Reviews.

gical enquiry and authentic history ; but , as the French sa )' , "tous les ' gouts' sont respectables , " we notice the appearance of this new work , and commend it to all who understand German , and can safely think and decide for themselves .

THE CITY DIARY ( W . H . and L . Collingridge , City Press ) . —This is the nineteenth year of the publication of this useful and carefully compiled Diary . _ Besides the usual space for appointments , etc ., it contains even thing we should imagine necessary to be known in connexion with the Corporation and the City of London generally , and its correctness is sufficiently guaranteed by its being issued from the offices of the Ciiv Press .

BLACKWOOD ' S SHILLING _ DIARY . —This , too , is an excellent shiling'sworth , its principal merits being a large space for entries and good paper . WARD AND LOCK ' S ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE WoRLD , Parts I . and II . ( London : Ward , Lock , and Co ., Salisbury-square ) . —That there is room for such a history as this , which , we are told , is "for the British

People , " is beyond question ; but we confess we were surprised to find , after a pretty careful notice of the letterpress and illustrations , that so much excellent matter , so admirably illustrated , could be supplied at the singularly moderate cost of 7 d . each part . The is-ue is monthly , and twenty-eight parts will complete the work . We commend it to the notice o' our readers , especially

to those vvho have rising families , with whom such a work cannot fail to prove most welcome . AMATEUR WORK , Part i ( London : Ward , Lock & Co ) . —This is the first number of a new serial publication , and is edited by the author of" Every Man his own Mechanic . " The contents are very various , and include articles on "Modelling in Clay ; " a "Japanese Cabinet for China

and Bric-a-Brac , " the sketches and working drawings being contained in a supplement ; "Insect Taxidermy ;" " Amateurs in Council , " and "Notes on Novelties" by the Editor . The device on the serial , "Help and Guidance for Self Helpers " sufficiently indicates the character , so that we need not say more than that the work is likely to prove as useful as it is interesting .

CASSELL ' S ILLUSTRATED ALMANAC , 1 SS 2 , ( Cassell , Pelter , and Galpin , London , Paris , and New York ) . — Contains a mass of information , and is , in all respects , worthy of the high reputation of this enterprising firm . CASSELL ' S ILLUSTRATED UNIVERSAL HISTORV , Part I . ; CASSELL ' S CITIES OF THE WORLD , Pa * t 1 .: Illustrated . — These are the opening numbers of two vcry

important publications , whicii have been conceived , and seem likely to be carried out , with that judgment , fulness , and ability which have invariably distinguished this class of work in the hands of the Alessrs . Cassell and their able editorial and artistic staff . With Part I . of the Historv is issued a large presentation plate , by Mr . Alma-Tadema ,

R . A . It represents " An Audience at Agnppa s , and the mere mention of the artist's name is a guarantee of its merits . As to the contents and illustrations of both serials , the publishers must be congratulated on the excellence of their character . The former is well-written ; the latter are well-drawn .

SALE OF THE SUNDERLAND OR BLENHEIM LIBRARY . It has long been our intention to devote regularly a considerable portion of our space to such matters in connection with the world of letters as are likely to attract the attention of our readers . Along-established feature of the Freemason has been the discussion of archreological

questions , both in relation to and outside the pale of Masonry . Old works , such as those of Ashmole , Picart , tite ., are constantly being referred to , and portions of their contents analyzed or discussed . From time to time also we have noticed sundry of the magazines ; and occasionally a few , among the multitude of books which are published year after year for our edification or amusement , have

passed under review . But latterly it has occurred to us that , while strictly preserving our original character of a Masonic journal , we might make our columns more generally interesting by inserting reviews of current literature , in addition to the old Masonic Notes and Queries , which are mostly literary . By adopting this course we make our columns acceptable to the general , as well as

to the Masonic reader , and by thus appealing lo a more extended circle , we must of necessity do more than cer we have been able to do as yet towards awakening the sympathy and respect of the public on behalf of our Fraternity . Far be it from us to suggest that such additional sympathy is indispensable to its welfare . The scope and character of Freemasonry has become

pretty widely known during the last few years , and it is generally recognised that the more the public understand about the principles of the Craft , the more unaffectedly do they appreciate it . Therefore , an increase in the sympathy and respect of the outer vvotld , albeit not indispensable , cannot be at all likely to prove detrimental to our interests . With this in our mind's eye we have lately extended our

