Scotland," by Allan Cunningham (his first acknowledged publication), 1813, a presentation copy with the poet's autograph; "Translations and Poems" by Samuel Boyce, dedicated to Susannah, Countess of Eglinton; "The Northern Laird and his Tenant," a tale by John Burnes, a private in the Forfarshire Militia; a bundle of poetical chap-books, printed at Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Beith; "Paisley Repository" and " and "Miscellany;" Buchanan's Poems, a beautiful Elzevir, in perfect condition, with engraved title, 1628. manuscripts include the "Commonplace Book" of Mrs. Riddell, friend and correspondent of Burns, continued till about the her death, 1808; and the "Maid of Avon," founded on the story of Wallace, bearing the book-plate of another famous collector, T. Jolley, F.S.A.

The

year of

LIBRARY NOTES.

BIRKENHEAD.We regret to learn that the illness of our Member, Mr. Richard Hinton, Librarian of the Free Public Library, Birkenhead, which prevented him from taking part in the Liverpool Meeting has terminated fatally. Mr. Hinton died at Higher Tranmere on Nov. 12, aged 64 years. He had been Librarian from the opening of the Library in 1856.

BRADFORD.-The Bradford Public Library and Art Museum Committee at the early part of the present year, passed a resolution that the Central Reading Rooms, Reference Library and Art Museum be opened on Sunday, but the Town Council deemed it inexpedient to adopt such resolution, and referred the matter back to the Committee, who, as yet, have not deemed it advisable to reconsider the question. The Lord's-day Rest Association have, since the resolution was rejected, become the parents of a local committee, and the opposition of this committee to the opening may possibly bring about a result the reverse of what they desire, as already, by their efforts the matter has been frequently mooted at the various ward meetings in connection with the present municipal elections, and as far as can be judged the proposal to open on Sundays seems to be growing in favour.

BRISTOL. The vacancy in the Librarianship of the Bristol Museum and Library caused by the appointment of Mr. John Taylor to the City Librarianship (as announced in our last number) has been filled up by the appointment of Mr. E. R. N. Matthews, formerly of the Birmingham Free Libraries.

CARDIFF. The new Municipal Art Galleries at the Cardiff Free Library buildings were formally opened by the Mayor on Oct 23. In the evening a reception was held by Mr. Alderman Taylor, chairman of the Free Library Committee.

GATESHEAD.-Mr. G. Hall Elliott, Sub-Librarian of the Literary and Philosophical Society, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has been appoint

ed Chief Librarian of Gateshead Public Library, the building of which is now in course of erection, and is expected to be ready for use in May next.

LONDON BATTERSEA.-A resolution has been passed by the Battersea Vestry (Oct. 11), on the motion of Mr. John Cleave, that it is desirable to adopt the Free Libraries' Acts. A number of public meetings in favour of the movement have been held since.

MANCHESTER. At a Special Meeting of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, held in the Mayor's Parlour at the Town Hall, on November 12th, a number of books and MSS. from his Library were exhibited by the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres. After his Lordship had described the articles exhibited, Mr. Axon and Mr. Sutton addressed the meeting, and a vote of thanks was given to the Earl on the motion of Sir Thomas Baker and Mr. H. H. Howorth.

MIDDLESBROUGH. The foundation stone of the new public buildings in which accommodation is to be provided for the Free Library, was laid on October 24th by the Mayor. The cost of the building will be about £100,000.

NORTHWICH.-A movement in favour of adopting the Free Libraries Acts is in progress at Northwich. A meeting was held on October 15th, Mr. Thomas Moore taking the Chair in the unavoidable absence of Mr. John Moore, who is Chairman of the Local Board, and who is a hearty supporter of the movement. Resolutions in favour of adopting the Acts and appointing a Committee were passed, and a subscription at once opened. Numerous promises of support have been received, and the subscriptions already amount to about £500.

