racy has not been attainable, in spite of much effort; but it is hoped that some of the heroes of the "dead past may appear in living colours.

It may therefore be useful to briefly characterize the authorities consulted, in order that the reader may be enabled to estimate them at their true value. In this dreary task an alphabetical arrangement has been followed with the view of convenience, in which strict attention has been paid to the editions consulted, without the addition of any description of those which have preceded or succeeded them.

AUBREY, JOHN.

Letters and Lives of Illustrious Persons (1813), and the fine new edition, entitled Aubrey's Brief Lives, edited by Andrew Clarke and published in 1897.

Antiquities of Surrey (1719).

Aubrey must always be read with caution: he is a keen portraitpainter; but his credulous character, not untinged by a taint of spiteful gossip, has a tendency to discount his testimony, if it be unsupported.

ANDREWES, L.

Collected Sermons (1662), with the valuable biographical Funeral Sermon.

Opuscula Posthuma (1629), containing amongst other things the Tortura Torti and the Responsio ad Apologiam.

Leaders of Religion Series, which contains a valuable biography of Andrewes.

BALE, JOHN.

Illustrium Maioris Britanniæ Scriptorum Summarium, an invaluable collection of biographies, and the first of the kind of English authors. Bale had many prejudices, which interfere with the value of his testimony; but he must always be consulted. The edition used is that of 1569.

BAYLE, PETER.

Dictionary, where there is an excellent account of Scioppius.

BARNES.

Anacreon (1705). A rare and interesting book, abounding in gossip about British poets.

BIRCH, DOCTOR.

Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth (London, 1754.) This is in the main a highly interesting and accurate work, dealing with the last twenty-two years of the reign of Elizabeth.

Court and Times of James I., and Court and Times of Charles I. (1849), which contain copies of letters made by Dr. Thomas Birch, and left by him to the British Museum. This is a remarkable and interesting collection of letters, in which the letters are printed in full.

Life of Prince Henry (1760). A work which contains useful information difficult to obtain elsewhere.

BOORDE, ANDREW.

A Boke of Introduction (1541). A work which has been sufficiently described in the following pages.

Breviary of Health (1575), which has also been described in detail below.

BROOKE, BENJ.

Lives of the Puritans (1813). A book which is a useful but not too accurate compilation of works relating to its subject. BROWN, THOS.

Miscellanea Aulica (1702), which contains some gossip and some

facts.

BURNET, GILB.

Life of Bedell (1692). A rare little book, full of information; written in Burnet's usual vivid, but not wholly reliable, style. BURTON, ROBERT.

Anatomy of Melancholy (1638). The fifth edition of this notable book has been used, because it was the last published in Burton's lifetime. Of modern editions the one published by Messrs. Bell & Sons, and edited by Shillitoe, is by far the best.

BURTON, WM.

A Description of Leicestershire, reprinted 1777. A work which may still be consulted with profit, and which was compiled with great care.

CABBALA (1663). A work containing a choice and valuable selection of letters during the period chiefly of the first two Stuarts.

CAMDEN, WM.

Britannia (1695), translated by Gibson. A work which needs neither description nor commendation.

Camdeni Insignia (1624). A little book containing elegies on the death of William Camden, of great rarity and much interest.

Camden Society No. 12, which contains several letters of interest. CASAUBON.

Casaubonorum Epistolæ (1709). A collection which throws an invaluable light on the lives of Isaac and Meric Casaubon, and which contains letters to both of the Casaubons, though not in any great numbers.

CHALMERS, ALEX.

Biographical Dictionary. A work of much labour and research, and amply furnished in most cases with a useful list of the authorities consulted by the various contributors.

CLARENDON.

History of the Great Rebellion (1702-1704), Fol. The noble historian is one of the most interesting and at the same time one of the most prejudiced of the writers of English history.

COLLIER, JEREMY.

Ecclesiastical History (1706). A work written by the pen and from the point of view of a non-juror, which is full of information and no less warped by the writer's bias.

COLLINS, ARTHUR.

Sidney Papers (1746, edited by Arthur Collins). A most valuable collection of useful historical documents.

COOPER.

Athena Cantabrigienses (1861). A work which was modelled upon the similar work of Antony à Wood and which contains a mine of information more or less accurate concerning the worthies of Cambridge.

CORYATE, THOS.

Crudities (1611). A rare work, which has been sufficiently described below. One of the best copies is one of the treasures of the Chetham Library, Manchester.

COWLEY, A.

Works (1681 and 1700), with a memorial notice by Bishop Sprat.
Poemata Latina (1668).

DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY, which in spite of occasional
and inevitable errors remains a monumental testimony to the care
of the contributors, and the public spirit of its publishers.
DRYDEN, JOHN.

Miscellany Poems (1696). A curious and interesting collection of poems of different degrees of merit.

FURNIVAL, F. J.

Early English Text Society, Extra Series, No. 10, which contains the best life of Andrew Boorde extant, and on which Mr. Furnival has bestowed infinite pains, the result of which is only marred by the extraordinary style in which he has chosen to write.

Elegies on Paul Viscount Bayning (1638), which has been consulted because Robert Burton wrote one of them.

EVELYN, JOHN.

Diary, with a preface by Mr. Wheatley (1879). A work which is perhaps not consulted as often as might be advisable, on account of its inferior interest to that of Pepys.

FERRIAR, DR.

Illustrations of Sterne (1812). A work which reveals its author's critical sagacity in a marked degree.

FRANKLAND, THOS.

Annals of King James and King Charles I. (1861). A work, though written to correct Rushworth, greatly dependent upon his Historical Collections. It contains much information and a few valuable documents.

