Replies.

LONGFELLOW'S ORIGINALITY.

(Vol. viii., p. 583.)

J. C. B. has noticed "the similarity of thought, and even sometimes of expression," between "The Reaper and the Flowers" of this popular writer, and a song by Luise Reichardt. But a far more extraordinary similarity than this exists between Mr. Longfellow's translation of a certain Anglo-Saxon metrical fragment, entitled "The Grave" (Tegg's edit. in London Domestic Library, p. 283.) and the literal translation of the same piece by the Rev. J. J. Conybeare, transcribed by Sharon Turner in Hist. Ang. Sax., 8vo. edit. 1823, vol. iii. p. 326. With the exception of a few verbal alterations, indeed, which render the fact of the plagiarism the more glaring, the two translations are identical. I place a few of the opening and concluding lines of each side by side, and would ask if the American poet has the slightest claim to the authorship of that version, to which he has affixed the sanction of his name.

Wm. Matthews.

Cowgill.

QUEEN ELIZABETH AND QUEEN ANNE'S MOTTO.

(Vol. viii., pp. 174. 255. 440.)

I was not aware that the Query at page 174. was not fully answered by me in page 255., but the following may be more satisfactory.

Camden, in his Life of Queen Elizabeth (Annals of Queen Elizabeth, p. 32.), says her first and chiefest care was for the most constant defence of the Protestant religion as established by the authority of parliament. "Her second care to hold an even course in her whole life and in all her actions, whereupon she took for her motto (1559), Semper eadem (Always the same)."

In his Remains (p. 347. 4to. 1637), Camden says, "Queen Elizabeth upon occasions used so many heroical devices as would require a volume: but most commonly a sive without a motte for her words Video, Taceo, and Semper eadem, which she as truly and constantly performed."

Sandford is silent as to her motto.

Leake says this motto, Semper eadem, was only a personal motto; as queen, the old motto, Dieu et mon Droit, was used, and is so given in Segar's Honour, Military and Civil, dedicated to her majesty in 1602, and which is also on her tomb. In some churches where there are arms put up to her memory, it is probable the motto Semper eadem may sometimes have been seen as being a personal motto to distinguish it from her brothers. Queen Anne, before the union with Scotland, bore the same arms, crest, and supporters as her father King James II., but discontinued the use of the old motto, Dieu et mon Droit, and instead thereof used Semper eadem. The motto ascribed to Queen Elizabeth she took for the same reason to express her constancy; but this, which was personal as to Queen Elizabeth, was then made the motto of the royal achievement, and seems the first instance of discontinuing the old motto of Dieu et mon Droit, from the first assumption of it by King Edward III.; for as to the different ones attributed to Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and King James I., they were personal only.

The motto is indeed no part of the arms but personal, and therefore is frequently varied according to the fancy of the bearer; nevertheless, when particular mottoes have been taken to perpetuate the memory of great events, either in families or kingdoms, and have been established by long usage, such should be esteemed as family or national mottoes, and it is honourable to continue them.

In 1702 (Gazette, No. 3874) Queen Anne commanded the Earl Marshal to signify her pleasure that wheresoever her royal arms were to be used with a motto, that of Semper eadem should be used; and upon the union with Scotland in 1707, by her order in council it was ordered to be continued.

King George I., upon his accession, thought proper to discontinue it, and restored the old motto, Dieu et mon Droit.

G.

BOOKS BURNT BY THE COMMON HANGMAN.

(Vol. viii., pp. 272. 346.)

The Histoires of Theodore Agrippa d'Aubigné were condemned, by an arrêt of the parliament of Paris, to be burnt by the common hangman. The charge against the works was, that D'Aubigné had spoken too freely of princes; and it may be added, too freely also of the Jesuits, which was probably the greatest crime. D'Aubigné said upon the occasion, that he could not be offended at the treatment given to his book, after having seen the Holy Bible ignominiously hanged upon a gibbet (for thus some fiery zealots used the Bible which had taken from the Huguenots, to show their pious hatred to all translations of that book into their native tongue), and fourscore thousand innocent persons massacred without provocation.

The Histoire of James Augustus de Thou (a Roman Catholic, though a moderate one) met with the same fate at Rome that D'Aubigné's had at Paris, and it was even debated in council whether the like sentence should not pass against it in France. D'Aubigné, however, spoke strongly in its favour, affirming that no Frenchman had ever before given such evident proofs of solid judgment and steady application, qualities not generally allowed to be the characteristic of the nation. (Scott's Life of Theodore Agrippa d'Aubigné, p. 419.)