' general tidings " columns , our Masonic intelligence being the while , if anything , fuller , more accurate , and more precise than ever . We are now about to venture in another direction , and shall do our best to make the Freemason an organ of literary as well as of Masonic opinion ; and we do not see how we cm better enter on this task than oy drawing attention to the dispersion bv public auction of

the great Sunderland or Blenheim Library . Great sales ° f libraries , such as that of the Duke of Roxburghe , in J 812 . of Sir M . M . Sykes in 1824 , of the Fonthill or "eckford Collection in 1 S 27 , of Mr . R . Heber ' s in 1 S 34-O , have taken , place , but wc question if any of them ¦ V "' be fot / hij to have excited a im ater detrree of interest

UlWthe sale which commenced on 'Thursday , the 1 st inst ., ?!?* '" ^ cont ' nuecl—Sundays excepted—till Monday , "VfSfeth inst ., inclusive . It must be remembered also tint tne auction now proceeding relates to only one fnurtli pari ° t the whole collection , the . disposal of the second instalment or section being announced as likely to take plac * about April of next year , and the two remaining sections at

Reviews.

times yet undecided upon . Thus the catalogue we are about to describe , somewhat more minutely than in a former number , may be said to convey only a fourth part of the idea of the great merits of this splendid library . It is not improbable that the loss ot an individual may in some measure result in the public good , and that our national library at the British Museum , as well as our University and other libraries , may be enriched by some

among the best of the literary treasures of Blenheim now in process of being scattered to the four winds of Heaven . It is not the less to be regretted , however , that so large and varied an accumulation of rare books should be dispersed . As regards the Sunderland Library , the property of a nobleman , which had taken years to collect , the country felt a certain amount of pride in knowing that many ot the most valued book treasures of the world were

to be found within tbe limits of the United Kingdom . Its regret will be commensurately great when it realises that this collection has been broken up . Fine libraries , as we have said before , have been disposed of ere now , but it seldom happens that one so historically famous is offered for sale at a public auction . Of sales that have taken place during the present century may be mentioned those of the Duke of Koxburghe ' s

library , in 1 S 12 , the Fonthill , in 1 S 27 , the _ Heber Library , in the years 1 S 34-C , and the Duke of Sussex ' s , in 1 S 44 . The last-named was remarkable by reason of the large and rare collection of theological books and MSS . That of Mr . Richard Heber , sometime M . P . for thc University of Oxford , and half-brother of Reginald Heber , Bishop ot

Calcutta , was sold at intervals during the years mentioned —the catalogue being in nine parts . If our memory serves us aright , tlie days it lasted were 166 , and the amount realised tr-rer £ 47 , 000 . The sale of the library of the D ke of Roxburghe occupied forty-two days , and though the collection is said to have cost his Grace not more than

£ . 5000 , the sale produced £ 23 , 314 . One lot that was disposed of calls for special note . It was a copy—believed to be the only perfect one in existence—of the " Decameron " of Boccaccio , printed at Venice , by Valdarler , in 1471 , being the first edition that was issued with a date . Tins was in the first instance purchased by the Duke of Roxburg (; nd ) for £ 100 , and led to his son , the third Duke , indulging in tlie praiseworthy occupation , or mania , as

some aro pleased to call it , of book collecting . At the death of the latter , his library , as we have said , vvas sold by auction , and , after a long and eager compet . tion , in winch the famous book collectors , Earl Spencer , who died in 1 S 34 , the Marquis of Blandtord of that day , and the then Uui-e of Devonshire toon part , the Earl bid £ 22 . 50 , which the Marquis capped with £ 2260 , and so secured the coveted worn . Strange to say , at the Wnite Knight ' s sale ,

a few yeais laler , when the same Marquis of lilandiord ' s works were sola , the book was puichased by his old rival . Earl Spencer , foi , 1 , 900 . We should great . y like to say more about this Roxburghe sale , butthe demands on our spa . c must not be overlooked , and for the present tve must content ourselves with giving a short sketch of the sale now in progress . 'The catalogue comprises no less than 2700 lots , among

whicii are very many , the mere mention of which must make the mouth water of the niost enthusiastic bibliophile . Ot Greek and Latin classical authors the specimens are numerous as well as valuable ; in some instances , indeed , they may be set down as almost beyond price , these being in each case distinguishable from the less imposing copies by the magic words " first edition , " or "ed-tio pnnceps . " Lot 101 , comprises three rare books , of which one is the

