, both from Horace: "indocilis pauperiem pati," "quidlibet impotens sperare."

Following these analogies, I suggest that the words "impatient to speak and not see" mean "impatient of speaking (impatiens loquendi) and not seeing," i.e., "dissatisfied with its function of speaking, preferring that of seeing."

This construction, at least, renders the passage intelligible.

X.Z.

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TREATISE OF EQUIVOCATION.

(Vol. ii., pp. 168. 446.)

I feel greatly indebted to J.B. for a complete solution of the question respecting this ambiguous book. Bewildered by the frequent reference to it by nearly cotemporaneous writers, I had apprehended it certain, that it had been a _printed_, if not a published work; and that even a second edition had altered the title of the first. It is now certain, that its existence was, and is, only _in manuscript_; and that the alteration was intended only for its first impression, if printed at all. It is a fact not generally known, that many papal productions of the time were multiplied and circulated by copies in MS.: Leycester's _Commonwealth_, of which I have a very neat transcript, and of which many more are extant in different libraries, is one proof of the fact.[1] I observe that in Bernard's very valuable _Bibliotheca MSS., &c._, I had marked under _Laud Misc. MSS._, p. 62. No. 968. 45. _A Treatise against Equivocation or Fraudulent Dissimulation_, what I supposed might be the work in request: but being prepossessed with the notion that the work was in print, I did not pursue any inquiry in that direction. I almost now suspect that this is the very work which J.B. has brought to light. I had hoped during the present year to visit the Bodleian, and satisfy myself with an inspection of the important document. I am additionally gratified with the information relative to the same subject by Mr. Sansom, p. 446. J.B. observes, that the MS. occupies sixty-six pages only. Will no one have the charity for historic literature to make it a public benefit? If with notes, so much the better. It is of far more interest, as history is concerned, and that of our own country, than many of the tracts in the Harleian or Somers' Collections. Parsons's notice of it in his _Mitigation_, and towards the end, as if he was just then made acquainted with it, is very {491} characteristic and instructive. He knew of it well enough, but thought others might not.

Again I say, why not print the work?

J.M.

[We have reason to believe that this important historical document is about to be printed.]

[Footnote 1: _A Memorial for the Reformation in England_, by R.P. (Parsons), of which I have a well transcribed copy, is another. It was published by Gee.]

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PARALLEL PASSAGES.

In Shakspeare's _Henry IV._, Act V. Sc. 4., the Prince exclaims, beholding Percy's corpse,--

"When that this body did contain a spirit, A kingdom for it was too small a bound; But now two paces of the vilest earth Is room enough!"

In Ovid we find the following parallel:--

"... jacet ecce Tibullus, Vix manet e toto parva quod urna capit."

A second one appears in the pretended lines on the sepulchre of Scipio Africanus:--

"Cui non Europa, non obstitit Africa unquam, Respiceres hominem, quem brevis urna premit."

The same reflection we find in Ossian:--

"With three steps I measure thy grave, O thou, so great heretofore!"

It is very difficult indeed to determine in which of these passages the leading thought is expressed best, in which is to be found the most energy, the deepest feeling, the most touching shortness. I think one should prefer the passage of Shakspeare, because the direct mention of the corporal existence gives a magnificent liveliness to the picture, and because the very contrast of the space appears most lively by it; whereas, at the first reading of the other passages, it is not the human being, consisting of body and soul, which comes in our mind, but only the human spirit, of which we know already that it cannot be buried in the grave.

One of the most eminent modern authors seems to have imitated the passage of Shakspeare's _Henry IV_. Schiller, in his _Jungfrau von Orleans_, says:--

"Und von dem maecht'gen Talbot, der die Welt Mit seinem Kriegeruhm fuellte, bleibet nichts Als eine Hand voll leichten Staubs."

(And of the mighty Talbot, whose warlike Glory fill'd the world, nothing remains But a handful of light dust.)

Albert Cohn.

Berlin.

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Minor Notes.

_True or False Papal Bulls_.--

"Utrum bulla papalis sit vera an non.

"Si vis scire utrum literae domini Papae sint veraces vel non, numera punctos quae sunt in bulla. Et si inveneris circulum ubi sunt capita apostolorum habentem 73 punctos, alium vero circulum 46, alium super caput Beati Petri habentem 26, alium super caput Sancti Pauli habentem 25 punctos, et punctos quae sunt in barba 26, veraces sunt; alioquin falsae.--Sir Matthew Hale's _Manuscripts_, Library of Lincoln's Inn, vol. lxxiii. p. 176.

To which may be added, that in digging for the foundations of the new (or present) London Bridge, an instrument was dug up for counterfeiting the seals or Bullae? Where is it now deposited?

J.E.

