MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS. 47 Lord Stratford de Redcliffe's Alfred the Great in Athelnay; with a preliminary scene, LARGE PAPER, demy 8vo. hf. Roxburghe, £1. 11s 6d The entire impression was limited to 250 copies, and 20 copies for sale on Large Paper. "Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, though not a poet in any high sense of the word, writes neat and polished lines with great facility; he has adopted the account of Alfred's retreat to Athelnay from some life of St. Neot. Hilda is the young lady of the piece. She is betrothed to Cedric, and there is a quaint scene in which Guthrum, the Danish king, makes love to her. Hilda mentions that there is a prior attachment, and Guthrum answers in the spirit of King Valoroso when he said to Betsinda, 'Never mind the young men, my dear, but deign to look on a middle-aged despot, who has been thought not ill-looking in his day.' At last Guthrum gets impatient, and 'Bethink thee well, proud girl-I need not sue; You're in my power-a word, and force might seize What love and love's blind fondness fail to win. Hilda: Thou darest not, king, thou canʼst not stoop so low, 1876 Thy nature, weak, not bad, restrains thy will; Guth. (apart) I feel abased, "Tis not the dagger, 'tis not love's revenge; Her maiden virtue masters my intent, And leaves me baffled, cowed but little cured.' "Alfred has the usual scenes, often represented by English art of our day with the burnt cake, 'his oaten charge,' the old woman, and the Danes in camp. There is a battle, in which Wulfrida kills an English traitor, the Peace of Wedmore is transacted in blameless blank verse, and the play ends with the wedding of Hilda and Cedric, and with the songs of a chorus of converted Danes. It will be seen that the interest of the play is not concentrated, but then it is very varied. There is the revival of Alfred, the love affair of Hilda, the conversion of the Danes, and it would be hard to say which of these themes is made the most prominent. The scattered lyrics are fluent and spirited."— Academy, March 18th, 1876, p. 258. Lundy's Monumental Christianity, or the Art and Symbolism of the Primitive Church as witnesses and teachers of the one Catholic faith and practice, sm. 4to. about 500 pp. with several large plates and over 200 woodcuts, cloth gilt, £1. 118 6d New York, 1876 Valuable as a work on early Christian art, with figures of all the monuments described, and comprising many curious items of information in its text. The author's theories need not be taken into account, although he brings Agni, Mithra, and Horus to their support. 66 "The parallelism of the Christian and Pagan ideas on certain points is, as might be expected, carefully pointed out, with very interesting results. One of the best chapters is the last, on Resurrection and Life Everlasting, as displayed in Ancient Art, Pagan and Christian.'" Athenæum, August 19th, 1876, p. 246. Mr. Lundy describes his subject as 'The Art and Symbolism of the Primitive Church, as witnesses and teachers of the one Catholic Faith and Practice.' He has written a learned work, spending on it an infinite amount of pains, which have not told as much as they might have done, for want of critical sagacity. The most interesting and, as it seems to us, the most valuable portion of it, is the comparison drawn with elaborate care between the symbolism of Christianity and that of other beliefs. Mr. Lundy is not afraid of tracing these resemblances; on the contrary, he finds in them a welcome significance. There is a good deal of information on this topic which it would not be easy to find collected elsewhere. The plan of the work is, after an introductory chapter, and chapters dealing with the subjects of The Structure of Catacombs,' 'The Necessity and ArtTeaching of the Catacombs,' and The Disciplina Arcani, the Mysteries,' to treat separately of each article of the Creed, and to find the testimony to its reception by the Church in the monuments of primitive times. Mr. Lundy writes generally in a candid and liberal spirit, and it is a pity that he should be so ill-advised as to speak in one place of the proud State Church of England' as * neglecting the poor.' This Church has many faults, but this is not and never has been one of them. It has never neglected the poor, even when it has allied itself with the narrowest views of their rights as citizens. This is a remarkably handsome and well got up volume, adorned, too, with an abundance of excellent illustrations."