FULLER, THOMAS.

Anonymous Life (1661). A useful little work, as giving a vivid picture of the times in which Fuller lived.

Abel Redivivus (1650). A collection of useful biographies of eminent theologians edited by Fuller, in part written by him, and in part by eminent divines such as Thomas Gataker and by William Isaacson.

Church History (1655). A mine of information and exact character-painting.

Comment on St. Matthew (1652). A small collection of sermons on the Temptation, the preface of which, as is usual with Fuller, gives indications of his life.

The Worthies (1662).

An invaluable collection of biography intended to supplement Camden's Britannia.

GOODMAN, BISHOP.

The Court of King James I. (1839), edited by J. S. Brewer, a gossipy and useful book, filled with what the Bishop professes to be true accounts of certain scandals of the infamous court of James. GOSSE, EDMUND.

Seventeenth Century Studies. A brilliant and useful book of discerning criticism.

HACKET.

Scrinia Reserata of the Life of Archbishop Williams (1693). A useful but tedious folio crammed with reflections utterly foreign to the subject. Indeed, it is hard to trace the true portrait of the wily Williams through the maze of eulogy and philosophical reflections.

HARWOOD, THOS.

Alumni Etonenses (1797). A useful book, which has, however, fearful and wonderful chronological blunders. HARRISON, WM.

A Description of England (1577 and 1586-7). An interesting but spiteful book, which requires great caution in its proper use. HEARNE, THOS.

Benedictus Abbas (1737). A work which contains the history of the aforesaid Abbot of Peterborough, and Boorde's Peregrination. Reliquiæ Hearnianæ (1868). An interesting collection of the stray notes of the great Oxford antiquary.

HEYLIN, PETER.

Cyprianus Anglicanus or Life of Laud (1671). A eulogistic portrait of its hero with spiteful comments on his adversaries. Heylin unsupported by other evidence is rarely to be trusted.

History of Presbyterianism (1670), in which the author, with his wonted charity, traces the origin of Presbyterians to "their father the devil." The work contains some interesting facts, but must be used with great care.

HISTORICAL MSS. COMMISSION, Hatfield MSS., Pt. V., cf. also Report xi. This is a most useful and accurate collection of historical MSS. in the possession of private families.

HOWELL, JAMES.

Epistola Ho-Eliana (Ed. V., 1678). Whether all these letters were written at the dates under which they appear or long afterwards, there can be little doubt that in the main they present a truthful picture of the times.

JONSON, BEN.

Works (Moxon, 1853).

Conversations with Drummond, edited by David Laing for the Shakespeare Society, and full of interest.

JOHNSON, SAMUEL.

Lives of the Poets (1779-1781). A work of sometimes sound and sometimes startling criticism, written in Johnson's best and least ponderous style.

KENNET, BISHOP.

Compleat History of England (1706). A useful work, which contains such valuable pieces of contemporary history as Wilson's History of James and Camden's Annals of King James.

Register and Chronicle (1744). An admirable compendium of many of the events of English history.

LAUD, WILLIAM.

Troubles and Trial (1695). A pathetic narrative of the rigours of the imprisonment of the venerable primate, as told by himself; and edited by Henry Wharton.

L'ESTRANGE, HAMON.

The Reign of King Charles (1654). A curious, though not wholly unfair or inaccurate picture of the times concerning which it was written.

LLOYD, DAVID.

Statesmen and Favourites of England, (1665). A curious little book of many excellencies, but perplexed by grave chronological inaccuracies. It does not, however, merit the contempt which has been showered upon it.

Memoires (1668). A martyrology of the cavaliers.

LOWNDES.

Bibliographer's Manual. (Messrs George Bell and Sons.)

MONSON.

The Last Seventeen Years of Elizabeth (1682). Sir William Monson was Admiral of a ship in both of the Earl of Essex's ill-fated voyages, and he has shown himself a shrewd observer of the men and events of his time.

NICHOLS, JOHN.

History of Leicestershire (1795-1815), a monumental work containing almost every possible piece of history and topography in the county which it describes.

Progresses of James I. (1828), a work marked by the learned compiler's skill, patient research, and for the most part lucid arrange

ment.

OVERBURY, SIR T.

Works (1856, edited by Dr. Rimbault). A very useful edition, preceded by an admirable though brief life of the unfortunate statesman. Oxford Historical Society, University Registers. A very useful and admirably edited series, invaluable to the historical student. PLOT, ROBERT.

Natural History of Staffordshire (1686). A work of much value, in spite of certain inaccuracies caused by the reliance of the author on tradition.

PEACHAM, HENRY.

Compleat Gentleman (1634). This and Peacham's other works are described below.

POPE.

Gentleman's Exercise (1634).

Period of Mourning (1613).

Truth of the Times Revealed out of one Man's Experience (1638).
The Worth of a Peny (1662 Reprint).

Windsor Forest (1720).

PURCHAS, SAMUEL.

Pilgrims (1625), a great and rare work crammed with interesting matter well worth reprinting to day.

RUSHWORTH, JOHN.

Historical Collections, Abridged (1703, etc.) A most useful work to all who need a digest of the larger work of the original compiler, at whom Carlyle foolishly sneers, though greatly indebted to him for information.

SANDERSON, WILLIAM.

The Reign of King Charles (1656), an inaccurate compilation, which, however, deserves consultation for several documents which it contains.

SCOTT, SIR W.

Secret History of James I. (1811), which contains much valuable matter, and, amongst other scandalous chronicles, Aulicus Coquinariæ.

Shakespeare Society, Pierce Penniless's Supplication to the Devil, by Thomas Nash, and edited by J. P. Collier, who has made more than one curious blunder.