_Burning Bush of Sinai._--

"Pococke asserts that the monks have planted in their garden a bush similar to those which grow in Europe, and that by the most ridiculous imposture, they hesitate not to affirm that it is the same which Moses saw--the miraculous bush. The assertion is false, and the alleged fact a mere invention."--Geramb's _Pilgrimage to Palestine, &c._, English trans.

March 1. 1847. The bush was exhibited by two of the monks at the back of the eastern apse of the church, but having its root within the walls of the chapel of the burning bush. It was the common English bramble, not more than two years old, and in a very sickly state, as the monks allowed the leaves to be plucked by the English party then in the convent. The plant grows on the mountain, and therefore could be easily replaced.

Viator.

_The Crocodile_ (Vol. ii., p. 277.).--February, 1847, a small crocodile was seen in the channel, between the island of Rhoda and the right bank of the Nile.

Viator.

_Umbrella._--It was introduced at Bristol about 1780. A lady, now eighty-three years of age, remembers its first appearance, which occasioned a great sensation. Its colour was red, and it probably came from Leghorn, with which place Bristol at that time maintained a great trade. Leghorn has been called Bristol on a visit to Italy.

Viator.

_Rollin's Ancient History, and History of the Arts and Sciences._--Your correspondent Iota inquires (Vol. ii., p. 357.), "How comes it that the editions" (of Rollin) "since 1740 have been so castrated?" i.e. divested of an integral portion of the work, the _History of the Arts and Sciences_. It is not easy to state _how_ this has come to pass. During the last century comparatively little interest was felt in the subjects embraced in the _History of the Arts and Sciences_; and _probably_ the publishers might on that account omit this portion, with the view of making the book cheaper and more saleable. It is more difficult to assign any reason why Rollin's Prefaces to the various sections of his _History_ should have been mutilated and manufactured into a _general_ Introduction or Preface, to make up which the whole of chap. iii. book x. was also taken out of its proper place and order. A more remarkable instance of merciless distortion of an {492} author's labours is not to be found in the records of literature. Iota may take it as a fact--and that a remarkable one--that since 1740 there had appeared no edition of Rollin having any claim to integrity, until the one edited by Bell, and published by Blackie, in 1826, and reissued in 1837.

Veritas.

Glasgow, Dec. 7. 1850.

_MSS. of Locke._--E.A. Sandford, Esq., of Nynehead, near Taunton, has a number of valuable letters, and other papers, of Locke, and also an original MS. of his _Treatise on Education_. Locke was much at Chipley in that neighbourhood, for the possessor of which this treatise was, I believe composed.

W.C. Trevelyan.

_The Letter [gh]_.--Dr. Todd, in his _Apology for the Lollards_, published by the Camden Society, alludes to the pronunciation of the old letter [gh] in various words, and remarks that "it has been altogether dropped in the modern spelling of [gh]erş, 'earth,' fru[gh]t, 'fruit,' [gh]erle, 'earl,' abi[gh]d, 'abide.'" The Doctor is, however, mistaken; for I have heard the words "earl" and "earth" repeatedly pronounced, in Warwickshire, _yarl_ and _yarth_.

J.R.

_A Hint to Publishers_ (Vol. ii., p. 439.) reminds me of a particular grievance in Alison's _History of Europe_. I have the first edition, but delay binding it, there being no index. Two other editions have since been published, possessing each an index. Surely the patrons and possessors of the first have a claim upon the Messrs. Blackwood, independent of the probability of its repaying them as a business transaction.

T.S.

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Queries.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL QUERIES.

(Continued from p. 441.)

(25.) Has there been but a single effort made to immortalise among printers Valentine Tag? Mercier, Abbe de Saint-Leger, in his _Supplement a l'Hist. de l'Imprimerie_, by Marchand, p. 111., accuses Baron Heinecken of having stated that this fictitious typographer set forth the _Fables Allemandes_ in 1461. Heinecken, however, had merely quoted six German lines, the penultimate of which is

"An Sant Valantinus Tag,"

intimating only that the work had been concluded on St. Valentine's day.

