_A Glossary of Terms used for Articles of British Dress and Armour, by
the Rev. John Williams (ab Ithel)_, classifies alphabetically the
several names which our British forefathers applied to the different
portions of their garments and military weapons, and supplies the reader
with their English synonymes; and, in the majority of cases, cites
corroborative passages from documents in which the original terms occur.
Its value to the antiquaries of the Principality is sufficiently
obvious; and as Celtic elements may still be traced in our language, it
will clearly be found of equal utility to their English brethren.
_The Golden and Silver Ages. Two Plays by Thomas Heywood, with an
Introduction and Notes by J. Payne Collier, Esq._ (which form the last
work issued by the Shakspeare Society), will be read with great interest
by the members; and, as completing the second volume of the collected
edition of the works of _Thomas Heywood_, will give great satisfaction
to those who urged upon the Shakspeare Society the propriety of printing
an edition of the works of this able and prolific dramatist.
In his _Manual of the Anatomy and Physiology of the Human Mind, by James
Carlile, D.D._, the author has undertaken to write a popular treatise on
an abstruse subject; and though he exhibits pains and method, yet we can
hardly think that he has succeeded in his difficult task. One mistake he
has evidently made. He seeks his illustrations too much from recent
events, the Gorham controversy, the presidency of Louis Napoleon, and
the like; references which are more calculated to degrade a great
subject than to popularise it.
In _The Gentleman's Magazine_ for the present month our readers will
find a very able article, to which we beg to direct their attention, on
the present state of English Historical Literature, the accessibility
of our Historical Materials and the Record Offices. The article has
apparently been called forth by a Memorial, addressed to the Master of
the Rolls, requesting "that persons who are merely engaged in historical
inquiry, antiquarian research, and other literary pursuits connected
therewith, should have permission granted to them to have access to the
Public Records, with the Indexes and Calendars, without payment of any
Fee." This important document is signed by all the principal historical
and antiquarian writers of the day: we should think, therefore, that
there can be little fear of their prayer being refused. The writer of
the article in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ has omitted two curious facts,
which deserve mention,--one that Pinkerton was stopped in the progress
of his History of Scotland by the fees for searches in the Scotch Record
Offices; the other, that those fees in those very offices have recently
been remitted.
Mr. Douglas Allport has issued Proposals for the publication by
subscription of a volume entitled _Kits Coty House, a Monograph_, which,
as it is to treat not only of Kits Coty House, but of its Flora and
Fauna, the Druidical Circles of Addington and Colebrook, the Antiquarian
Relics and Traditions of the neighbourhood, Boxley and its Rood of
Grace, Chaucer and the Pilgrim's Road, and other vestiges of bygone
times, clearly has within its subject the materials for an amusing and
interesting volume.