NOTTINGHAM.-On Friday, November 2nd, a room situated at the north-east angle of the building was opened as an additional readingroom in connection with the Free Public Library. It is well lighted and comfortable, and is approached from the Lending Library and Reading Room. On the three large tables therein, there is a good supply of trade, professional, and illustrated papers and other periodicals. Shelving is in course of preparation to contain the unbound numbers of periodicals, so that they may be more accessible for the purpose of reference than they have hitherto been. A junior assistant is in attendance. His Worship the retiring Mayor of Nottingham (Leonard Lindley, Esq.), has marked his appreciation of the work of the Reference Library by presenting 53 volumes to it during his year of office. This valuable and useful gift comprises the library edition of Carlyle's Works in 34 volumes, and a number of standard scientific and technical works.

ST. HELENS.-The forthcoming Report of the Free Public Library, will at the request of the Committee include a notice of the Liverpool Meeting of the Library Association. On the 15th of November, Mr. Alfred Lancaster, Librarian of the Free Public Library, delivered an address on "The St. Helens Free Public Library and

its Contents," to the St. Helens Association for the Pursuit of Science, Literature and Art.

SHREWSBURY.-It has been decided by the townspeople to pur chase the buildings of the Royal School for the purpose of a county Museum and Free Library. A subscription list was recently inaugurated by Admiral Jenkins (ex-Mayor of Shrewsbury), who gave £250, and since then nearly the whole sum-namely £4,000—has been subscribed.

WATFORD.-A somewhat curious use of the Public Libraries Acts is being made at Watford, where they are being applied for the purpose of carrying on a School of Music, affiliated to the Royal College of Music. This is, we understand, the first provincial school in connection with the College.

WIGAN. The Library Committee of the Corporation have arranged a series of lectures in connection with the Free Library, and the introductory lecture entitled "A Talk about Books" was delivered on Saturday, October 27th, by our friend Mr. W. E. A Axon. The Mayor of Wigan (Mr. Ald. Park) who will be remembered for his cordial reception of the Association the other day, presided, and Mr. Axon was listened to by a large and attentive audience, chiefly of working men. A vote of thanks to the lecturer was moved by the Mayor, and seconded by Mr. G. L. Campbell.

Mr. Thomas Mason, Librarian of Stirling and Glasgow Public Library, has contributed two articles, entitled "With the Librarians at Liverpool," to the Fifeshire Journal, of September 27, and October 4. Mr. Mason concludes his lively sketches by exclaiming "Happy librarians! The sustained festivity of the Liverpool meeting was almost bewildering. From early morn till-we will not say how far past dewy eve-there was something to be heard, seen, or eaten. We pity the fate of future local secretaries."

We have received the Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, for the year 1881, Washington, 1883; 8vo, pp. xvi., 839, from which we learn that the number of foreign addresses in communication with the Institution (which in 1850 was 173) amounted in 1881 to 2,908. The accessions to the Library, which, as our readers are aware, is kept in the Library of Congress, numbered 11,959. In the General Appendix to the Report are the usual record of recent scientific progress and several miscellaneous papers, including a "History of the Smithsonian System of Exchanges."

The October number of the Harvard University Bulletin, in addition to the usual official intelligence and lists of accessions to the Library, contains further instalments of the Classified Index to Maps in Petermann's Mittheilungen," and the "Bibliography of Ptolemy's Geography," and the first instalment of a very interesting descriptive account of the "Kohl Collection of Early Maps," belonging to the Department of State, Washington, by Justin Winsor.

In connexion with the Luther Exhibition at the British Museum, it is interesting to notice that the Town Library of Leipzig, organized in October a similar Exhibition of pictures, books, medals and other objects connected with Luther. An account of the various articles collected appeared in the Leipziger Tageblatt of 7th October, 1883, for a separate print of which we are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Axon. The major portion of the articles exhibited belonged to the Town Library, a few were furnished by the other Leipzig collections and original editions of some of Luther's Works were contributed by Heinrich Klemm, the well-known Dresden collector. We regret that we cannot at present afford the space to give a fuller notice of this exhibition, which would afford many interesting points of comparison with the collection for which we have to thank the principal Librarian and the keepers of the various Departments at our own Museum.

The Law Journal, of Nov. 10th, in noticing the edition of the Cambridge University and College Statutes, prepared for the University Press by Mr. Henry Bradshaw, observes, "The preface contains a passage which makes us regret that Mr. Bradshaw does not argue cases in court on the construction of statutes," and proceeds to quote the passage, in itself sufficiently interesting.