In 1762 the Emilie of Jean Jacques Rousseau was burnt at Geneva by the common hangman. Le Contrat Social had soon afterwards the same fate. (Biographie Universelle, article "J. J. Rousseau.")

On June 17th, 1553, nearly the whole of the edition of the De Christianismi Restitutione of Servetus, which had been seized at Lyons, was cast into the flames, and Servetus burnt in effigy at Vienne in Dauphiné. (Biographie Universelle, art. "Servetus.")

In 1538 the English Bible, printed by Grafton at Paris, was (with the exception of a few copies) burnt by the order of the Inquisition. During the reign of Henry VIII. (observes Mr. D'Israeli in Amenities of Literature, vol. iii. p. 358.), the Bishop of Durham had all the unsold copies of Tindal's Testament bought up at Antwerp and burnt. In this age of unsettled opinions, both Roman Catholic and Protestant books were burnt. In the reign of Edward VI. Roman Catholic works fed the flames.

"All red-lettered illuminated volumes were chopped in pieces with hatchets, and burned as superstitious. The works of Peter Lombard, Duns Scotus, and Thomas Aquinas, carried on biers, were tumbled into bonfires. In the reign of Mary pyramids of Protestant volumes were burnt. All the Bibles in English, and all the commentators upon the Bible in the vernacular idiom (which we are told from their number seemed almost infinite), were cast into the flames at the market-place, Oxford."—D'Israeli's Amenities of Literature, vol. ii. pp. 164, 165.

In Strype's Memorials (3rd part, 2nd ed., p. 130.) is a proclamation of Philip and Mary, "that whoever finds books of heresy and sedition, and does not forthwith burn the same, shall be executed for a rebel."

The Stationers' Company (who were granted a charter of incorporation during the reign of Philip and Mary) had power to seize, take away, and burn books which they deemed obnoxious to the state or to their own interests.

"When Elizabeth was upon the throne, political pamphlets fed the flames, and libels in the reign of James I. and his son."—D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature, "Licensers of the Press."

"In the first year of the reign of King William III., A.D. 1688, a grand auto-da-fé was performed by the University of Oxford on certain political works. Baxter's Holy Commonwealth was amongst those condemned to the flames."—D'Israeli's Amenities of Literature, vol. iii. p. 325.

Perhaps some correspondent of "N. & Q." may furnish other instances of books burnt.

L. A.

STONE PULPITS.

(Vol. viii., p. 562.)

To Mr. Kersley's list I can add, from my own county, St. John the Evangelist, Cirencester, used; SS. Peter and Paul, Northleach, used; Staunton, All Saints, in the Hundred of St. Briavell's, Dean Forest, not used.

The last has a curious double arrangement in two storeys, like a modern reading-desk and pulpit, projecting west from the north side of the chancel arch, or rather (if I recollect rightly, for I took no notes on visiting the church) of the west tower arch, and to both which there is access from the newel leading to the ancient rood-loft.

To the above might be added those of Coombe, Oxon; Frampton, Dorset; and Trinity Church, Coventry: and if any other than those in churches, the angular one in the entrance court in Magdalene College, Oxford, from which, formerly, the University Sermon used to be preached on the festival of St. John the Baptist, when the court was strewed with rushes for the occasion (vide Glossary of Architecture, in verb.); that in the refectory of Tinterne Abbey, Monmouthshire; and the well-known exquisite specimen of the later First Pointed period, occupying a similar locality in the Abbey of Beaulieu, Hants, so elaborately illustrated by Mr. Carter in Weale's Quarterly Papers.

Brookthorpe.

A collection of English examples alone would make a long list. Besides the well-known one (A.D. 1480) in the outer court of Magdalene College, Oxford, the following are noted in the last edition of the Oxford Glossary, viz:—Beaulieu, Hants (A.D. 1260); Beverley; Chester; Abbey Garden, Shrewsbury: these are in refectories of monasteries. In churches—at Cirencester; Coombe, Oxon (circa A.D. 1370); Frampton, Dorset (circa A.D. 1450); Trinity Church, Coventry (circa A.D. 1470): the latter appears from the cut to be stone.

In the second edition of the Glossary is also St. Peter's, Oxon (circa 1400).

Devonshire abounds in good samples: see Trans. of Exeter Architectural Society, vol. i., at table of plates, and the engraved plates of three very rich specimens, viz. Harberton, Chittlehampton, North Molton, each of which is encircled by canopied niches with statues.

