NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 149, 24 June 1911, Page 13

NOTES.

Moberly Bell, deceased manager of London ■ "Times," left an estate of £ 14,431 —which wall not- seem excessive to some local newspaper managers, munching the clover of last decade. It is noted as characteristic of Bell's system that his bequests were made by percentages—4B per cent, of the estate to his widow, and so on. The great Hoe library sale in New York in April, realising some £200,000, was notable for an inrush of speculators paying frantic prices in order to re-sell to American millionaires coveting J. P. Morgan's collector's reputation. Morgan himself bought the only known perfect copy of Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur" for £8560, making his collection of sixty-three Cartons the greatest ever assembled. An example of speculation was the Wynkyn de Worde "Knight of the Swanne," sold in London in 1899 for £400, and dn New York bid up to over £4000. The American "Publisher's Weekly" adds interesting detail. The Gutenberg or "42 line Latin" Bible brought • £ 10,000 —the highest price ever paid for a book. The purchaser and owner of this costliest book in the world is H. E. Huntington. Morgan's representative is later represented' as complaining •; of the higli prices! Blake's "Milton" (1804) brought £1800; the Kilmarnock Burns, £1160; Blake's "Marriage of Heaven and Hell," £700. Several pieces of Burns' MS. went over £100.

Remember how in 1812 the Duke 'of Roxburgh's library was sold by auction. The sale lasted forty-two days. One of the choicest items was an edition of "Boccaccio," published by Valdarfer at Venice, in 1471. This was the only perfect copy. It was bid for by Earl Spencer and the Marquis of Blandford, afterwards Duke of Marlborough. At last Earl Spencer said "A thousand guineas." "And ten," added the Marquis. Amid great excitement the rivalry proceeded till the Marquis bid two thousand pounds. After some consultatiori~with his son. Lord Althorp, Earl Spencer raised his offer to two thousand two hundred and fifty pounds. The company were astounded. "And ten," calmly added the Marquis. There was no further bid. The hammer fell. "The stroke ot its fall sounded," says Emerson, "on the farthest shores of Italy. The tap of that hammer was heard in the libraries of Rome, Milan, and Venice. 'Boccaccio' stirred in his sleep of five hundred years, and M. Van Praet groped in vain among the royal alcoves in Paris to detect a copy of the famed Valdarfer 'Boccaccio,'" What rhetoric would Emerson employ for a £10,000 Gutenberg Bible?

The obligation is to Morley Roberts for a Wbitechapel (where the 'orrid tragedies came from before they came from Perth) toast: ""'Ere's to yer, dad drat yer, 'ere's to yer and towards yer, if I'd never 'a' seen yer I'd ' never 'a knowed yer." Oratorical. Apt. Adequate.

The "Australasian Coachbuilder and Wheelwright" issues a 21st birthday number that is in every way creditable and becomes a historical document by virtue of the exceptionally interesting reminiscences contributed by numerous pioneers of the .trade. For example, W. Atkin tells how when the Thames "rush" was at its height, and carriages were built for the lucky ones, "One lady refused to ride in a barouche just finished because the step treads were not gilded, and this was done in gold—no gold paint in those days." This identical vehicle, built 40 years ago, is still running with a cab license at the Thames.

"The Open Court" for May has a richly illustrated article on the story of Jonah, which shows, among other things, how the ancestors of "Pelorus Jack"' gambolled through antiquity. "The dolphin is sacred to such saviour gods who are restorers to life as Apollo, Eros, or Dionysius," and is thus a commendable object for New Zealand tribal worship. In an article on "Buddhist tests quoted in the Fourth Gospel," A. J. Edmunds adds another to the urgent claims of the Pacific ocean upon general attention. Buddhism and Christianity, "the two greatest missionary religions, each emanating from a wonderful personality, started from the Holy Land of antiquity and proceeded in opposite directions round the world. Each went as far as it could go until it reached the. Pacific Ocean; and now, in Japan and the United States, the two great worldfaiths are facing each other. Henceforth the Pacific Ocean, instead of the Mediterranean Sea, zaatt be tlie centre of our culture/ , I

China sends a man-of-war to threaten Mexico and establishes a copyright law, almost in one breath. Any New Zealander wishing to protect his work from piracy in the Chinese Empire has merely, to register wiith the Minister of the Interior, pay £1, and deposit two copies.

There is a yarn of Bill and Jim, with, several variants, one of which says that B. and J. were new mates swagging it, and saw in the distance something that looked like an 'orse. "Good-looking 'orse," says Bill. Jim said no word until they camped, when his first pipe impelled, "Looked like a mare." Bill rolled up and marched farther, vouchsafing only "Too much- (adj.) aigument in this camp for mc." . . - - —-

Well, a recently published story of You Moltke says that Moltke and his aide-de-camp sat in a railway carriage when a brother officer entered and uttered a few friendly and respectful sentences. Moltke merely nodded; thea the three fell into a profound silence and kept it for an hour. Then the officer reaching hi 3 station, alighted, and ventured, as he saluted, to say "Adieu." Whereupon the field-marshal said to his aide in a tone of disgust,.' "Chatterboxl;'*