Madron Well chapel ? 85; replies, 93, Pope's Last hours, 31. Mai, Cardinal, Vatican Librarian, 31. Marie Antoinette, correspondence? 25. Melbourne, lines on a bed? reply, 50. Microcosmos illustrated, 70. Mixed Alphabets, 2. Modern Illuminators, 14. Newspaper, its universality, 71. Adair, Sir Robert, 83. Brown, James, Boston, 32. Porcelain, Chinese, 59-60. Rex Anglorum, see Schola Salernitana. Rundale land tenure? 81. Russian Easter ceremonies, 33. *Samian ware bowl, 21. Sardinian motto explained, 94. Shakespeare Society? 2; replies, 2, 14, 34. Shropshire belfry rhymes, 19. Strutt's Queen Hoo Hall? 8. Tiled in, origin of phrase? reply, 58. *Tomb of Juliet, 14-16. Tottleben, letter respecting, 90-91. Schola Salernitana, 54, 55, 60, 73, 74, Unicorn in heraldry? 56; reply, 70. 89. Scold presentment, 98. Scotland's hills, 13. Scottish 'yets' or gates, 61, 71. Shakespeare's mention of rosemary,6. Veritas Temporis Filia, 1. *Verona, Tomb at, 15. Victory, or Westminster Abbey ! 20. Virginia, origin of name, 4. Wayside crosses ? 38; replies, 46, 47. Welsh burial custom, 45. Who will bell the Cat? 16. Wigs, their disuse? 85. Will's Coffee-house closed, 66. IN ALL CLASSES OF LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS, IN PERFECT LIBRARY CONDITION, ON SALE AT VERY LOW PRICES: TO WHICH ARE ADDED A List of New Publications AND CURRENT NOTES FOR THE MONTH, A SERIES OF Original Papers on Literary and Antiquarian Subjects. GEORGE WILLIS CREAT PIAZZA, COVENT GARDEN LONDON. INCLUDING THE PUBLICATIONS OF MR. PICKERING, MESSRS. RIVINGTON, MR. DOLMAN, ETC. G. WILLIS begs respectfully to inform his customers that early application for the followin works is desirable, as in most cases there are very few copies for sale. ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PALACE OF THE ALHAMBRA, comprisin Picturesque Views of this famous ancient Building and its various Apartments, Courts, Gardens, & with the Plans, Elevations, Sections, Details and Ornaments, from Drawings taken on the spot in 183 and 1837, by OWEN JONES and JULES GOURY. A series of ONE HUNDRED VERY LARGE AND ELABORATE PLATES, THE GREATER NUMBER MOST SUMPTUOUSLY EXECUTED IN GOLD AND COLOURS 2 immense vols. atlas folio, elegantly half bound morocco, gilt tops, new, only £14. 14s (pub. at £24. ANOTHER COPY, printed on LARGER PAPER, 2 vols. elephant folio, half bound morocco, gil edges, new, £24. (pub. at £36. 10s) In this large paper copy, the plates requiring it are finished in gold instead of gamboge. SEROUX D'AGINCOURT'S HISTORY OF ART BY ITS MONUMENTS from its Decline in the Fourth Century to its Restoration in the Sixteenth. Translated from the French by OWEN JONES. Illustrated by 3335 subjects on 328 plates, 3 vols. folio, in one, hf. cloth £2. 58 (pub. at £5. 58) 1847 "This fine work was the first in which the idea of exhibiting the Progress of Art by a series of its noblest monuments, was perfectly carried out. By a series of accurate Engravings from celebrated Monuments, we trace the transitions of Ar from the classic period to our own times. Sculpture, Painting, the Art of Illumination, and the Art of Engraving on Wood, on Gems, and on Medals, are similarly represented." WINGED THOUGHTS, a Series of Sonnets by Mary Anne Bacon, with numerous exquisite illustrations of Birds, most beautifully printed in colours and gold by OWEN JONES, imperial 8vo. elegantly bound, with handsome tooling on the sides, 158 (pub. at £1. 118 6d) 1851 "Of the exquisite taste in which these Birds are produced, we can by description convey to the reader but an imperfect idea; they appear the ne plus ultra of CHASTELY ELEGANT DESIGN AND MASTERLY EXECUTION."-Illustrated News. TOWNSEND (DR. G.) OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, arranged in Historical and Chronological Order, in such a manner that the Books, Chapters, Psalms, Prophecies, &c. may be read as one connected History, with copious Notes on the principal Subjects in Theology. New and enlarged Edition, 4 thick vols. 8vo. new cloth, £1. 14s-The same, 4 vols. new calf gilt, £2. 58 (pub. at £2. 