Antiquarian News & Notes.

A chambered mound, containing four skeletons, has been lately unearthed near the Bridge of Waith, Kirkwall.

The Athenæum states that the Earl of Ducie is collecting materials for a history of the Spanish Armada of 1588.

Lord Sydney has been elected President of the Kent Archæological Society in the place of Lord Amherst, resigned.

M. Leon Lhermitte has completed an etching of Rouen Cathedral. A finished proof is now to be seen at Messrs. Tooths’ gallery, in the Haymarket.

The pictures by Hogarth lately bought from the Leigh Court collection for the National Gallery have been hung over “The Marriage à la Mode.”

An outcry has been raised over the threatened destruction of the house in which Poe lived at Fordham during the most interesting period of his life.

According to the report of the British Museum just submitted to Parliament, the number of visits to the reading-room and other departments for study or research in 1883 was 859,836.

The annual meeting of the Somerset Archæological and Natural History Society was held at Shepton Mallet, on August 26 and two following days. A report of the proceedings will be given in our next.

Mr. R. G. Haliburton, Q.C., of Canada, eldest son of the author of “Sam Slick,” intends to visit Borneo, Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia, to complete sundry ethnological inquiries.

The annual meeting of the Library Association will be held on Sept. 30, and three following days, at Trinity College, Dublin. The chair will be taken by Dr. J. H. Ingram, President.

The International Conference of Librarians, which was to have been held at Toronto about the beginning of September, has been postponed, with a view to a gathering at New York or Boston in the autumn of 1885.

The first edition of Braun and Hogenberg’s plan of London, from the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum” (1572), has been reproduced for the Topographical Society of London.

Mr. F. S. Drake, the historian of New England, has discovered the names of one hundred persons who took part in the destruction of the British tea in Boston Harbour. He has published the names in a volume called “Tea Leaves.”

Mr. Anderson, of Kirkwall, has in the press a new Guide to the Orkney Islands, in which special attention will be paid to antiquarian remains and traditional lore. Sir Henry Dryden has revised his notes for this work.

Among the treasures in the late Prince of Orange’s collections are numerous paintings, miniatures, historical documents, and ancient relics of high value, in addition to the jewels of his mother, the late Queen Sophia.

In January next will be commenced a new journal called “The Manx Note-book,” to be devoted to the history, antiquities, and legendary lore of the Isle of Man. The work, which has been undertaken by Mr. A. W. Moore, of Cronbourne, Isle of Man, will be published quarterly.

Mr. T. Locke Worthington has in preparation an historical account and description of the cathedral church of Manchester. The work will be published by subscription through Mr. J. E. Cornish, of Manchester, and will form a quarto volume, the impression being limited to 250 copies.

The new volume of the “Encyclopædia Britannica” contains an article on “Palmyra,” by Professor Robertson Smith, in which the story of Zenobia is re-written by the light of the Aramæan and Greek inscriptions, and of the coins that have recently come to light.

The Committee of the Octagon Chapel, Bath, where Sir William Herschel was organist from 1766 to 1782, invite subscriptions towards a memorial window of “the most distinguished citizen who ever lived in Bath.”

Feggeklit, on the Island of Mors, Denmark, the reputed birthplace of Hamlet, is for sale by private treaty. On a hillside that forms part of the estate will be found the grave of King Fegge, who was the identical person slain by the young Prince to avenge the “most foul murder” of his father.

For thirty-two years Captain Burton has been working more or less at his translation of the “Arabian Nights.” The book now nears completion. Captain Burton will reproduce in English as closely as possible the original text, and for this reason in particular the work will be issued to subscribers only.

Messrs. Bickers & Son have purchased the copyright of Lord Hervey’s “Memoirs of the Reign of George II.,” and are about to issue a new edition in three volumes, uniform with their new edition of “Wraxall’s Memoirs.” The original edition, published by Mr. Murray in 1848, has long been very scarce.

The valuable collection of ancient coins formed by the late James Whittall, of Smyrna, was sold by Messrs. Sotheby in July. The number of lots was 1,668, the sale lasted nine days, and the total amount realised was £3,951 6s. Many of the coins are extremely rare, and some are believed to be unpublished.

The current number of the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society contains the first portion of a sketch of South African history from the pen of the late Sir Bartle Frere, who read the paper now published at a meeting of the Society in 1883. The first section deals chiefly with the first ten years of the Dutch settlement, which are chronicled in some detail.

Dr. A. Harkavy, of the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg, has completed his examination of the newly found Hebrew manuscripts of several books of the Old Testament, and at the request of the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences he has communicated to that body the results of his labours in a report in German, entitled “Bericht an die Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu St. Petersburg.”

