volumes between 1895 and 1910; whilst Professor G. Saintsbury's History of English Prosody from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day,' begun in 1906, was completed in 1910, three octavo volumes.

48. Privately-printed Books. An interesting byway of collecting, this; for although it comPrivately prises books upon every subject under printed. the sun, yet it will not help the collector to acquire knowledge upon any single subject. For some there is doubtless a certain attraction about books that have been put forth surreptitiously, as it were; yet to the ordinary book-collector such volumes seem to partake rather of the nature of pariahs. They are among books, but not of them, lacking the credentials of their companions. They are of three species only: (1) Personal Books; of interest only to a family and its relations; (2) Books refused by the publishing houses as being unlikely to appeal to the general public; (3) Improper books, which, if issued publicly, would most likely incur an action by the Public Prosecutor. Some years ago Bertram Dobell, a London bookseller, collected upwards of a thousand volumes issued in this manner, and published a catalogue of his collection, with interesting notes. This collection was finally sold en bloc to the Library of Congress at Washington, U.S.A., in 1913. J. Martin's Bibliographical Catalogue of Privately Printed Books'

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was published first in 1834, two volumes; but a second edition appeared twenty years later.

49. The next heading in our list, Sports, Games, and Pastimes, naturally comprises a large number of sub-headings. The term 'sport' may be confined conveniently

Sport.

to those subjects which have to do with animals, such as Angling, Coaching, Cock-fighting, Coursing, Falconry, Hunting, Horses, Racing, Steeplechasing, and Shooting.1 Other subjects, chiefly of an outdoor nature, we class as Pastimes, such as Archery, Boxing, Fencing, Mountaineering, Skating, and Yachting. Then there are the diversions of short duration governed by rules, which we call games, such as Cricket, Curling, Bowls, Football, Cards, Chess, etc. There are bibliographies of almost all these, which you will find in Mr. Courtney's work. If you are fond of hunting you will enjoy Mr. Baillie-Grohman's edition of the famous Livre de Chasse' of Gaston Phoebus, Comte de Foix. It was translated into English by Edward, Duke of York, between 1406 and 1413, under the title of 'The Master of Game'; and to this reprint of 1909 is added a

1 Lord Lovat's definition of 'Sport' was as follows: 'Sport is the fair, difficult, exciting, perhaps dangerous pursuit of a wild animal that has the odds in its favour, whose courage, speed, strength and cunning are more or less a match for our own, and whose death, being of service, is justifiable.' But this seems to apply more to hunting than anything else; it certainly precludes coaching, cockfighting, racing, and steeplechasing.

list of old hunting books, and a valuable glossary of ancient hunting terms and phrases

A

Books on cock-fighting are not very numerous, nor of frequent occurrence. A number of such works are mentioned by Mr. Harrison Weir in that part of 'Our Poultry' which deals with gamefowl. The Royal Pastime of Cockfighting,' by R. H. (ie. Robert Howlet), a duodecimo printed at London in 1709, is now very scarce and valuable; but a facsimile reprint (100 copies) was issued in 1899. 'The Cocker,' by 'W. Sketchly, gent.,' is of fairly frequent appearance, though a copy will cost you four or five pounds. But it has been reprinted at least twice. small volume entitled 'Cocking and its Votaries' by S. A. Taylor] was put forth in 1880, but we have not yet been so fortunate as to come across a copy.1 It was, we believe, privately printed. Old Roger Ascham was a keen devotee of this sport, and wrote a volume entitled 'The Book of the Cockpit'; but no copy of this work is known (at least to bibliographers) to exist at the present day. But of all kinds of pastimes fit for a Gentleman,' he writes in The Scholemaster,' 'I will, God willing, in a fitter place more at large declare fully, in my Book of the Cockpit ; which I do write to satisfy some.' From which it seems that he was actually engaged upon the

1 The copy in the Pittar sale at Sotheby's in November 1918 was extra-illustrated and finely bound. It fetched £9, 15s.

book. Apparently there is no record of its publication, though an old devotee of the sport once told Mr. Harrison Weir that he had seen a copy. The Commendation of Cockes and Cockfighting; Wherein is shewed, that Cocke-fighting was before the comming of Christ,' by George Wilson, the sporting Vicar of Wretton, was printed in black letter by Henry Tomes 'over against Graies Inne Gate, in Holbourne,' in 1607. We wish you luck, brother collector, but we cannot be sanguine that you will ever come across a copy though it was many times reprinted. The tenth edition is dated 1655.

Under this heading also are included books on Dogs, Cats and Bees (!) though the inclusion of the latter reminds one of the story of the imported tortoise, which the customs officials (after much debate) decided was an insect, and therefore not liable to quarantine! Then there are books of sporting memoirs, sporting dictionaries, sport in particular countries, as well as works which treat of Maypoles and Mumming, Festivals, and old English pastimes.

Books upon Dancing, Cards, Chess, and other games all have their devotees. A Bibliography of Works in English on Playing Cards and Gaming,' by Mr. Frederic Jessel, appeared in 1905, octavo. The library of M. Preti of Paris, a well-known chess-player who devoted his attention to the history of the game, was sold at

Sotheby's early in 1909. It included 362 lots, comprising some 1600 volumes; but the entire collection realised only £355. The sale catalogue is a useful one-if you are so fortunate as to come across it. But there is a numerous bibliography and you will find a list of such volumes in Mr. W. P. Courtney's 'Register of National Bibliography.'

Theology.

50. Theology and the Lives of the Fathers of the Early Christian Church is a field of such magnitude that we may divide it conveniently into periods or countries or controversies. Books on the Council of Trent engage the attentions of some, others are attracted by the history of the Waldenses or the Byzantine Churches. Some again specialise in the writings of certain great characters, such as Bonaventura, Augustine, or Erasmus. A Bibliotheca Erasmiana, ou Repertoire des Euvres d'Erasme ' appeared at Ghent in 1893 and was followed four years later by a new edition. Similarly there are now accounts of the writings of almost all the great Churchmen, such as Cranmer, Latimer, Tindale, Laud, Ken, etc. The only bibliography of Knox with which we are acquainted is that appended to the six volumes of Laing's edition of his works, published at Edinburgh 1846-64. 51. Tobacco is a cheery subject for the book-collector, and somehow the very word conjures up a vision of warmth

Tobacco.

and comfort.