16s) Rivingtons, 1836-8 A beautifully printed and carefully executed work. A well-written Introduction developes the author's plan and design, and points out its advantages to various classes of readers, especially to clergymen and those who are preparing for the sacred office, to whom this work is indispensably necessary. It is terminated by six Indexes; the sixth, a general index to the Notes, which possess the rare merit of compressing a great variety of valuable information into a small compass. The Rev. Mr. Archdeacon Nares justly characterised this publication as being digested with such skill, and illustrated with such notes, as proves the author to have studied his task with deep attention and distinguished judgment." Horne's Introd. to the Scriptures. COLLIER'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN, from the first Planting of Christianity to the end of the Reign of K. Charles II. new edition, with Life of the Author and an enlarged Index, 9 vols. 8vo. new cloth, £2. 88-The same, 9 vols. newly bound calf gilt, marbled leaves, fine set, £3. 188 1852 This celebrated work not only contains much information not to be found in Mosheim, but many curious particulars relative to the Theological Publications of the Sixteenth Century. BURKE'S (RT. HON. E.) CORRESPONDENCE with many eminent Persons between the year 1744 and the period of his Decease in 1797, edited by Earl Fitzwilliam and Sir R. Bourke, fine portrait after Reynolds by Finden, 4 vols. 8vo. new cloth, 12s-The same, 4 vols. new calf gilt, £1. 48 (pub. at £2. 28) 1844 This valuable work contains numerous Historical and Biographical Notes, and Original Letters from the leading Statesmen of the period, and forms an Autobiography of this celebrated Statesman and Writer. GALLERY OF PORTRAITS OF DISTINGUISHED INDIVIDUALS, English and Foreign, containing 168 fine large Portraits on steel, with Biographies to each, published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 3 large handsome vols. imperial 8vo. new cloth, 1. 10s-The same, new hf. morocco, £2. 58 (pub. at £4.) 1853 This interesting work is engraved in the same style as Lodge's Portraits. It is the only one of its class which contains Highly finished Foreign Portraits on an extensive scale. The Biographical Sketches, it is well known, are powerfully written me have been attributed to the pen of Lord Brougham. WILLIS'S CURRENT NOTES. No. XLIX.] "Takes note of what is done- PAINTER'S PALACE OF PLEASURE. SHAKESPEARE borrowed largely from this rich storehouse of "Pleasant Histories and Excellent Novels, Tragicall Matters, and other morall Argument," for the plots of his dramas, or the enrichment of his incidents; and there are few books in early English literature, so attractive in their import, or more difficult to obtain in a clean, sound, and unexceptionable condition than the volumes under notice. A circumstance which adds to its rarity, and consequently the difficulty of obtaining the two volumes, either together, or in a co-equal condition, is the fact that each were printed at separate times. The first was printed in 1566, again in 1569, and again in 1575. The second in 1567, and again in 1580, but the title is not dated. | The Harleian copy, which is noticed in Oldys' Catalogue of that superb, nay, national library, after it was purchased by Thomas Osborne, at Gray's Inn Gate, for 13,000, a much less sum than had been expended on the binding of a portion, was formed of the editions, vol. I. 1575, and vol. II. 1567. See Catalogue, 1744, vol. III., Romances and Novels, numb. 6375. The binding red morocco, with richly tooled corners. Whether Mr. Hans Stanley was then purchaser or not, does not appear, but he presented the work to the immortal Garrick, with these lines inscribed on the fly-leaf of the first volume From these dark Legends of a barbarous age, 'Twas thine, O GARRICK, in each lofty part, [JANUARY, 1855. VERITAS TEMPORIS FILIA. YOUR Correspondent, M. R. C., asks why Queen Mary the First adopted this motto as a legend on her coins. adding that it was one to which Mary at no period of her life was entitled." It must not be assumed that the Sovereign ever suggests a legend for the coinage, on the contrary, she, or he, merely approves or rejects what the Master of the Mint, or the designer of the medal, under the sanction