The Queen, it is said, is taking no little interest in a new book compiled by Mr. Harold Boulton, Mr. Malcolm Lawson, and Miss Annie Macleod, which will bear the title of “Songs of the North.” The book will be fully illustrated by the leading Scottish artists. A Gaelic translation is in hand, and the Queen has graciously given express permission that the book should be dedicated to herself.

Mr. F. Danby Palmer has just published, in a thin quarto volume, “The History of the Tolhouse at Great Yarmouth,” of which some account, together with an illustration, has been given in these pages (see ante, pp. 1-5). The work has been written by Mr. Palmer in the hope of assisting the effort now being made to preserve an ancient building, for many ages connected with the history of his native town, of events connected with this municipal structure from the thirteenth century to the present time.

The August number of the Century contains the first of a series of three papers by Mr. W. J. Stillman, recording the experiences of a classical expedition undertaken for that magazine. Mr. Stillman’s object was to trace the wanderings of Ulysses, as described in the “Odyssey,” and to identify, as far as it is possible to-day, the localities visited by the Ithacan king. The articles will be illustrated by Mr. Fenn, from photographs and sketches made by Mr. Stillman.

The annual festivities in honour of St. James were on the point of terminating on Sunday, July 27, at Santiago, in Spain, when a telegram was received from Rome by the Archbishop, announcing that the Sacred Congregation had declared the bones found about four years ago under the high altar of Santiago Cathedral to be truly those of the Apostle, Spain’s patron saint, ineffectually sought for hitherto since they were concealed, from fear of Moorish raids, in the foundations of the cathedral in the year 1100, by Gilmirez, the first Archbishop.

The complete renewal of the leaden envelope of the dome of St. Peter’s Church, in Rome, has just been completed. It has occupied twelve years, and has cost over 200,000 lire (£8,000). The original covering was applied to the dome in an imperfect fashion, which made continuous repairs a necessity. The total weight of the new cover is given at 354,305 kilogrammes; and if it were spread out flat it would occupy an area of 6,152 square metres, or about an acre and a half. In stripping off the old plates, three of them were found to be of gilded copper.

Some interesting items of theatrical history are contained in the rings which Mr. Irving wears as Malvolio. One is engraved, “Formerly the signet-ring of David Garrick. Henry Irving, from Edwin Booth, 1881.” Another is the celebrated enamel ring, with head of Shakespeare, which Garrick used to wear, and which he bequeathed to his butler, and which was afterwards presented to Mr. Irving by Lady Burdett-Coutts. And still another signet is thus inscribed—“Tyrone Power, to his friend Harley, 1830.”

An embellished copy of Baskett’s edition of the Bible, printed at his press at Oxford in 1817, and known as “The Vinegar Bible,” was included among the rarities sold last month at Messrs. Sotheby’s rooms. The volume had inserted in it some 750 additional plates relating to architecture, natural history, &c. In the same batch of books was a copy of Buck and Daniel’s Cambridge Bible, 1638, in which the curious misprint in Acts vi. 3, “Ye [for we] may appoint” was for the first time printed.

The following articles, more or less of an antiquarian character, appear among the contents of the magazines for August: Edinburgh Review, “The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon,” and “The Chiefs of Grant;” Church Quarterly, “The Church in Old London;” Quarterly Review, “Peter the Great,” and “Greek Archæology;” Art Journal, “Castelfranco and its Altar-piece, by Giorgione,” “The Western Riviera, Nice,” and “The Isle of Walcheren;” Cornhill, “Some Literary Recollections;” English Illustrated Magazine, “Winchester,” and “Cutlery and Cutlers at Sheffield;” Temple Bar, “Westminster School.”

Catalogues of rare and curious books, all of which contain the names of works of antiquarian interest, have reached us from Mr. C. Golding, Colchester (chiefly topographical of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries); Mr. H. Lowe, 89, New-street, Birmingham; Messrs. Reeves & Turner, 196, Strand; Mr. W. Withers, Leicester; Mr. W. P. Bennett, 3, Bull-street, Birmingham; Messrs. Wyllie & Son, Union-street, Aberdeen; Mr. J. Salkeld, 314, Clapham-road, S.W. (including a large number of books from the libraries of the late Sir G. Bowyer, Mr. Joseph Payne, and others); Messrs. Jarvis & Son, 28, King William-street, Strand, W.C.; Mr. Loescher, Turin.

At a recent meeting of the Society for Preserving the Memorials of the Dead, a letter from a correspondent was read in which it was stated that, whilst on an architectural tour, he found a register book open in the church and the leaves blown on the floor, or at least, such of them as dampness and the mice had not obliterated. Although the living had been held by one family for nearly 300 years, and is a very rich one, the writer adds: “I venture to affirm that a family could not prove its descent for three generations from its parish register.” It is also stated that parchment registers, having one side vacant, were sometimes cut up for directions for game!