At North Petherton, in Somersetshire, is a curious grotesque human figure of stone, crouched on the floor, supporting the pulpit (which is of wood, as I think) upon his shoulders, Atlas-like.

J. J. R.

Temple.

Mr. Kersley desires a list of ancient stone pulpits. I can give him the following, but cannot describe their positions, nor certify which of them are still used:—Bedfordshire, St. Paul's, Bedford; Cheshire, Nantwich; Cornwall, Egloshayle; Devonshire, Chittlehampton, Harberton, Totnes, South Wooton; Dorsetshire, Frampton; Gloucestershire, North Cerney, Cirencester, Cold Ashton, Northleach, Pitchcomb, Winchcomb, Gloucester Cathedral; Hampshire, Beaulieu Abbey (fine Early Decorated), Shorwell, Isle of Wight; Oxfordshire, Coombe (1395), Oxford, Magdalene College (1480), Oxford, St. Peter's; Somersetshire, Chedder, Kew Stoke, Nailsea, Stogumber, Wrington; Sussex, Clymping; Warwickshire, Coventry, Trinity Church; Worcestershire, Worcester Cathedral.

C. R. M.

The Glossary of Architecture supplies the following examples:—Beaulieu, Hampshire, c. 1260 (plate 166.), in the refectory; Combe, Oxfordshire, c. 1370 (plate 166.); Magdalene College, Oxford, c. 1480 (plate 166.), in the outer court; Frampton, Dorset, c. 1450 (plate 167.); Holy Trinity, Coventry, c. 1500 (plate 167.), restored by Mr. Rickman.

Are, or were, the pulpits in the refectories of the monasteries of Beverley, Shrewsbury, and Chester, referred to in the Glossary sub voc. Pulpit, of stone?

W. Sparrow Simpson.

There are ancient stone pulpits still existing at Beaulieu Abbey Church, now in use, A.D. 1260; Wells Cathedral, in the nave, A.D. 1547; Magdalene College, Oxford, A.D. 1480, in the south-east angle of the first court, formerly used at the University Sermon on St. John Baptist's Day; Combe Church, Oxon., Perp. style: Frampton Church, Dorset, A.D. 1450; Trinity Church, Coventry, A.D. 1500.

Mackenzie Walcott, M.A.

To the list may be added that of Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, which is a very fine specimen, and furnished with bracket for the book. It adjoins the south aisle piers, and is in use.

G. E. T. S. R. N.

ANTIQUITY OF FIRE-IRONS.

(Vol. viii., p. 587.)

The invention of these domestic instruments, called "tongs, fireshovels, and prongs" by Sir T. Browne, dates from a very early period. The "shovel" is the A.-S. fyr-sceofl. Lye refers to "the fire-sholve" of the sixteenth century, which he tells us was "made like a grate to sift the sea-cole with," exactly as we see it constructed now (See Gage's Hengrave, p. 23.) The "poker" (see Du Cange, v. Titionarium) is mentioned by Johan. de Januâ in the thirteenth century. It had formerly two massive prongs, and was commonly called the "fire-fork." There is a poker of this description, temp. Hen. VIII., in Windsor Castle, which is figured in Britton's Archit. Antiq., vol. ii. p. 99. (See also Strutt's Horda Angelcynn, vol. ii, pp. 62. 64., and Fosbrooke's Encyc. Antiq., pp. 264. 305. 340.) The "tongs," A.-S. fyr-tang (see Du Cange, v. Tenalea, Tenales, Tenecula), with which Swift mischievously directs us to stir the fire "if the poker be out of the way," are of the remotest antiquity. They are frequently spoken of in the sacred records, as by Isaiah, vi. 6.; and we all know to what purpose a similar weapon was applied by holy St. Dunstan. In fact, they are doubtless coeval with fires themselves. The word "tongs" is the old Icelandic, Norræna, or Dönsktúnga, taung, pl. tángir, the Dan. tang, Scot. and Belg. tangs, taings, Belg. tanghe, Alem. zanga, Germ. zange, Gall. tenaille, Ital. tenaglia, &c. The most ancient of the mytho-cosmogonic poems of the elder Edda attribute to this implement an origin no less than divine; for in the Völo-spa, st. vii., it is stated that when the mighty Œsir assembled on Idavöllr to regulate the courses of the stars, to take counsel for the erection of temples and palaces, and to build furnaces, amongst other tools, by them also then fabricated, tángir scópo, "they made tongs," for the use and delectation of the völundr à járn, or skilful blacksmith (the Weyland smith of "Kenilworth") and careful housewife of future days.