-The Spectator, July 8th, 1876. "The author has collected a great mass of matter from the early monuments of the Church and from the religious sculptures and inscriptions of the East, illustrative sometimes only of the author's particular crotchets concerning the relation of false creeds to the true, but occasionally throwing valuable light upon the antiquity of particular doctrines and ideas, and even documents; as when several Christian sculptures of the second century are produced to show that the parable of the Vine (and therefore the fourth Gospel, in which alone that parable is found) had already taken a strong and general hold on the mind of the Church.-Saturday Review, May 27th, 1876." Manx Dictionary: KELLY'S (Dr. John) MANX DICTIONARY, in 2 parts: I. Manx and English; II. English and Manx: Fockleyrn Maninagh as Baarlagh, edited by the Rev. W. Gill, 2 vols. in 1, 8vo. viii. and 432 pp. double columns, (pub. 21s) cloth, 158 Douglas, Manx Society, 1866 The Council of the Manx Society repose full confidence in the judgment of the Rev. Mr. Gill. As the authorised Translator of the Acts of Tynwald into Manx, he holds the highest place of authority as to the living Manx language. He has had long experience in preaching, and in the other duties of a Manx Parish Clergyman. As the Editor of their edition of Dr. Kelly's Manx Grammar, he has already placed the Manx Society in his debt. And now, with such coadjutors as Messrs. Clarke and Moseley, Mr. Gill's edition of Dr. Kelly's great work, must command the confidence of all Manxmen, and be an abiding monument of the final stage of the fast-disappearing dialect of the Celtic language, indigenous to the Isle of Man. Manx Grammar: KELLY'S Manx Grammar, 8vo. (pub. at 108 6d) cloth, 78 6d Reprinted, 1870 This work has hitherto been very scarce; B. Q. has reprinted a small edition. Marlborough Gems. præstantioribus desumptus, quæ in Dactyliothecis Ducis Marlburiensis conservantur, 2 vols. folio, 100 fine engravings by Bartolozzi, from drawings by Cipriani, with descriptions in Latin and French, half morocco, uncut, £7. 10s Hitherto very scarce and often selling for twenty guineas. 1845 The Collection of Works in Cameo and Intaglio, formed by the third Duke of Marlborough and known as the "Marlborough Gems," has for nearly a century deservedly possessed a wide reputation. To the archaeologist, the cabinet at Blenheim has always possessed a singular interest, from its including the collection of gems which had been formed by the famous Earl of Arundel, who, during the troubled time of Charles I., found a solace for the abridgment of his dignities in collecting works of art and monuments of antiquity. The entire Collection was sold in June, 1875, for £35,750. The present work is a reimpression of the two splendid volumes, printed and distributed by the third Duke of Marlborough in 1780 and 1791, wherein a hundred of the most remarkable pieces in his Collection are described and figured. Only a limited impression was printed at the expense of the Duke of Marlborough. This issue is in every respect the same as that of 1781-90; of which Hibbert's copy sold for £71. 88, and Combe's for £98. McLennan's Primitive Marriage, under the title: STUDIES IN ANCIENT HISTORY, comprising a reprint of PRI- The subject of primitive marriage is here investigated upon the broadest basis by an eminent jurist, whose clear philosophical mode of treating this great subject has been gratefully acknowledged by the anthropologists and jurists of all countries. The first edition of Mr. McLennan's book was out of print soon after its appearance. "Habit has made it so natural to think of the union of single pairs in marriage, and of the association of their children, with the addition in Rome and Greece of their slaves, as the family,' that most people accept the institution as natural and look on it as of primeval antiquity. We hear of the primitive Aryan,' with his lawful wife,' in his den, without asking how he came to have a 'lawful wife,' and who sanctioned the solemnization of matrimony. If a few travellers' tales have been reported of more scandalous arrangements, they have been received, from the time of Herodotus, as travellers' tales of no great importance."