A comparative statement of the number of those who ask questions, and
those who furnish replies, would be a novel contribution to the
statistics of literature. I do note mean to undertake it, but shall so
far assume an excess on the side of the former class, as to attempt a
triad of replies to recent queries without fear of the censures which
attach to monopoly.
To facilitate reference to the queries, I take them in the order of
publication:--
1. "What is the earliest known instance of the use of a _beaver hat_ in
England?"--T. Hudson Turner, p. 100.
The following instance from Chaucer (_Canterbury tales_, 1775, 8°. v.
272.), if not the earliest, is precise and instructive:
"A marchant was ther with a forked berd,
In mottelee, and highe on hors he sat,
And on his hed a Flaundrish _bever hat_."
2. "Has _Cosmopoli_ been ever appropriated to any known locality?"--John
Jebb, p. 213.
Cosmopolis has been used for London, and for Paris (G. Peignot,
_Répertoire de bibliographies spéciales_, Paris, 1810. 8°. pp. 116,
132.) It may also, in accordance with its etymology, be used for
Amsterdam, or Berlin, or Calcutta, etc. As an imprint, it takes the
dative case. The _Interpretationes paradoxæ quatuor evangeliorum_ of
Sandius, were printed at Amsterdam. (M. Weiss, _Biographie universelle_,
Paris, 1811 28. 8°. xl. 312.)
3. References to "any works or treatises supplying information on the
history of the Arabic numerals" are requested by "E.N." p. 230.
To the well chosen works enumberated by the querist, I shall add the
titles of two valuable publications in my own collection:
DICTIONNAIRE RAISONNÉ DE DIPLOMATIQUE--par dom de Vaines. _Paris_, 1774.
8°. 2 vol.
ELÉMENTS DE PALÉOGRAPHIE, par M. Natalis de Wailly. _Paris_, Imprimerie
royale, 1838. 4°. 2 vol.
The former work is a convenient epitome of the _Nouveau traité de
diplomatique_. The latter is a new compilation, undertaken with the
sanction of M. Guizot. Its appearance was thus hailed by the learned
Daunou: "Cet ouvrage nous semble recommandable par l'exactitude des
recherches, par la distribution méthodique des matières et par
l'élégante précision du style." (_Journal des savants_, Paris, 1838. 4°.
p. 328.)
A query should always be worded with care, and put in a _quotable_
shape. The observance of this plain rule would economise space, save the
time which might otherwise be occupied in useless research, and tend to
produce more pertinency of reply. The first and second of the above
queries may serve as models.
Bolton Corney.
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