Wm. Matthews.

Cowgill.

Aliquis will perhaps find his question satisfactorily answered by a visit to Goodrich Court, Herefordshire, where the late Sir Samuel Meyrick, with the industry and exactness which distinguished that indefatigable antiquary, had arranged a series of rooms illustrative of the domestic habits of the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries.

It is so long ago since I saw these rooms (and then but very cursorily), that I will not undertake to say the series was complete from the twelfth inclusive; and when, recently, last there, the family were at home, and nothing but the armoury shown; but from the evident care taken of that unrivalled and magnificent collection by the present proprietor, the series of appropriate furniture, each genuine specimens of the period they represent, is doubtless preserved intact, though I understood that the chambers had been since fitted up more consistently with the requirements of the nineteenth century.

Brookthorpe.

ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM.

(Vol. vii., p. 407.)

R. L. P. asks "What members of the British language were present, when, in 1546, the English commander Upton attacked and defeated the famous corsair Dragut at Tarschien, in Malta?"

In answer to the above question I would beg to remark, that in September, 1536, John d'Omedes ascended the Maltese throne on the decease of Didier de Saint Jaille; and his reign continued seventeen years, i. e. to 1553. In looking through several histories of the order, I am unable to find any mention made of a Turkish descent on the island in 1546. Had such an occurrence taken place, it doubtless would have been recorded; but as it is not, it would have been impossible for the Commander Upton to have distinguished himself in any such conflict as your correspondent supposes.

R. L. P. then asks, "What members of it were present (that is, the British language) when the Chevalier Repton, Grand Prior of England in 1551, was killed, after signally defeating the Turks in another attack on the island?"

With all due deference I would beg to state, that there was not in July, 1551, when Dragut made an attack on Malta, any English knight of the name of Repton; and it can be satisfactorily shown by the following extract, that at the period referred to by R. L. P., Nicholas Upton was Grand Prior of England, and was not "killed" after signally defeating the Turks, but died from the effects of a coup de soleil:

"L'isola del Gozzo fu presa da Sinam Bassa, a persuasione di Dragutte, il 1551, essendosi renduto a discrezione F. Galaziano de Sesse Aragonese, Governatore, che vi rimase schiavo. Ma poco dopo il Cavaliere F. Pietro d'Olivares, la ristaurò da danni patiti e vi richiamò nuove famiglie a ripopolarla. Sinam, prima di andare al Gozzo, fece una discesa in Malta, ma fu rispinto da Cavaliere: nella quale azione pel molto caldo sofferto, mori Nicolas Vpton, Gran Priore d'Inghilterra."—Vide Codice Dip., vol. ii. p. 573.; as also Vertot's History of the Order, vol. iv. p. 144., date July, 1551.

That Sir Nicholas Upton was Grand Prior of England in 1551, is sufficiently shown in the above extract; and that he was Commander of Repton, or Ripston, will be as readily seen by the following lines translated from the Latin, and to be found in a book of manuscripts of the years 1547, 1548, 1549, now in the Record Office. (Vide Lib. Bull. M. M. F. J. Homedes.)

"On the 15th November, 1547, Nicholas Upton was appointed by the Grand Master Omedes Commander of Ripston in the language of England. And on the 5th of November, 1548, he was exalted to the dignity of Turcopolier, in place of the knight Russell deceased."

I am unable to inform R. L. P. what English knights were present in Malta in 1551; but enough has already appeared in "N. & Q." to show that they were few in number, and poor as regards their worldly effects. The Reformation had destroyed the British language, and caused the ruin of its members. The first severe blow against the Order of St. John of Jerusalem was given by Henry VIII., and the last by Queen Elizabeth in the first year of her reign. (Vide "N. & Q.," Vol. viii., pp. 189. 193.)

William Winthrop.

La Valetta, Malta.

GRAMMARS, ETC., FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

(Vol. ix., p. 8.)

St. Mary's College, Winchester (publisher, D. Nutt).—Novum Florilegium Poeticum; Carmina quædam elegantissima; De Diis et Heroibus poeticis libellus; Homeri Ilias (Heyne) et Odysseæ; Interpretatio Poikiles Istorias; Ovidii Fasti, libri vi.; Ποικιλη Ιστορια; Selectæ Historiæ ex Cæsare, Justino et Floro; Notes on the Diatessaron, by the Rev. Frederic Wickham, now Second Master; Græcæ Grammatices Rudimenta, by Bishop Wordsworth, late Second Master; Greek and Latin Delectus, by the Rev. H. C. Adams, late Commoner Tutor.