"/ Esop" of Pynson , of 1502 . Of No . 150 , the work of Albertinus " de Mirabilibus novce et veteiis urbis Roma * , " in 4 to ., Rome , 1 5 10 , printed on vellum , we are told only two or three copies are known . No . 249 is the first twelve books of " Amadis de Gaule" in French , printed at Paris , 1540-56 ; while No . 250 consists ol the twenty-one books of thc same , also in French , but printed at Lyons , 1577-S 1 , and is stated to be a " very rare edition , not often found

complete . " Nn . 2 S 5 is an edition in vellum of the Odes of Anacreon , Paris , 1554 ; and No . 40 S , a first edition , also on vellum , of the 'Argonautics of Apollonius Rhodius , " Florence , 149 G , Macarthy ' s copy of whicii sold for 1755 IV . ( £ 70 4 s . ); while No . 409 includes a first edition , on paper , ot the same work bound up with the " Argonautics of Orpheus , " Junta edition , 1500 , the former having fetched nine guineas . and the latter £ ' 14 at Hibbert ' s sale . Nos . 443 ,

"Apuleuis , 1469 , and 454 , Ihomas Aquinas' "Commentary on the Gospels of SS . Matthew , Luke , and John , " 14 G 7 , are from the press of Sweynheim and Pannarz . Nos . 502-523 , both inclusive , are all copies of the " Orlando Furioso" of Ariosto , either original or translated , several of them being marked as rare or exceedingly rare . From 555 to 03 S are editions of the different works of the great Aristotle , No . 5 G 7 , the Nicomacha ? an Ethics , Siveynheim and

Pannartz , 1473 , and No . G 12 , the " Poetics , in Latin , Aldine edition , Venice , 153 G . R . Arnold ' s rare old " Chronicle , " black letter , without place , date , or name of printer , will be found at No . 649 ; while No . 670 is a fine MS ., in bold Gothic characters , ol " Le Roman du Roi Artus ct les Compagnons de la Table Ronde , " in two volumes , of about the fourteenth century , each volume containing several beautiful miniatures painted in colours and illuminated in

gold . No . 731 , Augustine , " De Civitate Dei , printed on vellum , is from the press of J . and V . de Spira , Venice , 1470 , besides which there are several other editions of this or other works of the same distinguished author . Nos . 1299 to 1465 are different editions of the Bible—Polyglot , Hebrew , Greek , Latin , English , Spanish , French , Italian , tic ., No . 133 G being a Latin Bible in MS . of about the fourteenth century . No . 337 , also Latin , in two volumes ,

from the l ' urst and Schoiffer press , is described as being in better condition than TL Perkins ' s copy , whicii in 1 S 70 was sold for £ lSo . No . 13 S 9 is a copy ol the " Sixtine bible , " suppressedby Pope Gregory XlV . ; No . 1413 , of Cranmer ' s , or " the Great" Bible , E . Whitchurche , 1541 ; No . 1424 , Bible ( English ) , on vellum , Oxford , 1717 , known as the " Vinegar " Bible . Two other copies only are mentioned by Lowndes , one being in the Royal and the other in the Bodliean Library , so that this is likely to be the only copy

offered for sale . Among other editions rt presented is the lirst of the "Bear" Bible ( Spanish ) , so called from the device on title , Cardinal Ximencs' and Walton ' s Polyglot liibles , & c . It is lime , however , we hurried to the close of our enumeration , lioccaccio is numerously represented ; "* o . 1 O 04 being an imperfect copy 01 me cele . rated ValJarfer edition , 1471 , ol ihe Decameron , already relerred to as having reaosetJ £ 2260 at the RuXJurglie sale . 1 here are

Reviews.

likewise both first and second editions of Cresar , the former from Sweynheim and Pannartz ' s press , 1469 , and the latter from N . Jensen ' s , 1471 , with editions of Cervantes , Catulius , Callimachus ( a copy of the last mentioned fetched sixty guineas at the Roxburghe ' sale ) , " De Bry ' s Collection of Voyages to the East and West Indies , "

" Camoens , " the Portuguese Poet ; our own W . Camden ' s "Britannia , " and his "Annals , " & c . The list which , up to the present time , reaches' up to only "Char , " as we have remarked already , is an unusually rare collection , both of some among the choicest specimens of early editing , as well as of the earliest works of the great printers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Masonic Notes and Queries .

PICART'S CEREMONIES . We have not quite got to the bottom of the real history - of this remarkable work ; and there is even now still some mystery about its actual date of original publication . The main edition , so far generally acknowledged , is , as Brunei says , the edition of 1723-43 , published in French . There are later issues in French of 1731 , 1741 , 17 S 3 , 17 S 9 ,

and 1 S 07 . The English edition of 1733 , and the French edition of 1741 , are both in all probability copies of the 1723 edition , some of the plates in 1733 being" re-engraved by Gravelot . The Dutch edition of 1727 is , in airprobability , inferior to Ihe 1723 edition , and the plates ate not so good , and probably transfers , though there may be doubts as to this . In that case the curious fart