"In reproducing the text of the statutes no attempt has been made to correct anything but the most obvious clerical or printer's errors; but, as one object of this edition has been to put the reader in possession of an accurate copy of the sealed documents themselves, with all their legitimate inconsistencies of spelling and punctuation, a table of such errata as have been noticed in the sealed copies will be found immediately preceding the text. This table is printed in a form which will enable anyone to see, in every case, (1) what is the actual erroneous reading of the copy annexed to the Order in Council; (2) what is the reading of the original authoritative publication of the statute in the London Gazette; (3) what is the reading of the present edition; and, finally, (4) what -sometimes different from all the preceding-is believed to be the correct reading."

LIBRARY CATALOGUES AND REPORTS.

Borough of Nottingham Free Public Libraries Class List (No. 2) of Books in the Reference Library... C. Theology and Ecclesiastical History.... Nottingham, 1883, la. 8vo, pp. 31 and wrapper. Price Twopence.

A List of over 800 vols. arranged under the heads-Bampton Lectures : Bible; Editions and Translations-Commentaries-Concordances; Boyle Lectures; Collected Works: Eccles. History; Exeter Hall Lectures; Hulsean Lectures; Parker Society's Publications; Sects and Non-Christian Religions, besides which the name of every author is entered in alphabetical order.

Barrow-in-Furness. The First Annual Report of the Committee of the Free Public Library, 1882-3.... Barrow-in-Furness, 1883. 8vo, pp. 18.

The Library was opened September 18th, 1882, and "from its opening the

Institution has proved a great success," and the temporary premises are already found to be too small for the requirements. The number of Vols. in the Lending Department is 6,432, in the Reference Department 660. The issues for the year have been in the former 63,070, in the latter 7,378. About 3,500 persons attend the news room each week. The proportion of Fiction issued appears considerably below the average, and the issue of books relatively to the popu lation is high. The Committee and the Librarian are to be congratulated on their first year's work.

Brighton Free Library, Museum, and Picture Gallery. Ninth Annual Report... Brighton, 1883. 8vo, pp. 16.

The Committee acknowledge among other donations special collections from Mr. H. J. Mathews and Mr. W. J. Smith, in the one case of local literature, in the other of books dealing with the history of Nonconformity. There are Reports from the Library, Museum, and Picture Gallery Sub-Committees, the former urging the desirability of providing the Librarian with an assistant. There are no statistics.

Devon and Exeter Albert Memorial Museum, Schools of Science and Art, and Free Library. Thirteenth Annual Report of the Committee... Exeter, 1883, la. 8vo, pp. 20.

The Library Sub-Committee report that the number of Vols. in the Lending Department is 9,316, and in the Reference Department 2,915, exclusive of pamphlets. The number of borrowers on the register is 1,486. The issues were in the Lending Department 27,682, and in the Reference 15,969. The Reading and News-rooms are well attended. The Committee announce that the subscriptions promised are nearly enough to defray the cost of the first portion of the new buildings, which are badly needed. The receipts from the Borough Fund were £660, and the outgoings £661 17s. 3d.

Leicester. The Twelfth Annual Report of the Free Library Committee of the Borough of Leicester.... 1883, Leicester. 8vo, pp. 28.

The Committee report the continued success of the Institution. The number of Vols. in the Lending Department is now 13,957, in the Reference Department 7,246. The issues in the former were 149,589-an increase of 15,165; in the latter 31,056-an increase of 617. The number of borrowers tickets issued during the year was 2,182. There is a list of 32 additions to the Leicestershire Department, which now numbers 591 vols. The halfpenny rate produced £835 7s., besides which the miscellaneous sources of income (of which Fines produced £81 11s. 8d.) produced £151.

Borough of Newport. The Public Free Library and School of Art and Science. Thirteenth Annual Report... Newport, 1883.

8vo, pp. 23.

During the 252 days on which the Library was open 41,111 vols. were lent and consulted, being a decrease of 2,185, which may be accounted for by the inconvenient position of the temporary premises. The total number of vols. in stock is 8,979. The new buildings were opened, and the attendance in the newsroom since has been very large. The Committee hope to appeal for contributions towards a Museum Fund. The grant from the Town Council was £560. There is a separate Report appended from the Committee of the School.