-Daily News, October 28th, 1876. This dainty volume, prettily printed and quaintly bound, is a reprint of a very interesting work published in 1865, on the remarkable and universal theory and practice of all known nations, that some "survival" of an original "capture" remains in marriage ceremonies. Mr. McLennan has not merely produced a very learned but even an amusing work, and his elaborate researches into the marriage customs of all tribes and times are full of interest. These early examples of woman's rights or wrongs are well worth reading, and although the subject may seem dry. and the question out of general interest, the book will be found to be a most readable and really valuable work on the status of women in all ages and at all times, and on the curious ceremonies which have been associated with the various forms of marriage all over the world. Mr. F. Porter Smith, F.R.G.S., Shepton Mallett, writes: "It may interest the reviewers of Mr. McLennan's 'Studies in Ancient History, to know that there are evidences of primal precedence having been given in China to the female element. The Yin (female) is always placed before the Yang (male) in conversation and in literature. The common phrase designating the two sexes of animals is Pin mau, female and male.' This is remarkable in China, where the woman is so ntirely ignored.” MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS. 49 Makamat; or, Rhetorical Anecdotes of Abu'l Kasem al Hariri, of Basra, translated into English Verse and Prose; and illustrated with Annotations, by the Rev. T. PRESTON, 8vo. cloth, 168 1850 Makkari. THE HISTORY OF THE MOHAMMEDAN DY NASTIES IN SPAIN, translated by PASCUAL DE GAYANGOS, 2 vols. 4to. cloth, reduced from £3. 8s to £2. 28 1840 the same, 2 vols. royal 4to. LARGE PAPER, cloth, reduced from £4. 4s to £2. 128 6d 1840 A most valuable work, the best Mohammedan account of the History of Spain, whilst under the Moorish rule. Indispensable to an Historical Library. Meyrick's (Sir S. R.) Painted Illustrations of ANCIENT ARMS AND ARMOUR: A Critical Inquiry into Ancient Armour as it existed in Europe, but particularly in England, from the Norman Conquest to the Reign of Charles II.; with a Glossary by Sir S. R. MEYRICK. New and greatly improved Edition, corrected throughout by the Author, with the assistance of ALBERT WAY and others, illustrated by more than 100 Plates, splendidly illuminated in gold and silver: also an additional Plate of the Tournament of Locks and Keys, 3 vols. impl. 4to. (pub. £21.) hf. morocco extra, gilt edges, £10. 108 1844 "While the splendour of the decorations of this work is well calculated to excite curiosity, the novel character of its contents, the very curious extracts fram the rare MSS. in which it abounds, and the pleasing manner in which the author's antiquarian researches are prosecuted, will tempt many who take up the book in idleness to peruse it with care. No previous work can be compared, in point of extent, arrangement, science, or utility, with the one now in question. 1st. It for the first time supplies to our Schools of Art correct and ascertained data for costume, in its noblest and most important branch-historical painting. 2nd. It affords a simple, clear, and most conclusive elucidation of a great number of passages in our great dramatic poets-aye, and in the works of those of Greek and Rome-against which commentators and scholiasts have been trying their wits for centuries. 3rd. It throws a flood of light upon the manners, usages, and sports of our ancestors, from the time of the Anglo-Saxons down to the reign of Charles the Second. And, lastly, it at once removes a vast number of idle traditions and ingenious fables, which one compiler of history, copying from another, has succeeded in transmitting through the lapse of four or five hundred years."-Edinburgh Review. The first edition of this work, published in 1824, was printed without the supervision of Sir Samuel Meyrick, who always repudiated it as full of faults, especially in the colouring. Every leaf and plate of the present edition was submitted to his correction, and it was published with his entire approval. Sir Walter Scott describes this collection as "the incomparable Armoury." Meyrick's Engraved Illustrations of Ancient ARMS AND ARMOUR; a Series of 154 very highly finished Etchings of the Collection at Goodrich Court, Herefordshire; engraved by JOSEPH SKELTON, and accompanied by historical and critical disquisitions by the possessor, SIR SAMUEL RUSH MEYRICK, LL.D., &c. 2 vols. imp. 4to. with portrait, (pub. at £11. 11s) hf. bound morocco extra, richly gilt back and gilt edges (uniform with the preceding work), £4. 