remains that the plates of 1733 and 1741 are in all probability a correct representation of the original plates of 1723 , though that can only be ascertained correctly by careful collation and examination . But , in the meantime , another " hare " has been started—that there is an edition of 1720 , or of 1721 , of which Brunei makes no mention , and which is apparently unknown to the trade . There is

no difficulty now , as regards the Masonic print of 1735 , as it is covered in each case by the date of publication of thc volumes ; but what shall we say of this alleged edition of 1720 or 1721 ? How could the plate get into that edition ? It may be that this is only a " partial edition , " one of thc " plusieurs reprises " to-ivhich iWascrier alludes in his preface in 1741 , as having been going on for twenty vtars , which would exactly bring us to 1721 . It is "bene notanda "

that though the essay on t-ie " Freemasons " only occurs in the French edition of 1741 , the Rusicruoan Chapter is found in all , while the " footnotes " ab . ut Freemasonry , vary con siderahly in the Dutch edition of 1727 and the English of 173 * 1 , and , therefore , in all probability , Masi-rier means when he talks of the" premiere edition d'Hollande , " the edition of 1723 . But one further qu-stion remains—when was the first French edition published in Paris or Antwerp ? MASONIC STUDENT .

CORDINER'S ILLUSTRATION . By a mistake of the printer , the words " Fallou ' s mysteries" have been substituted in last notes for " Fellowes ' s mysteries . " M . S . PICART . Cough ' s name is an interpolation . The edition of 1733 was published by " Du Bose " and Jackson , if not another . The word Gough refers to the sale catalogue . M . S .

EARLY USE OF FREEMASON . The reference to Rymer , thanks to " W . R . H ., " has been verified , though not in Rymer , but in the Sloane MSS ., by the help of Mr . Papworth . So that we now have the use undoubtedly of " Freemaceon " in 139 G . I understand that Britton ' s leference to the 139 G and 1397 Exeter Fabric Rolls cannot be verified . But that matters

little . Perhaps someone will now try to verify the use of Freemason in 1250 , 1319 , 1334 , 1370 , 1403 , as mentioned by "AV . H . R ., " and as given in Mr . Papworth ' s work . In the earliest Fabric Roll of Wells' Cathedral , 1392 , and downwards , the words " lathami , " " cementarii , " and "operarii" seem to occur indifferently . " Ffreemason " is first found , I understand , in 1490 , the heading in use

still being " lathamos . " In 1490 the following entry occurs in the " Liber Rubus : " "Admissio Willi Altwoode Lathami ; the same day the Dean and Chapter being assembled at the customary hour , granted to Wm . Atwoode , ' ffremason , prosuo bono el laudabili officio in arte sua , deo ct eccles ' uc beati ar . d ' ree in bee . et cap in posterum impendendo , idem officium quod Willielmus

Smythe eciam latamus nuper habuit ecclesia cum annua pensionc . ' " They gave him also a letter under their common seal , having first of all stipulated that he should have his home or house in the city of Wells , and be at all times ready to carry out faithfully and diligently the orders of the chapter . The purport of this circular , missive , or testimonial was as

follows . It is too long to publish " in extenso" here , and so I only give a " precis "of it now , hoping ( D . V . ) to publish it in full , under " Archa-ological Notes , " in the "Masonic Magazine" for January , 1 SS 2 . "John Gunthorp , the Dean and Chapter , makeknown to all the faithful that ihey have grated to Wm . Atwoode for his good and faithful service in his art of ffreemasonry , and also because

he had sworn with good faith and deliberate mind that he would , without hindrance , make a bodily use of his art for them and their successors , as well for their church , as for its successors , so for themselves and their successors ( they had granted ) an annual pension of twenty-six shillings and

eightperce , payable by quarterly payments to thc end of his life , na .-ely , on Christmas Day , Easier , St . John the Baptist , and Michaelmas Day . " This is a very important document , in respect t . f this circular , letter , or certilitate , now , I think , for the first time published as such . AlASuNIC i-TUDENT .

ELIAS ASHMOLE . My esteemed friend , Bro . W . J . Hughan , still slightly misapprehends the " point " of our friendl y difference . I had said originally , in reference to certain discoveries at Warrington , that it was generally held , " not that I held it , at any rate when I wrote , that the lodge at Warrington

wasmainly operative . " To this Bro . Hughan demurred , and this " point " 1 reasserted , giving reasons anil frustrations lor what I -aid . At one timr , s ,, me years hack , I held the v ew , and said , that I certaiol y believed that th .- .. pi rative lodges of he seventeenth o mury were the piecui * ors .. ( the ei ghteenth century speculative Masonry . But lor some