A report has been received from the committee appointed with reference to the preservation of the ancient records of the county of Middlesex. The index of these valuable historical documents is very nearly completed, and they have all been properly classified and housed, so that they will be preserved from any damage in the future. The documents altogether number 16,000 separate records. The money allotted for the purpose of classifying them not being found sufficient, it has been decided, on the motion of Mr. Basil Woodd Smith, that a further sum of £200 be granted for the completion of the fittings of the new record room and the sorting and calendaring of the records.

Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods lately disposed of the collection of old Sèvres and Chelsea porcelain, old French decorative furniture, snuff-boxes, and other decorative objects, the property of the late Mr. W. King. Among the best prices obtained were: A statuette of a nymph, by Falconet, in statuary marble, 400 gs.; a Louis XVI. clock, in case of gros-bleu Sèvres porcelain, surmounted by a mask of Apollo, 215 gs.; a pair of Louis XVI. ormolu candelabra, with large Dresden figures of a shepherd and shepherdess, 165 gs.; an oblong bloodstone box, carved with hunting subjects, the lid studded with diamonds, £270; a fine oblong double box, formed of slabs of agate, set with diamonds, £205. The sale realised over £4,600.

On Saturday, June 28, Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods sold at their rooms the splendid collection of paintings by the old masters, the property of Sir Philip Miles, M.P., known as the Leigh Court Gallery. Five pictures were purchased for the National Gallery—the grand upright landscape by Gaspar Poussin, “The Calling of Abraham,” “The Adoration of the Magi,” by Bellini; the two Hogarths, portrait of Miss Fenton, afterwards Duchess of Bolton, as “Polly Peachum,” and “The Shrimp Girl;” and Stothard’s “Canterbury Pilgrims.” The total paid for these pictures was under £4,000. The two Alfieri Claudes were purchased by Messrs. Agnew—the “Apollo Sacrifice” for 5,800 guineas, and the “Landing of Æneas” for 3,800 guineas—while the little picture of the “Herdsman at the Ford” was bought by the same firm for 1,950 guineas, and the Murillo “Holy Family” for 3,000 guineas. The little predella panel by Raphael, “Christ bearing His Cross to Calvary,” was also purchased by Messrs. Agnew for 560 guineas, and has passed into the collection of Lord Windsor. Several important pictures were bought in. The sale realised nearly £44,300.

Among the later additions to that most interesting corner in the Health Exhibition where Old London is reproduced is a collection of views and etchings of Old Southwark, shown by Mr. S. Drewet (F. S. Nichols & Co.) in the Guard Chamber over the Bishop’s Gate. Old London Bridge as it appeared in the time of Henry VIII. and at several periods since until its demolition may here be seen, as well as some of the historic buildings of Southwark—Winchester Palace, &c., and its famous hostels, the old Tabarde and the White Hart, of which the picturesque characteristics have been preserved in etchings by Mr. Percy Thomas. Some reproductions of old maps and a small collection of pottery, weapons, and coins found in the borough of Southwark, and most of them during the progress of excavations on the site of the old Tabarde Inn, should not be passed unnoticed. The rooms over the workshops on the north side of the Old London street at the Exhibition have been filled with furniture of antique form, and the walls hung with tapestries from the Royal Tapestry Works at Windsor. Along the south side a very fine collection of armour, arms, and ancient and mediæval ironwork has been arranged by Messrs. Stark & Gardner, among the contributors being Lady Dorothy Nevill, Sir Coutts Lindsay, the Rev. Canon Harford, Mr. J. G. Litchfield, and Mr. J. E. Gardner, F.S.A.

The sale of the first portion of the extensive library of the late Mr. James Crossley, President of the Chetham Society, took place at the rooms of Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, on Monday, July 21, and six following days. Many of the books were in an imperfect and stained condition, which considerably affected the prices realised. Ainsworth’s Memorials, described by the owner as “by far the rarest book connected with Halifax,” being stained, sold for only £3 3s.; and Brown’s Religio Medici, the 1642 surreptitious impression, £6 10s. Byron’s Hours of Idleness, first published edition, brought £4 6s. Milton’s Paradise Lost, first edition, with first title-page, £25; and other copies, with second, third, fourth, seventh, and eighth title-pages, £16 18s.; Paradise Regained, first edition, £3 17s. 6d. The Philobiblon Society’s Publications, £25. Miscellanies, 20 vols., £21. Miscellanies, in one stout volume, £51. Shelley’s Queen Mab, first edition, wanting title, £4 6s. Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions, £49. Camden Society’s Publications, £10 10s. Chetham Society’s Publications, £25 10s. Abbotsford Club Publications, £15 10s. Spenser’s Fairie Queene, first edition, £12 10s.; second edition, £10 10s.; and 1617 edition, with autograph of Ben Jonson, £10 10s. Shakespeare’s Plays, Second Folio, £17; Third Folio, imperfect, £12; Fourth Folio, £9 10s. Tracts and Pamphlets, £16, £60, £39. Watson’s Halifax, £9 9s.; and a copy with Canon Raines’s MS. notes, £37. The 2,824 lots realised nearly £3,600.