Of Eton books there were in use the Latin and Greek Grammars; Pindar's Olympian and Pythian Odes; Scriptores Græci et Romani. A complete list of Eton and Westminster school-books will be found in the London Catalogue, which enrols Vidæ de Arte Poeticâ; Trapp's Prælectiones Poetica, and the Rise, &c. of Poetry and Fine Arts in Ancient Rome, as Winchester school-books.

In 1512, Winchester and Eton had a common grammar. Hugh Lloyd, D.C.L., Head Master, A.D. 1580-1602, wrote Dictata and Phrases Elegantiores for the use of the school. William Horman, M.A., Head Master of Winchester, 1495-1502, and Eton, 1489-1495, wrote Vulgaria puerorum.

Hugh Robinson, D.D., Head Master, wrote Prayers and Latin Phrases for the school. It is almost superfluous to name Bishop Ken's Manual for Winchester Scholars, edited by Dr. Moberly, the present excellent Head Master, some years since.

Mackenzie Walcott, M.A.

In pursuance of the hint of Mr. P. H. Fisher, I will describe an old school-book in my possession, which is bound up with Godwyn's Romanæ Historicæ Anthologia. It contains, 1. Preces; 2. Grammaticalia quædam; 3. Rhetorica brevis, and was printed at Oxford in 1616 by Joseph Barnes. Though there is nothing in the title-page to indicate that it was for the use of Winchester College, this sufficiently appears from the "Thanksgiving for William of Wiccham" in the grace after dinner, and also from the insertion of William of Wykeham's arms before the Rhetorica brevis. It bears abundant marks of having been used in the school, and contains, on the blank pages with which it was furnished, several MS. Wykehamical memoranda, some of them well known, and others, perhaps, the exercises of the original owner. All are in Latin, except the following verses, which I transcribe:

C. W. B.

DERIVATION OF MAWMET.—CAME.

(Vol. viii., pp. 468. 515.)

That the word mawmet is a derivation from the name of Mahomet, is rendered exceedingly probable by two circumstances taken in connexion: its having been in common use to signify an idol, in the age immediately following that of the Crusades; and the fact, that in the public opinion and phraseology of that time, a Saracen and an idolater were synonymous. In the metrical romances of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Mahometanism is described as "hethenesse," and Saracens as "paynims," "heathens," and "folks of the heathen law." The objects of their faith and worship were supposed to be Mahomet, Jupiter, Apollo, Pluto, and Termagaunt. Thus, in the romance of Richard Cœur de Lion:

The editor says:

"There is no doubt that our romance existed before the year 1300, as it is referred to in the Chronicles of Robert de Gloucester and Robert de Brunne."—Vol. i. Introd., p. xlvi.

In the same poem, the word mawmettes is used to signify idols:

In Wiclif's translation of the New Testament also, the word occurs in the same sense: mawmetis, idolis, and false goddis being used indifferently where idola or simulacra are employed in the Latin Vulgate: thus—

And in Acts vii. 41., the golden calf is designated by the same word, in the singular number:

"And thei maden a calf in the daies, and offriden a sacrifice to the mawmet."

In the first line of the quotation last given from Richard Cœur de Lion, your correspondent H. T. G. will find an early instance of the word came; whether early enough, I cannot say. In Wiclif's version, cam, came, and camen are the usual expressions answering to "came" in our translation. If above five hundred and fifty years' possession does not give a word a good title to its place in our language, without a conformity to Anglo-Saxon usage, the number of words that must fall under the same imputation of novelty and "violent infringement" is very great indeed.

J. W. Thomas.

Dewsbury.

THE GOSLING FAMILY.

(Vol. vi., p. 510.)

One of the Flock asks for information relative to the antiquity of the name and family of Gosling. The Norman name of Gosselin is evidently the same as that of Jocelyn, the tendency of the Norman dialect being to substitute a hard g for the j or soft g, as gambe for jambe, guerbe for gerbe. As a family name it is far from uncommon in Normandy, and many of your antiquarian readers may recognise it as the name of a publisher at Caen of works on the antiquities of that province. A family of the name of Gosselin has been established for many centuries in the island of Guernsey. William Gocelyn was one of those sworn upon the inquest as to the services, customs, and liberties of the island, and the laws established by King John, which inquest was confirmed by King Henry III. in the year 1248. In the year 1331 an extent of the crown revenues, &c. was made by order of Edward III., and in this document the name of Richard Gosselin appears as one of the jury of the parish of St. Peter-Port.