of the Lords of the Treasury, may have proposed. The legend on the shillings of her predecessor, King Edward the Sixth, is TIMOR DOMINE FONS VITE, the family motto of the Butlers, Earls of Dunboyne; and the present Earl informed the writer that one of his ancestors was Master of the Mint in the reign of that Prince, and as a record of the fact placed his own motto on the coinage. May not that of Queen Mary have had some similar origin? It is much the fashion to imagine a Popish origin for every event of Mary's reign, and Mr. Hawkins, in his Silver Coins of England, ventures on this conjectural explanation: "The motto was adopted by the persuasion of her Romish clergy in allusion to her endeavours to restore the abominations of Popery, which had been in a great degree suppressed by her predecessors." B. N. The inconsistency of this assertion will be apparent in reverting to facts. Sir James Butler, who married Joan, daughter of Pierce Butler, Earl of Ormonde, died in Jan. 1533,leaving Edmund his son and heir, ennobled in 1541 by King Henry the Eighth, as Baron Dunboyne. It is true, the armorial motto appears to be TIMOR DOMINI FONS VITE, and that legend is attached to the shillings of King Edward the Sixth, from 1547 to 1551, but not the slightest evidence is to be found that connects Lord Dunboyne with the mint affairs of either monarch, in England or Ireland, in which latter country he seems to have been a resident, and married Julia, who after a month's marriage, was the widow of Gerald the red haired,' fifteenth baron Kerry killed in Desmond, August 1, 1550. Edward, Baron Dunboyne, was deceased in 1566. The legend on the shillings of Edward the Sixth was dexiv. 27. The editions by Henry Stephens, of Paris, being then very popular among the Reformers.-Ed. Below these dedicatory lines, Garrick, thus highly rived from the Vulgate version of the Bible, Proverbs, complimented, wrote SHAKESPEARE AND CAMDEN SOCIETIES. IN Current Notes, 1852, pp. 31, 39, were notices of the termination of the Percy Society, and the final adjustment of its pecuniary affairs, honourable to all parties by whom they had been conducted. There are, or were, two other similar Societies; the Shakespeare Society and the Camden Society, concerning which little officially has been heard recently, so as to learn whether they are defunct, or only in a state of suspended animation. As regards the Shakespeare, it has certainly been stated in several booksellers' catalogues that it is closed, and the stock of books and the Shakespeare portraits sold off; but I am not aware that any announcement of such being the case, has been officially made, or any account of the funds furnished to the members. It would be satisfactory to the subscribers to receive any information or explanation regarding these matters, through the medium of your useful and entertaining Current Notes. F. R. A. The SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY ceased at the close of 1853; the reason stated, that the Honorary Officials were desirous of retiring. In March 1854, the entire stock of the works, printed at the expense of the members, was sold by public auction for about 460/., the disposal, to Mr. Skeffington, of the remaining impressions of the Ellesmere Shakspeare portrait was a private arrangement. No official account of the affairs of the Society, or its termination, has been prepared for the members, nor does it, on enquiry, appear that any such statement is contemplated. Our Correspondent may rest assured hopes are entertained, that the CAMDEN SOCIETY is about recovering from its supposed state of suspended animation, by the following signs. During 1854, the members have received the " Letters of Lady Brilliana Harley," and the first part of " Bp. Swinford's Household Roll." Some Extracts from Grants temp. Edward the Fifth, are promised during this month, January 1855; and also, the Report of the Council elected May 2, 1853, with the report of the Auditors upon the Society's receipts and expenditure "from the 1st of April, 1853, to the 31st March, 1854." The Camden Society appears to have lost of its phalanx of members, nearly one half. It is lamentable to reflect, how