Reviews.

birds , and humorous groups , perfect in drawing and painting . ' The set of aesthetic drawings too are very good , and will no doubt be largely bought by those who d esireto satiri ze this craze . T HE C HILDREN ' S KETTLEDRUM . ByM . A . C . London : Dean and Snn . —It will not be the fault of such publishers of uvenile books as Messrs . Dean and Son if the next generation is not aesthetic in the true sense of the

word-The last few years have seen rapid progress in everything pertaining to fine art , but in no department is it more any picture brightly coloured was considered good enough for children ; and our m jmory carries us back to some remarkable productions in the way of toy books , something after the celebrated panorama of the Lord Mayor's show , familiar to the peripatetic Londoner for so many years on or about the gth of November . Now the toy book

may truthfully be designated an art production , and we have sren nothing better than the one under notice . Commencing with a presentation plate , with space for name , & c , surrounded by medallions of children and birds , to the last " Good Bye , " there is a wealth of marked than in juvenile literature . Only a few years ago

colour and design rarel y seen . The full coloured chromo pages are alternated with a new style of chromo tintorette , which adds variety and g-ive-s more effect to the full coloured ones . Messrs . Dean and Sons deserve great credit for placing such high class productions in the hands of children .

THE SUNDERLAND OR BLENHEIM LIBRARY . On Monday the sale of the "first portion " of this valuable library was brought to a conclusion , the total realised-during the ten days over which it extended being announced as £ 19 , 377 . As the catalogue comprised 2700 lots , those who are partial to striking averages will find the average product per lot was a fraction over £ 7 5 s . Book sales , however , especially one involving the dispersion of one of the

finest collections of ancient , mediaeval , and modern literature , cannot be regarded quite from the same point of view as a sale of pedigree or fat stock , even though it is quite possible that some of the purchasers of these Blenheim treasures may know more about the points of a shorthorn than they are ever likely to know of the contents of the rare folios or quartos they may have just added to their libraries . As there are precious stones that may be said to

be priceless from the fact of there being but one or only a few specimens in existence , so are there rare editions of ancient and modern books which only the wealthiest of people can fook to . possess . Of course it is difficult to say what constitutes rarity in literature . One book . possesses this attribute because it contains a misprint , another from the device on its title page . One is valued because it was once the property of some modern Mancenas , another

because it has impressed on its cover the coat of arms of a famous cardinal or statesman . A " first edition " from the press of Valdarfer , Junta , Aldus , Fust , and Schoiffcr , or Sweynheim and Pannartz , is , in a figurative sense , beyond all price Only a few copies are known to exist , and the expert will tell you in what libraries these few copies are to be found j in fact , the reasons that may be furnished for assigning extraordinary values for these or

those works are as numerous as they ottentimes are inexplicable . Moreover , there is in bibliophilism , as in other things , a kind of fashion , and there'is no pre-judging the particular p hase it may assume at a particular time . One thing only is certain , namely , a rare collection of books will always represent a large money value , though what the owner gave hundreds for , may sell for tens , and vice versa . Thus the sale to which » e are alluding , while it had its

triumphs , was not without its surprises likewise . The result , taken as a whole , must be deemed eminently satisfactory ; and if the three remaining portions realise no more than this first one , the sale of the Sunderland Library will be by far the greatest , from a productive point of view , as it is historically one among the greatest that has ever been known in modern times . As our readers are aware , thc sale commenced on Thursday , the 1 st inst ., and continued

