More than a year ago (Vol. vi., p. 503.) I made a Query respecting Catholic
Floral Directories, and two works in particular which were largely quoted
in Mr. Oakley's _Catholic Florist_, Lond. 1851; and I again alluded to them
in Vol. vii., p. 402., but have not got any reply. The two works referred
to, viz. the _Anthologia Borealis et Australis_, and the _Florilegium
Sanctorum Aspirationum_, are not to be heard of anywhere (so far as I can
see) save in Mr. Oakley's book. During the last year I have ransacked all
the bibliographical authorities I could lay hold of, and made every inquiry
after these mysterious volumes, but all in vain.
The orthography and style of the passages cited are of a motley kind, and
most of them read like modern compositions, though here and there we have a
quaint simile and a piece of antique spelling. In fact they seem more like
imitations than anything else; and I cannot resist the temptation of
placing them on the same shelf with McPherson's _Ossian_ and the poems of
Rowley. In some places a French version of the _Florilegium_ is quoted:
even if that escaped one's researches, is it likely that two old English
books (which these purport to be), of such a remarkable kind, should be
unknown to all our bibliographers, and to the readers of "N. & Q.," among
whom may be found the chief librarians and bibliographers in the three
kingdoms. Is it not strange also that Mr. Oakley and his "compiler" decline
giving any information respecting these books?
I shall feel extremely obliged to any correspondent who will clear up this
matter, and who will furnish me with a list of Catholic Floral Directories.