85. This is a long review of a lecture delivered by Sig. Guidi Biagi, the distinguished Keeper of the Laurentian Library, on books as factors in education. The reason for the present indifference to books in Italy is traced back to ancient causes, which really underlay the decay of Italian printing after its brief but glorious half-century of fine work. The reason for this decay is said to have been the ecclesiastical persecution, from which reformed Germany was free; in Italy the issue of novels and the lighter productions of the press was crushed under suspicion of heresy, and the press, losing touch with the life of the people, became academic, while literature itself languished at the same time and for the same cause. At the time of the Resorgimento, however, books once more came into favour, and an extensive propaganda was carried on by their means. With Italy once free, the Government turned its attention to maintaining the thirty-three State libraries, which are by no means the equivalent of our municipal libraries, the place of these being to some extent supplied by private exertion and enterprise, and designed solely for the help of an illiterate or ill-educated public. In addition to these, public generosity has also established libraries for soldiers and sailors, and for emigrants, and is attempting to establish a true public library of the kind so called in Great Britain and America. In his comments on Sig. Biagi's lecture, it is curious and instructive to read Sig. Fabietti's lament on the burden of Italy. "Alas! we have too many incunabula, too many precious codices to treasure, our past is too rich in the distilled wisdom of its books, and our collections of such things are the envy of the world. . . . Happy are the people who have no history, who can indulge in the luxury of creating new, from the very beginnings, glowing laboratories of knowledge, who have no bibliographical sepulchres to guard. Who shall free us from the bonds of these old books?" The question is put : Would it not be possible to gather into one place all the rarest bibliographical treasures, and to sell the duplicates in order to establish true modern public libraries (of the workshop pattern) with the proceeds? Truly an article to make bibliographers think!

La Bibliofilia (March).

86. Sorbelli (A.).—The strange fortunes of a typographical undertaking. The third volume of Ghirardacci's "History of Bologna" (continued).

OLSCHKI (L.).—Some precious MSS. (with illustrations and four plates).

87. OLSCHKI (L.).—Books unknown to bibliographers (with four facsimiles).

Public sales. News.

86. This is the continuation of the article in the previous number and gives some of the letters in the long correspondence over the publication of the third volume of the "History". Finally, the Marchese G. Bentivoglio bought up the whole edition, numbering 1060 copies, and destroyed them all with the exception of one which he kept for himself. A facsimile of the first page of this copy is given in the article, which concludes with a list of the letters and documents preserved in the Library of Bologna, dealing with the history of the volume now in its safe keeping.

87. A short description, with reproductions of three decorated initials and the printer's mark, of a book by Antonius Lodovicus, a Lisbon physician, entitled "De occultis proprietatibus libri quinque," printed at Lisbon by Lodovicus Rodurici.

La Bibliofilia (April).

88. D'ANCONA (P.).-The "Liber celestium revelationum Sanctæ Brigidæ," illustrated by a Sienese miniaturist of the first half of the fifteenth century (with two plates).

89. LEVI (A.).—A portrait of Ugo Foscolo unknown in Italy. CELANI (E.). The Barberini correspondence (continued).

90. SALARIS (R.).—Incunabula of the Communal Library of Piacenza.

VALGIMIGLI (A.).—British courier.

Notes.

88. This article discusses the two miniatures illustrating the "Revelationes " of which the MS., together with most of the other writing of the Saint, was found in Florence and is now in the possession of L. Olschki, the editor of "La Bibliofilia ".

89. A reproduction of the portrait of the poet in the possession of Mr. J. H. Gurney of Keswick Hall is here given. It has apparently been unknown hitherto in Italy, though the poet in a letter to Cyrus Redding mentions that he is sitting to Pistrucci. A facsimile is given of the sonnet written by Foscolo and attached to the portrait, where it still remains, in accordance with the poet's wishes.

90. Dr. Raimondi Salaris begins a list of the incunabula contained in the Communal Library of Piacenza. The library possesses about goo editions of fifteenth century books, counting duplicates, coming from two different sources, the Communal and the Landino collections; the one formed in the beginning of the eighteenth century with the books of the expelled Jesuits and later increased by the library of Count Pier Francesco Passerini and other accessions, notably in 1870 from the suppressed religious communities, and containing about 500 incunabula, mostly legal, philosophical, and theological. The other came to the library by gift in 1872, a collection of about 400 incunabula formed by the Marchese Ferdinando Landi. Though the majority of the books are already mentioned in Hain and others, Dr. Salaris states that some are very little, if at all, known.

REVIEW.

COURTHOPE (W. J.). The connexion between ancient and modern romance (Warton Lecture on English Poetry, 2). From the "Proceedings of the British Academy," Vol. V. Froude, 1912. 16 pp. IS. net.