14s 6d 1854 "We should imagine that the possessors of Dr. Meyrick's former great work would eagerly add Mr. Skelton's as a suitable illustration. Indeed, they are essential companions. In he first they have the History of Arms and Armour; in the second work engravings of all the details." Gentleman's Magazine. Société de l'Orient Latin. Under this name a Society has recently been formed in Paris by French and other Orientalists, for the publication of Medieval Chronicles, Texts, etc. relating to the HOLY LAND, the CRUSADES, and the LATIN EAST in general. The first work (a handsome vol. printed by Fick in Geneva) has appeared, viz. :— Machaut (Guillaume de) La Prise d'Alexandrie, ou Chronique du roi Pierre I de Lusignan, publiée pour la première fois pour la Société de l'Orient Latin par L. de Mas Latrie, 8vo. 327 pp. sd. 10s 6.7 le même, PAPIER VELIN, 8vo. sd. 208 Genève, 1877 1877 Two vols. will appear yearly. The forthcoming work is "Itinera Hierosolymitana Latina," edid. Titus Tobler. Only a limited number of copies will be printed in excess of the number of subscribers. The price is half-a-guinea per vol. and twenty shillings on papier vélin. B. QUARITCH is the Agent for England. Millingen's Ancient Unedited Monuments; comprising Painted Greek Vases, Statues, Busts, Bas Reliefs, and other Remains of Grecian Art, 62 large and beautiful engravings, mostly coloured, with letter-press descriptions, (pub. at £9. 9s) impl. 4to. half morocco, £2. 16s A work greatly esteemed for its judicious selection and extreme accuracy. The most complete work on Ancient Art: 1822 Müller's Ancient Art and its Remains; or a Manual of the Archæology of Art, new edition by Welcker, translated by J. Leitch, 8vo. 644 pp. (pub. at 18s) cloth, 78 6d 1852 "Criticism on this substantive work is unnecessary. Like the author's 'Dorians,' and 'Mythology,' it has taken its place among the best classical interpretations produced by the Modern German school of inquiry. In its own especial line of investigation we have nothing approaching it for accuracy of research and subtlety of appreciation. It is not only an invaluable manual to the reader of Greek history, and the student of Greek art, but a readable and interesting book for every one. Not only is Müller's great work now worthily rendered into English, but with the elucidation of Mr. Leitch, and the additions of Herr Welcker, this is the best and most complete edition yet published." Nisard (Ch.) Histoire des Livres Populaires ou de la Littérature du Colportage depuis le XVe Siècle jusqu' en 1852, 2 thick vols. 8vo. 580 and 590 pp. nearly 100 FACSIMILE WOODCUTS, many of which are printed on INDIA PAPER, and mounted on the text, (present selling price in Paris 40 francs) sewed, £1. 4s Paris, 1854 MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS. 51 Numismata Orientalia. CATALOGUE of the COLLECTION of ORI- the same, 8vo. cloth, 28 6d the same, LARGE PAPER, sm. 4to. cloth, 78 6d 1874 1874 "The coins of the Khalifehs of the House of Umayyeh possess an interest peculiarly their own. Unlike those of the 'Abbāsīs, historically they are of little value. But it is not from the historian's standpoint that we should view them. Their true worth lies in their being the first purely Mohammadan coinage that was issued by the Arabs." The catalogue contains "some thirty or forty unpublished coins. The series which it describes is scarcely, if at all, inferior to the corresponding portion in the British Museum, and an estimate may be formed of the rarities contained in it by reference to the list of Inedited coins at the end." 4. Marwan I. ibn-'Abd-El-Hakim 5. 'Abd-El-Melik ibn-Marwān NUMISMATA. A.H. A.D. 60 64 64 683-4 9. Yezid II. ibn-'Abd-El-Melik 719-20 105 723-4 125 742-3 126 743-+ 126 744 CATALOGUE OF THE ORIENTAL COINS, Vol. II: the Coins of the Mohammed Dynasties, Classes III-X, by Thomas (E.) The Initial Coinage of Bengal introduced by the Muhammadans, A.H. 600 to 800 (A.D. 1203-1397), 8vo. 2 plates and woodcuts, cloth, 38 6d Hertford, 1866 the same, with a SUPPLEMENTARY Part, embracing the preliminary period between A.H. 614-634, 2 parts, 8vo. 3 plates, bds. 78 6d ib. 1866-73 "Towards the end of August, 1863, an unusually large hoard of coins, numbering in all no less than 13,500 pieces of silver, was found in the Protected State of Kooch Bahar, in Northern Bengal. "This accumulation, so singular in its numerical amount, is not the less remarkable in the details of its component elements. It may be said to embrace compactly the records of ten kings, ten mint cities, and to represent 107 years of the annals of the country.' Ordnance Survey Office Publications: Facsimiles of of National Manuscripts of ENGLAND, photozincographed by Sir Henry James, complete, 4 vols. sq. folio, 338 facsimiles of all kinds of Documents, State Papers, Royal Letters, Reports, Despatches, etc. with translations, cloth, £3. 4s Southampton, 1865-68 "The series ranges from the Norman Conquest to the reign of Queen Anne, and in order to invest the work with an additional interest, only such records have been selected for copying as are either historically important or curious in themselves."-Preface. |