perverted have been the means and resources of this once leading and embodied power of deservedly distinguished men of all professions. Had the subscriptions and the labours of the members, located as they were and are in all the counties, been devoted to the enlargement and reconstruction of Camden's Britannia, they would have conferred especial honour on the name of the Historian whose celebrity they usurped to emblazon a notoriety which they have but faintly attempted to maintain. Such a work would have resulted in establishing an eternal national monument, and created a halo of imperishable glory on the Society; or, had that been deemed too much, a republication of Horsley's Britannia Romana, with additions based upon the annotated copies, by Professor Ward and others, in the British Museum Library, would really have rendered an important service in aid of Historical Literature, while on the contrary, many of their distributed emanations are found on book-stalls neglected and unheeded, a memorable memento of the mischiefs of inefficient or misdirected talent, and ample pecuniary means. PHOENICIAN PALEOGRAPHY AND LITERATURE. ON the observations of the Editor, who appears to lean to the general opinions of Oriental scholars, on the subject of Paleography and Phoenician literature, but on which a volume might be written; attached to the article in Current Notes, vol. iii. p. 73, I proffer the following remarks: are written those ancient remains which have of late First. Herodotus says the Phoenicians came as colonists to the Syrian coasts from the Erythræan seas. Strabo, that they came from the Persian gulf. Vallancey, that the Phoenicians and the Persians were of the I can assert it was. used over a much wider extent of same family; and as to the language called Phoenician, country than was occupied by the Arabians and Persians. In this language, which in fact resembles the Chinese, in its almost total absence of grammatical inflections, caused considerable sensation throughout the literary world, viz., the cuneiform monuments of Babylon, Nithe pillar of Alahabad, we find, in a character not as yet neveh, Persepolis, and Behistan. On the north part of deciphered, as I am aware by any but myself, a history which appears to be an account of the deluge, and describing the spot where Noah was buried. See Asiatic Researches, vol. vii. p. 180, pl. 6. All these writings are to be read from left to right. May not this Phoenician language, this older dialect of the Arabic have been almost universal in the days of Heber? Again, may it not have been remodelled about six hundred years after, in the days of Ishmael, to somewhat in its present form? numerous specimens of this language; and the Sinaic Secondly, Gesenius in his Monumenta Phoenicia, has Valley has supplied 178 inscriptions in the same language. See Trans. of Royal Society of Literature, vol. ii. part 1, plates. In these inscriptions, written some before, and others soon after the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, one word occurs more than one hundred and forty times, a sufficient evidence to prove that for the most part, I speak cautiously, and think I may say altogether, Phoenician inscriptions must be read from left to right. The one word alluded to is in numb. 142, Dasna, Mount Sina. The first letter is the Hebrew, samech, or s; the second is the Syriac and Arabic, nun or n; and the third, is the Samaritan and Runic alaph, or a; sometimes the letters are joined as in numb. 2, where it occurs three times; and at others, the letters are somewhat altered in form, but always distinguishable, even to a tyro. Surely, this word proves that all the sentences must be read from left to right; and also, that the writing is made up of MIXED ALPHA BETS. Thirdly, I have a printed copy of the Magni Atlantis et soubmersæ Atlantidis Reliquiem, called Phoenician, but which I think to be Runic. The heading "Atlan," is from right to left, but the narrative is alternately up and down, in eighteen lines of two feet one inch in length. This professes to have been written seven hundred years after the deluge, which it describes in most poetical language, and in which are mentioned as |