A genealogy of the Guernsey family of Gosselin is to be found in the appendix to Berry's history of that island, and it is there stated that—

"The first on record in Jersey is Robert Gosselin, who greatly assisted in rescuing the castle of Mont Orgueil from the French in the reign of Edward III., and was, for his gallant services, not only appointed governor of the castle by that monarch, but presented with the arms since borne by that family (viz. Gules, a chevron between three crescents ermine), as appears by the original grant under the great seal of England, supposed to be upon record in the Tower of London, or among the archives at Winchester. This Robert Gosselin some time after settled in Guernsey, where he married Magdelaine, daughter of William Maltravers, his majesty's lieutenant in that island."

On referring to Burke's Armory, I find that families of the name of Gosselin, Gosling, and Gooseling all bear arms similar to those described above, or but slightly differing, which affords a strong presumption that they are all descended from the same stock. The arms of Gosselin of Normandy are quite different.

Honoré de Mareville.

Guernsey.

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

Tent for Collodion Purposes.—Some time ago, I saw in "N. & Q." a slight notice of a tent for the collodion process: I think it is called "Francis' Collodion Tent." Would you, or some of your photographic correspondents, oblige me by giving a short description of this tent, or any other form, so that I may be able to operate with collodion in the open air?

I am of an opinion, with a portable tent, so that we could expose paper in a damp state, the process might be done nearly as quick as collodion. All that need be done for a paper negative, would be to expose and develop; it can be fixed at home. But after being developed, it should be well washed and dried.

James O. Clazey.

Multiplying Negatives and Collodion on Paper.—As I am desirous of printing a large quantity of copies of a glass negative in my possession, I shall be obliged by any hints as to the best method of multiplying such negative, so as to guard against an accident from breakage.

I should also feel obliged for any hints upon the use of collodion applied to glass, paper intervening; so that the paper may be afterwards removed from the glass, and used as a negative. I have heard of much success in this way, but am at a loss to know the best mode of operation.

M. N. S.

Photographic Copies of Ancient Manuscripts.—Might not photography be well employed in making facsimiles of valuable, rare, and especially of unique ancient manuscripts? If copies of such manuscripts could be multiplied at a moderate price, there are many proprietors of libraries would be glad to enrich them by what, for all purposes of reference, would answer equally well with the originals.

A.

[This subject, which has already been touched upon in our columns, has not yet received the attention it deserves. We have now before us a photographic copy of a folio page of a MS. of the fourteenth or fifteenth century, on which are inscribed a number of charters; and, although the copy is reduced so as to be but about 2 inches high and 1½ broad, it is perfectly legible; and the whole of the contractions are as distinct as if the original vellum was before us.]

Fox Talbot's Patents.—Would the Editor of "N. & Q." have the kindness to inform A. B. whether a photograph (portrait), taken from a black cutting made by an amateur, and inserted in a published work, would infringe on Mr. F. Talbot's patent? Also, whether collodion portraits come within his patent, as it was understood it could only apply to the paper process? (The cutting would be taken on albumenised paper.)

A. B. would also be glad to know where Towgood of St. Neot's positive paper can be procured, and the price?

A. B.

Mr. Fox Talbot having thrown open the whole of his patents,—with the exception of the taking of portraits for sale, on which it is understood that gentleman claims a royalty which may, in some cases, be considered a prohibition,—I should be glad to know under which of Mr. Talbot's patents such royalty can be enforced, and when the patent in question expires?

H. H.

Antiquarian Photographic Society.—We believe that most of the difficulties which have stood in the way of the organisation of this Society have at length been got over; and that we shall, in the course of a week or two, be enabled to state full particulars of its rules, arrangements, &c. Our readers are aware that its main object is the interchange of photographs among the members; each contributing as many copies of his own work as there are members of the Society, and receiving in exchange as many different photographs, Thus, if the Society is limited to twenty-five or fifty members, each member will have to furnish twenty-five or fifty copies, as the case may be, of the photograph he presents to the Society; and, in return, will receive one photograph from each of his fellow members. The difficulty, or rather trouble of printing, must necessarily limit the number of members; and as a consequence will, we doubt not, lead to the formation of many similar associations.