—with the necessary exception of Sundays—from day to day till Monday , the 12 th inst ., the daily totals varying from £ 727 , on Saturday last , to £ 4179 , on Wednesday , the 7 th , when the latter half of the Bibles and the choice editions of Boccaccio were disposed of . At the outset matters passed quietly , but as the sale progressed the excitement kept on increasing , and great was the enthusiasm wlipn an unusually high price was bid for any lot . In one respect ,

the Great Roxburgh sale of 1 S 12 retains , thus far , its prestige over all other sales , the £ 2260 realised by its perfect _ copy of the "Valdarfer Decameron " of 1470 being still the highest sum ever given for a single book . On Tuesday , however , the " Biblia Sacra Latina , " printed on vellum , in double columns , forty-eight lines to a page , two vols ., iGJ in . by 11-J in ., being the first Bible printed with a date , the colophon

giving the date , place , and name of printer , ' * Petrus Schoiffer de Gern' -heym , Maguntum , Anno incar .-i 462 " was knocked down , amid very general applause , to Mr . Quaritch for £ 1600 . A copy of the self-same Bible fetched £ 780 at the sale , in 1 S 70 , of Mr . Perkins ' s library . The fine condition , and the almost absolute perfection of the Sunderland , no doubt , fully justified the vastly higher figure paid for it . Similarly , though the figures are

much smaller , the first Bible in Greek—fol . Vcnet . in aid , Aldi et _ Andrea ; Soceri , 151 S , two volumes—Hebcr ' s copy of which sold for only eleven guineas—was bought by Mr . Quaritch for £ 64 . On the other hand , a Latin Bible—an ancient MS ., from the vulgate , on vellum , 458 leaves , written in small , clear Gothic letters , in double columns , sixty four lines to a page , 4 tn ., of about the fourteenth century , which might have

been looked to fetch a considerable sum , realise' ! only £ 34 , or little more than a modest estimate of its strictly commercial value . The next highest price was £ 1000 , given by Mr . Quaritch for a remarkably fine copy on vellum of Augustinus , " De Civitate Dei , " from the press of J . and V . de Spira , Venice , 1470 . The same gentleman was equally fortunate in securing , for 510 guineas , Lot No . G 70 , a fine MS ., in bold Gothic characters , of " Le Roman

du R 01 Artus et les Compagnons de la Table Ronde . " This is in two volumes , of about the fourteenth century , each volume containing a number of beautiful miniatures , painted in colours and illuminated in gold . The " Vinegar " Bible , Lot 1424 , so called from the " Parable of the Vineyard " being misprinted as " the Parable of the Vinegar , " and of which , according to Lmvndes , only tevo other copies —one in the Royal Library and the other in the Bodleianare known to exist , found a purchaser in Sir T . Fowel

Reviews.

Buxton , Bart ., M . P ., at £ . 255 . No . 1414 , " Crammer's , " or the " Great" Bible , fob , K . Whit- hurche , 1541 , made £ 115 . A copy o " La Bible , Gothic letter , folio , i'i 35 , " being the first French Bible published by the Protestants , the work of P . R . Olivetan and John Calvin , was bought by Mr . Quaritch for £ 291 Ins ., in spite of its defective titlepage and the absence of Calvin ' s Latin epistle . What is known as "The Queen ' s Bible" with photographs by

Frith , two volumes , royal folio , Mackenzie ,. Glasgow , 1 S 62 which cost £ 50 , and of which only 170 were printed , was secur d by Sir Robert Peel for ten guineas . The Spanish Bible ( Biblia Hispanica Lot 1455 ) , commonly known as the "Jews' Bible" or " Ferrara Bible , " and described in the cata ' ogue as " excessively rare , " was bought by Mr . Quaritch for £ 57 .- But no doubt the - chief interest at Wednesday's sale was directed to the rare editions of

" Boccaccio" which were offered , and of which Mr . Quaritch is now the fortunate possessor . Lot No . 1602 , Boccaccius ( Jehan Bocace ) , " De la Ruine des Nobles Hommes et Femmes , " fol . imp . a Bruges par Colard Mansion , 1476 , old Gothic type , double columns , thirty-three lines to a page , 14 J in . by 9 J in ., vellum , the first book printed at Bruges , and interesting likewise from the close relation of the printer to our William Caxton , fetched £ 920 . Lot