(26.) Can there be any more fruitful source of error with respect to the age of early printed books than the convenient system of esteeming as the primary edition that in which the date is for the first time visible? It might be thought that experienced bibliographers would invariably avoid such a palpable mistake; but the reverse of this hypothesis is unfortunately true. Let us select for an example the case of the _Vita Jesu Christi_, by the Carthusian Ludolphus de Saxonia, a work not unlikely to have been promulgated in the infancy of the typographic art. Panzer, Santander, and Dr. Kloss (189.) commence with an impression at Strasburg, which was followed by one at Cologne, in 1474. Of these the former is mentioned by Denis, and by Bauer also (ii. 315.). Laire notes it likewise (_Ind. Par._, i. 543.: cf. 278.), but errs in making Eggestein the printer, as no account of him is discernible after 1472. (Meerman, i. 215.) Glancing at the misconceptions of Maittaire and Wharton, who go no farther back than the years 1478 and 1483 respectively, let us return to the suppressed _editio princeps_ of 1474. De Bure (_Theol._, pp. 121-2.) records a copy, and gives the colophon. He says, "Cette edition, qui est l'originale de cet ouvrage, est fort rare;" and his opinion has been adopted by Seemiller (i. 61.), who adds, "Litteris impressum est hoc opus sculptis." In opposition to all these eminent authorities, I will venture to express my belief that the earliest edition is one which is _undated_. A volume in the Lambeth collection, without a date, and entered in Dr. Maitland's _List_, p. 42., is thus described therein: "Folio, eights, Gothic type, col. 57 lines;" and possibly the printer's device (_List_, p. 348.) might be appropriated by I. Mentelin, of Strasburg. To this book, nevertheless, we must allot a place inferior to what I would bestow upon another folio, in which the type is particularly Gothic and uneven, and in which each of the double columns contains but forty-seven lines, and the antique initial letters sometimes used are plainly of the same xylographic race as that one with which the oldest _Viola Sanctorum_ is introduced. It may be delineated, in technical terms, as being _sine loco, anno, et nomine typographi. Car. sigg., paginarum num. et custodd. Vocum character majusculus est, ater, crassus, et rudis._ Why should not Mentz have been the birthplace of this book? for there it appears that the author's MS. was "veneratione non parva" preserved, and there he most probably died. I would say that it was printed between 1465 and 1470. It is bound up with a _Fasciculus Temporum_, Colon. 1479, which looks quite modern when compared with it, and its beginning is: "De Vita hiesu a venerabili viro fratro (_sic_) Ludolpho Cartusiensi edita incipit feliciter." The leaves are in number forty-eight. At the end of the book itself is, "Explicit vita ihesu." Then succeeds a leaf, on the recto of which is a table of contents for the entire work and after its termination we find: "Explicit vita cristi de quatuor ewagelistis et expositone doctorum sanctorum sumpta."

(27.) Upon what grounds should Mr. Bliss (Vol. ii., p. 463.) refuse to be contented with the {493} very accurate reprint of Cardinal Allen's _Admonition to the Nobility and People of England and Ireland_, with a Preface by Eupator (the Rev. Joseph Mendham), London, Duncan, 1842?

(28.) In an article on Ticknor's _History of Spanish Literature_, in the _Quarterly Review_ for last September, p. 316, we read:

"The second _Index Expurgatorius_ ever printed was the Spanish one of Charles V. in 1546."

Was the critic dreaming when he wrote these words? for, otherwise, how could he have managed to compress so much confusion into so small a space? To say nothing of "the _second_" Expurgatory Index, the _first_ was not printed until 1571; and this was a _Belgic_, not a "_Spanish_ one." It is stamped by its title-page as having been "in Belgia concinnatus," and it was the product of the press of Plantin, at Antwerp. With regard to the _Indices Expurgatorii_ of Spain, the earliest of them was prepared by the command of Cardinal Quiroga, and issued by Gomez, typographer-royal at Madrid, in 1584. The copy in my hand, which belonged to Michiels, is impressed with his book-mark "premiere edition." Will the writer in the _Quarterly Review_ henceforth remember that an _Expurgatory_ Index is essentially different from one of the _Prohibitory_ class? But even though he should faithfully promise to bear this fact in mind, his misreport as to the year "1546" must not remain uncensured; for this was not the date of the "second" appearance of an imperial _mandement_. There was an ordinance published for the restraint of the press, not only in 1544, but also in 1540, and even in 1510. For the last, see Panzer, vii. 258.

(29.) What is the nearest approach to certainty among the attempts successfully to individuate the ancient relater of _Mirabilia Romae_? That he lived in the thirteenth century seems to be admitted; and the work, as put forth in Montfaucon's _Diarium Italicum_ (pp. 283-298.), will be found to differ considerably from the edition, in 12mo. with the arms of Pope Leo X. on the title-page.

(30.) "_Antiquitas Saeculi Juventus Mundi._"--The discussion in your pages (Vol. ii., pp. 218. 350. 395. 466.) of the origin of this phrase has so distinctly assumed a bibliographical aspect, that I feel justified on the present occasion in inquiring from your various correspondents whether, while they have been citing Bacon and Bruno, Whewell and Hallam, they have lost sight of the beautiful language of the author of the Second Book of Esdras (chap. xiv. 10.)?

"The world hath lost his youth, and the times begin to wax old."

"Saeculum perdidit juventutem suam, et tempora appropinquant senescere."--_Biblia_, ed. Paris, 1523.

R.G.