ferent work
from the _Mare Historiarum_ of Johannes de Columna. Douce also informs
us, that there were several works passing under this title. Columna is
mentioned by Genebrard as the author of a book, _Cujus titulus est Mater
Historiarum_. Query? What is known of the work, which is really
Columna's?

John Sansom.

* * * * *

On Passages in Milton

"And every shepherd _tells his tale_
Under the hawthorn in the dale."

Milton's _L'Allegro_.

I used to suppose the _tale told_ was a love tale. Now I take it to mean
that each shepherd _tells the tale_, that is, counts the number of his
sheep. Is there any doubt on this point?

Milton (_Paradise Lost_, b. v.), speaks of "silent night with this her
_solemn_ bird;" that is, the nightingale. Most readers take "_solemn_"
to mean "_pensive_;" but I cannot doubt that Milton (who carries
Latinism to excess) used it to express _habitual_, _customary_,
_familiar_, as in its Latin form _sollemnis_.

B.H.K.

* * * * *

NOTES ON BOOKS, SALES, CATALOGUES, ETC.

The lovers of accurate and painstaking topography, the students of
genealogical history, and, though last not least, those who like to see
the writings of Shakspeare, illustrated in a congenial spirit, will read
with pleasure the announcement, in our advertising columns, that the
fellow-townsmen of Joseph Hunter, the Historian of "Hallamshire" and
"The Deanery of Doncaster," and the Illustrator of the Life and Writings
of Shakspeare, have opened a Subscription for the purpose of placing a
full-length portrait of that gentleman in the Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield.

When we announced Mr. Archer's projected work, entitled _Vestiges of Old
London, a Series of finished Etchings from Original Drawings, with
Descriptions, Historical Associations, and other References_, we spoke
of it as one likely, we thought, to prove of especial interest. The
appearance of the first Number justifies to the fullest our
anticipation. The pictorial representations are replete {287} with
variety, and the literary illustrations full of a pleasant gossipping
anecdotical character. The first plate shows us _The Old Bulk Shop at
Temple Bar_, occupied by successive generations of fishmongers, and
doubtless well remembered by most of our readers; although no trace of
it any longer exists. _The House of John Dryden_, in Fetter Lane, so
designated on the authority of the late Mr. Upco