The _Antiquarian Gleanings in the North of England, being Examples of
Antique Furniture, Plate, Church Decorations, Objects of Historical
Interest, &c., drawn and etched by William B. Scott, Government School
of Design, Newcastle_, which has just been completed, is a valuable
addition to the numerous works which have been published of late years
illustrative of archæology in its most picturesque aspect. It will be
seen from the title that Mr. Scott has not confined himself to any one
class of objects; in some cases historical associations having
determined his choice; in others, the rarity of examples of the object
illustrated; in others, their intrinsic beauty. The Chair of the
Venerable Bede, and the Swords of Cromwell, Fairfax, and Lambert, belong
to the first of these divisions; as the Nautilus Cup set in gold, and
the Ivory Cup, both the property of Mr. Howard of Corby, belong to the
last: and so much taste and skill has Mr. Scott shown in the whole of
the thirty-eight plates, as quite to justify the hope expressed by him,
that in all of them the connoisseur and the artist will find something
worthy attention.
We have before us two books to which we desire to direct the attention
of our readers. The first is _A Manual of Ecclesiastical History, from
the First to the Twelfth Century_, by the Rev. E. S. Foulkes, M.A., the
main plan of which has been borrowed from Spanheim, and the materials
principally compiled from that writer, Spondanus, Mosheim and Fleury,
Gieseler, Döllinger, and others, respecting whom, however, Mr. Foulkes
states, "I believe I have never once trusted to them on a point
involving controversy without examining their authorities." "Let
nobody," he elsewhere observes, "think that he can fairly know Church
History from reading a single modern historian, whether Protestant or
Roman Catholic; the only way of getting a correct view, unless a person
should have time to consult the originals, is to read two opposite
writers, side by side, and balance one set of facts against the other.
Yet even so it is hopeless to get a true appreciation of past times
except through cotemporary writings; I have therefore appended to the
catalogue of modern historians a few of the principal cotemporary works,
disciplinary, doctrinal, and historical, from age to age down to the end
of the twelfth century, which would be a far more trustworthy clue to
the real sentiments of the times than could be gained from a more modern
source, and could not, I think, fail to be a corrective to narrow
misapprehensions, and a great help to the student whose wish it is to be
fair and candid." These extracts from Mr. Foulke's preface (which
contains brief notices of the principal modern writers on the subject)
sufficiently explain the nature of his very useful and carefully
compiled volume.
The other, Calmet's _Dictionary of the Bible, Abridged, Modernized, and
Re-edited, according to the most recent Biblical Researches_, by T. A.
Buckley, B.A., is addressed to a wider class of readers, and in its
preparation general utility has been the main object; while in the
remodelling which this popular and useful work of Calmet has here
undergone, care has been taken to purify it from the Rationalism with
which all the later editions have been charged, and to supply its place
by such copious additions and alterations from the most recent biblical
researches, so as to make the present edition rather a new book than a
reprint of an old one; and deserving of that extensive circulation which
its extremely moderate price is calculated to procure for it.
_The Principles of Chemistry illustrated by Simple Experiments_, by Dr.
J. A. Stöckhardt, Professor in the Royal Academy of Agriculture at
Tharaud, having been extensively adopted as an introductory work in the
Schools of Germany, in consequence of its convenient classification and
its clear and concise elucidation of principles, and explanation of
chemical phenomena, it was translated into English at the recommendation
of Professor Horsford; and a reprint of it from the American edition
forms the new volume of Bohn's _Standard Library_. It is illustrated
with numerous engravings, and as the necessary apparatus for performing
most of the experiments in it is extremely small, the book will no doubt
soon become a popular one.
The Chetham Library, Manchester, will shortly receive a valuable
addition to its literary treasures by Mr. Halliwell's donation of his
extensive collection of Proclamations, Ballads, and Broadsides, which,
we are informed, extends to upwards of 2500 articles, including many of
great rarity, and a few probably unique. Amongst the latter are two
curious black-letter ballads, printed in the year 1570, unnoticed by all
bibliographers, and not to be found in the useful and interesting
_Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company_, recently
published by Mr. Collier; but the greater portion of the collection
belongs to the latter half of the seventeenth, and commencement of the
eighteenth century, most of the ballads being reprints of much older
copies.
We are requested to remind such of our readers as are members of the
Archæological Institute that the Salisbury volume will be ready next
week.
CATALOGUES RECEIVED.--J. Petheram's (94. High Holborn) Catalogue 127.,
being 8. for 1851, of Old and New Books; J. Gray Bell's (17. Bedford
Street, Covent Garden) Catalogue Part 27. of Valuable and Interesting
Books, Manuscripts, Prints, Drawings, &c.; W. Pedder's (10. Holywell
Street) Catalogue Part 7. for 1851 of Ancient and Modern Books; B.
Quaritch's (16. Castle Street, Leicester Square) Catalogue No. 35. of
Books in European Languages, Dialects, Classics, &c.