1603 , Boccaccius ' s " De la louenge et Vertu des Nobles et Geres Dames , " translated and printed at Paris , 1493 , by Anthoine Verard , together with " Le Rommant de la Rose , " per Guill . de Lorris et Jean de Meung , also Paris , by Johan du Pre , without date , but about 1493 , went for 200 guineas . Both these were described , not only as " exceedingly rare books , " but likewise as " exceedingly fine copies , " the woodcuts being very

quaint in outline . At the Roxburghe sale a copy of Le Rommant de la Rose , " described as fol . MS ., sur velin , enrichie de 6 7 , fig . peintes en miniature , " realised thirtynine guineas . The first edition , with a date of . the " Decameron , " fol . ( Venet . ) Christoval Valdarfer , 1470 , made £ 585 . This is an imperfect copy ( five leaves wanting , as described . in the catalogue ) of the famous work which fetched the enormous price of £ 2260 at the Roxburghe sale

and was sold a few years later to the Earl Spencer of the day for goo guineas . Many , perhaps , might have anticipated that a higher sum would have been realised , but considering the ultimate price paid by Lord Spencer ' s ancestor for the perfect copy in the Althorpe Library , it strikes us £ 585 was about the full value of the one just sold . The Mantuan copy of 1473 being the second edition , with a date of the same work , and said in the catalogue to be " of

extraordinary rarity . " and "perhaps the only copy existing in this country , " was knocked down for £ 400 . Mr . Quaritch also purchased Lot 1605 , the Aldine edition , 152 T , of the " Decameron "—a fine copy—for £ 111 ; and the genuine Junta edition of 1527 , Florence , for £ 30 . Dunn Gardner ' s copy of the latter having made £ 54 , anel Charlemont ' s £ 57 , while the one in the Roxburghe sale went for £ 29 . Of other lots we may enumerate No . 269 , comprising three rare

and valuable tracts relating to Virginn , bought by Mr . Quaritch for £ 143 ; No . 341 , "Ho Preste Joam das lndias , " £ 54 ; No . 150 , Albertinis ( Franciscus de ) "Opusculum de Mirabilibus Nova ; et Vcteris Urbis Roma ; " —only two or three copies known to exist— £ 66 ; No . Soj , Balbus ( Johannes ) "De Janua , " first edition , attributed to John Gutenberg , and looked upon "as the fourth book printed , " £ 285 ( i-. llis anti White ); No . 2183 ,

Cnesans ( C . J . ) , "Opera fol . Roma ; "' ( per Arn . Pannartz and Conr . Sweynh ' eym ) , 1469 , £ 195 ; No . 2606 , Caxton ( William ) '' Cmnycle of Englande , " Gothic letter , without nam- of printer , place , or date , but printed with the types of VV . de Machlinia , £ 226 ( Quaritch ) . Had this been a perfect copy it might have fetched fully four tirres as much ; but , though the number of leaves was correct , a careful inspection had discovered that one was wanting ,

another being inserted in duplicate . No . 2490 , Castaneda ( Fernando Lopez de ) " Historia de Descobrimento y Canquista da India Pelos Portugueses , " caused a sharp competition , Mr . Ellis , of Ellis and White , ultimately securing it for £ 180 . With what we have described above we must content ourselves . We should much have liked

to give further particulars , but considerations of space forbid this . We must not , however , omit mention of Lots 2052 and 2053 , which comprised les " grands " and " petits " voyages—to the East and VVest Indies , collected b y De-Bry . For these arose a vigorous contest , from winch Mr . Quaritch emerged the victor with the bid of £ 720 .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Masonic Notes and Queries .