This suggestive lecture is, like one of Prof. Saintsbury's "interchapters," a general view backwards and forwards over the history of English fiction, correcting the mistakes which have persisted from the time of Warton and Dunlop, and showing what was the real nature of the differences between the intellectual attitude that begat mediaeval romance and that which brought forth the modern novel. Prof. Courthope destroys three fallacies (1) that mediaeval romance was an "arbitrary species of fiction," (2) that this species of fiction was imported ready-made from Arabian literature, and (3) that the form of the romances was free from the influences of Greek and Latin literature. He shows that the evolution of English fiction, right down to the modern era, has been a natural and intelligible process, not requiring any extravagant assumptions to explain its history.

E. A. B.

NOTES AND NEWS.

BENEFACTIONS.

RADCLIFFE.-There is a deficit of £867 on the new library building at Radcliffe, and Mr. Carnegie has offered to pay half of it, on condition that the other half is met by contributions from local residents.

WATFORD.-Mr. Carnegie has offered £5000 towards the new library building at Watford. The Library Committee has accepted the offer.

NEW BUILDINGS AND EXTENSIONS.

IPSWICH.-On 30 April the new building of the Stoke Branch Library, Ipswich, was formally opened by the Mayor (Mr. F. E. Rands), the ceremony being presided over by Mr. W. Reavell. The cost of the building has been defrayed through the generosity of Alderman W. F. Paul, J.P., who had four years earlier placed at the disposal of the Library Committee, rent free, the premises hitherto occupied by the Stoke Branch.

MIDDLESBROUGH.-On 8 May the new buildings of the Middlesbrough Public Library were opened by Alderman Amos Hinton, part donor of the site for the library. The Mayor (Councillor William Harkess) presided over the ceremony.

NEWPORT, MONMOUTHSHIRE.-Considerable alterations to the library buildings are now in progress owing to the Art School having been removed to the Technical Institute. It is purposed that the whole of the rooms thus vacated will be utilized for the Museum, and the ground floor of the Museum for library extension.

MISCELLANEOUS.

HAMPSTEAD: Theft of Library Books.-As it not infrequently happens that the purloiner of library books manages to escape attention, it may be worth recording that at the Marlborough Street Police Court, on 4 May, a man named John Curtis was convicted of stealing four volumes, to the value of £1 Is. 6d., from the open-access shelves of the Central Reference Library at Hampstead, and was sentenced to one month's imprisonment for the offence.

LONDON: Church Libraries.-The existence of the large and valuable collections of theological and ecclesiastical literature to be found in London has hitherto been too little considered by the laity. The three principal Church libraries in London are at Lambeth Palace, Sion College, and the Church House. The Library of LAMBETH PALACE is open to all who desire to avail themselves of its stores, and books may even be borrowed from it. It has, therefore, an especial claim to enrichment by means of presentation volumes. SION COLLEGE

Library, although primarily intended for the clergy, is also open freely to the Church laity. At the CHURCH HOUSE Library a structural alteration has attracted attention. Doubtless the Corporation welcome the fact, for the attendance-book showed a sad lack of interest in the library or its contents. By special permission visitors may make use of the library, but it is open by right only to members of the Corporation and Associates.

Each of these libraries has at least one feature of special interest. The collection of MSS. at Lambeth Palace is even more important than the printed books. The Archiepiscopal registers, dating back to the thirteenth century, contain information of national as well as Church history. Although the Bishop of London exercised jurisdiction over the outposts of the Church of England beyond these islands, many matters were referred to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and certainly during the last century the correspondence of the Primate must necessarily be included in any history of the Anglican Church. The rich historical vein may be regarded, therefore, as the most valuable asset of the library. The primary aim of the founder of Sion College Library was "to maintain truth in doctrine," and its chief use now is to assist the studies of clergymen. General literature has been placed in the library in the past, and is still purchased, but theology holds the first place in the collection. The Church House Library has no past history or tradition from which to derive any prominent characteristic. It possesses the splendid collection of hymnology presented by Dr. Julian, but no attempt is made to keep it up to date.

In addition to these three, many lesser collections are scattered about London. At present Churchmen are beholden to the generous Presbyterian, Dr. Williams, who founded the library in Gordon Square, if the resources of the English Church Union Library do not meet their requirements. Special interests, such as foreign missions, have their own libraries. Organizations like the St. Paul's Lecture Society endeavour to provide for the requirements of their members. The clergy have also the libraries supplied by the Associates of Dr. Bray, and it has been suggested that this piece of work might be more properly housed in the Church House than in the office of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

WOMBWELL.-The Wombwell Library Committee has decided to black out the betting news in the newspapers displayed at the library during the next six months as an experiment.

APPOINTMENTS.

Thomas (G.).—Miss Gladys Thomas, of Penarth, has been appointed Librarian of the Penarth Public Library.

Walker (J. E.).—Mr. J. E. Walker, Senior Assistant, Gateshead Public Library, has been appointed Sub-Librarian, Tottenham Public Library.

Wilson (William).-Mr. W. Wilson, Sub-Librarian, Gateshead Public Library, has been appointed Librarian, Darlington Public Library.