Dr. Schliemann has been in London for a week or two. He has in preparation a book on his discoveries at Tiryns. The Academy communicates the following details with regard to these discoveries: “The walls of the prehistoric palace which Dr. Schliemann has disinterred at Tiryns are formed of limestone and clay; the latter has been turned into brick by the action of fire, while the stone has been burnt into lime. In some places the surface of the walls had been coated with stucco, on which traces of painting can still be observed. The colours used in these paintings are black, red, blue, yellow, and white; and Professor Virchow has pointed out that the blue is composed of pulverised glass mixed with copper, but without cobalt. One of the paintings represents the same pattern as that found on the roof of the thalamos attached to the Treasury of Minyas at Orchomenos. Another depicts a man riding on an ox, whose tail he holds. The artist has made three attempts to draw the tail, and has forgotten to obliterate the two unsuccessful ones. The paintings have been carefully removed and sent to Athens. Among the ruins of the palace twenty-seven bases of limestone columns have been discovered, but no drums, besides a sandstone capital in the old Doric style. The chambers of the building were full of objects of all kinds, including pottery, obsidian knives, rude hammers of diorite, and grape-stones. No iron has been met with, and but little metal of any sort, though lead is relatively plentiful. All traces of writing are equally absent. The pottery resembles that of Mycenæ, but the presence of obsidian and the scarcity of metal imply that Tiryns was the older city of the two.”

The name of John Payne Collier has been so long known to all those persons who take an interest in literature, that the recent sale of the first portion of the books and manuscripts which had belonged to the editor of “Shakespeare” by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, was certain to excite much attention. The second portion of the library is reserved for a future sale. Of those just sold, the more interesting lots were: Ballads, &c., an interesting manuscript of the seventeenth century, including a period of about sixty years, a most curious collection of ballads, quotations from Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Sir W. Raleigh, and summary of its contents by J. P. Collier, who gave Hoope £25 for the volume—£52 (Quaritch); Cartwright (W.), Comedies, &c., portrait by Lombart, manuscript note by J. P. Collier, with the rare cancelled leaves “On the Queen’s Return from the Low Countries,” and the uncancelled leaves on the same, £5 15s. (Quaritch); Cibber (C.), “Tony Aston’s Brief Supplement to C. Cibber, his lives, &c., notes by Collier, extremely rare—£2 15s. (Westell); Collier, J. P., Punch and Judy coloured etchings by G. Cruikshank, notes by author among others—“The plates in this volume were coloured by Cruikshank; he gave it to me”—£5 10s.; Collier, J. P., “Notes and Emendations to the Text of Shakespeare’s Plays,” with a great mass of manuscripts, notes by Collier, 1853—£40 15s. (A. R. Smith); Cruikshank, 24 illustrations of “Punch and Judy,” India proofs, with a portrait of the artist himself etched at the bottom of one of the plates, and a view on another, &c., S. Prowett, 1828—£19 5s. (Richardson); Baxter (N.), Sir P. Sydney’s “Ourania,” autograph signature, and manuscript corrections by author, 1606—£9. (Stevens); Collier, J. P., “History of English Dramatic Poetry,” profusely illustrated by rare portraits, autograph letters, and manuscript notes by Collier, 1879—£59 (Stevens); Collier, J. P., “An Old Man’s Diary Forty Years Ago,” 1832-33, only 25 copies printed, illustrated like the last named, 1871-72—£150. (B. F. Stevens); Cooperi, T., “Thesaurus Linguæ Romanæ et Britannicæ,” “This book before it was rebound belonged to John Milton, as is testified in his own handwriting in more than 1,500 places,” manuscript note by Collier—£3 11s. (Quaritch); “Miltoni pro Populo Anglicano Defensio,” with autograph of O. Cromwell—£8 15s. (Quaritch); Shakespeare’s works, 1844-53, Mr. Collier’s working copy, manuscript notes, and letters from his friend—£10 (Ellis); Peckham, Sir G., “A True Reporte of the late Discoveries, &c., of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Kt.,” very curious and rare, John Charlewood for John Hinde, 1583, and many other rare tracts, in one volume, with manuscript notes by Collier—£210 (Quaritch). The entire proceeds of the sale were a little over £2,100.