AN OLD RECORD OF MASONS . " Enquirer" appeals to me in your last issue to verify the passage given by Anderson in his Constitutions , 1723 ( page 92 of Bro . Woodford ' s reprint ) . In the edition of Stow , 1 G 33 , the sentence appears in the list of the other companies following the Twelve ( No . iS ) , p . G 30 . It is not ,- however , to be found , so far as I am aware , in anv ^ edition of the text bv Gwillim . birt . ns

pointed out by . " Her . Ord . Temp . " in the Freemason of the 17 th September , it appears in the "Treatise of Honour , Military and Civil , " given as a kind of supplement to the edition of Gwillim , printed 1724 . In the fifth edition of Gwillim , 1679 , we find at thc end the Analogia Honorum , which , as we learn from thc address , signed R . B . [ Richard Blome ] , "I do own to have received from Captain David Logan , of Idbury , in Oxfordshire , evhose

Manuscript is not exactl y observed by omitting the Quotations in his Papers , as being unwilling to swell the Volume unto too large a bulk ; and the rather , being confident he asserts nothing without the Authority of good authors , putting my C 'nhdence in his Care , " * c . I he Analogia of Captain fohn Logan here bears the date of 1677 , and has a separate pagination from theother part of the book . The second part of it , dated 167 Sis the Honour

Civil"Treat-, , ing of the Customs , Government , Priviledges , Armorial Ensigns of Honour of the City of London , " & c . On page 1 G 7 are to be found "The Chief Companies of London , " amongst which that of the Masons finds no place . The sixth edition of Gwillim , mentioned b / " Her . Ord . Temp ., " is dated 1734 , and we have here again tlie work of Captain

John Logan , and that of others . The second part , or " Honour Civil , " is without date , but has much the same title , as that in the fifth edition , with this important extension , with large additions , and in place of the arms and descriptions of about seventeen companies , as in the fifth edition , there are now several pages . On the top of the outside column of p . 13 appears the sentence about the Masons '

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Company . Evidently then , it was added by the editor of of the 1724 edition of Guillmi , published nearly a hundred yearsaft . r it had been given in the edition of Stow , 1633 . No blazon of the arms is given by Stuev . The blazon appears to have been added as follows ;—Asureon a chevron between three Cas'les arfent . a nnir nf rnn-nflKpl cnmHAvhflf

extended of the first . Is this not the first instance of the colour of the field sable beinir changed to that nf azure , as now borne by the Grand l . odsie of Scotland ? , I have not looked over the earlier editions of Stow , to trace the statement , but have always been of the opinion that the editor of Stow , 1633 , gained his information from some record which appears not now to be known . W . HARRY RYLANDS .

ARBROATH . I hasten to make "amende honorable . " I have purposely chosen a nam deplume which should indicate in the plainest manner my acknowledged ignorance ; and , to my entire ignorance of the existence of such a work as " Fellowes's Mysteries " must be attributed my former remarks .

Mea culpa , and—ah , yes ! the printer too , let him bear his share , by all means . But 1 hardly understand" Masonic Student" yet . In the copy of the seal before me the word " initiation " forms no part of tbe seal . It is merely placed below , as , I presume , an explanation . However , this is not the question with which I started . ' My query was , is the seal Droved tn havr . been flip iimtniilil-prl nfflrial s *> nl nf

the Abbey ? Can "Masonic Student" answer this ? I shall be quite satisfied at present with a plain yes or no ; although a reference to such proof , if it exist , would still further oblige ENTERED APPRENTICE STUDENT .

THE RABBI LEON . Thc writing on the bit of paper turns out to be a statement that " in this book is contained the original petition of Rabbi Manasseh Israel to Oliver Cromwell . " This fact seems to show that the MS . portion had belonged to another book .-as no sue netitinn is fnnnrl in this It lia < :

occurred to me that this paper may belong to a copy of Leon ' s work on the Temple . It is very difficult to have foreign works printed without " errata . " The Rabbi Leon ' s works are : " Retrato , " & c , 1654 , not Netrato ; and ^ beeldingeL Amsterdam , 16 47 , not Afbuldinger , 1047 . Seepage 567 Freemason , 1 SS 1 . M . S .

MASONIC MINUTE BOOKS . I repeat the " note " I put in some time back : Can any brother help me to an early minute book , either for perusal or possession ? Many such are to be found , I feel persuaded , in solicitors' offices , amid old papers and documents , under " residuary adminstrations . " MASONIC STUDENT .

LELAND'S MSS . In Brayley's "Londoniana" it is said that "Leland ' s MSS . " once formed part of the Royal Library at St . James ' s . Where are they now ? Does that library still exist at the Palace , perhaps unknown and uncared for ? or have the books gone to Buckingham Palace , Windsor Castle , or the British Museum . ' BOOKWORM .

Metropolitan Masonic Benevolent Association.

METROPOLITAN MASONIC BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION .

It will be admitted among Masons , accustomed as they are to practice charity , that it is a noble and notable thing for an institution to do to subscribe , in its five years of life , £ 1100 to the Masonic Charities , and that at an expense of £ 16 . Yet that is what" has been done bv the Metvemolitnn

Masonic Benevolent Association , ' which held its audit meetings on the first Friday of the present month . The auditor ' s report , which was adopted , stated that the sum ° . £ . ' 79 I 0 S - 4 < L , had been received by the association since its commencement in November 1875 ; and that the total sum paid out had been : For the old men £ 382 15 s . ; for the Widows' Fund , £ 230 53 . ; for the Boys Fund , £ iSo :

tor the Girls'fund , £ 299 5 s . ; together £ tioi 5 s . The expenses for printing and postage had been in the live years ; £ 16 is . Gd . ; and the balance at the bank was £ 6235 . iod . The auditors then went on to say : "The number of members who have joined in the five years is 30 C of whom only thirteen have become members during the past year , a fact which shows themselves of increased

activity if vve we are to maintain the efficiency of theassociation . The average receipts will be seen to be nearl y £ 200 per ' annum , but last year only about £ 140 was paid into the association . " The meeting endorsed the auditors' opinion that an effort was needed to obiair , fresh members for an association so sound , so economically managed , so greatly beneficial , and yet * o conducted that the claims it makes

upon its members are spread over a long period—two years for each £ 5 share—and only amount to one shilling per week per share . The association , which is a permanent one—members joining at any time without back subscri ptions to pay , —has for its president Bro . Past Master J . R . Stacey , the well- " known Preceptor ; Bro . Past Master J . White is Vice-President and Treasurer , and Bro . VV . VV . Snellino- is The meeti

Honnrary S cretary . ngs are held at 8 . 30 p . m . on the first Friday of every month at the Portugal Hotel , 155 , . f , | eet-sireet . when members are elected , subscriptions received , and Life Sub » criber » hi ps and Life Governships of the Masonic Institutions ballotel for , the member who succeeds in thc liallot heing of course at liberty to choose in every case between the Croydon Institution for Aged Freemasons andjWidows , tha Boys' School at Wood Green , nd the Girls School at Battersea Rise .

HOUIIWAY ' S OINTMENT AVD Pats . —AS winter advances and the wcath r becomes mo e anel more inclement anil trying thelcar . iest 1 vi icnce- ot ill-health mus' he immediately ciVcke , ami removed , or a slight illn-s < may result in a scrinus- malad y . Relaxed and sore thou , . . uinsey , influenza , chro . ic coiuh , bronchitis an-1 most other pulmonary elections will be relftved by ranblus this coolraR Ointmcni into the skin

as nearly as praciicanle to the seat of mischief . > hi * tre-a ' m «' , sim le yet effective , is adm rilily adapted for ihe removal of these d'sca-es during infancy and youth 1 dd a * thm etic invd . ds vv tt d .-rive marvellou- relief from the me of HoihiWrfy ' s remedies which have » on lert . dlv rcl cvej many mich suffere s ami re-established health afier every other means had sisnaJy failed . —[ ADVT . )