The newly printed General Catalogue of the British Museum in the Reading Room however contains a full list of the publications of the various Societies under the heading of _Academies_.

The foundation of the _Early English Text Society_ in 1864 caused a renewed interest to be taken in the publications of the Printing Clubs. The origin of the Society was in this wise. When the Philological Society undertook the formation of a great English Dictionary, the want of printed copies of some of the chief monuments of the language was keenly felt. Mr. F.J. Furnivall, with his usual energy, determined to supply the want, and induced the Council of the Philological Society to produce some valuable texts. It was found, however, that these publications exhausted much of the funds of the Society, which was required for the printing of the papers read at the ordinary meetings, so that it became necessary to discontinue them. Mr. Furnivall, then, in conjunction with certain members of the Philological Society, founded the Early English Text Society. The Society possessed the inestimable advantage of having among its founders Mr. Richard Morris (afterwards the Rev. Dr. Morris), who entered with fervour into the scheme, and produced a large amount of magnificent work for the Society. Dr. Furnivall put the objects of the Society forward very tersely when he said that none of us should rest "till Englishmen shall be able to say of their early literature what the Germans can now say with pride of theirs--'every word of it is printed, and every word of it is glossed.'"

The Society prospered, and in 1867 an Extra Series was started, in which were included books that had already been printed, but were difficult to obtain from their rarity and price.

One hundred and twenty-six volumes have been issued between 1864 and 1884, eighty-two volumes of the Original Series and forty-four of the Extra Series, and there can be no doubt that the publications of the Society have had an immense influence in fostering the study of the English language.

The prefaces and glossaries given with each work contain an amount of valuable information not elsewhere to be obtained.

These books throw light upon the growth of the language, and place within the reach of a large number of readers works of great interest in the literature of the country. The greatest work undertaken by the Society is the remarkable edition of "William's Vision of Piers the Plowman," which Prof. Skeat has produced with an expenditure of great labour during nearly twenty years. The last part, containing elaborate notes and glossary, was issued in 1884.

The subjects treated of are very various. There is a fair sprinkling of Romances, which will always be amongst the most interesting of a Society's publications. Manners and Customs are largely ill.u.s.trated in a fair proportion of the Texts, as also are questions of Social and Political History. Perhaps the least interesting to the general reader are the Theological Texts, which are numerous, but the writers of these were thoroughly imbued with the spirit of their times, and although they are apt to be prosy, they are pretty sure to introduce some quaint bits which compensate for a considerable amount of dulness. These books help us to form a correct idea of the beliefs of our forefathers, and to disabuse our minds of many mistaken views which we have learnt from more popular but less accurate sources.

_The Ballad Society_ grew out of the publication, by special subscription, of Bishop Percy's Folio Ma.n.u.script, edited by F.J. Furnivall and J.W. Hales. This was issued in connection with the Early English Text Society (but not as one of its Texts), through the energy of Mr. Furnivall, who had many difficulties to overcome before he was able to get permission to print the ma.n.u.script, which had been very faithfully guarded from the eyes of critics. He had to pay for the privilege, and in the end the old volume was sold to the nation, and it now reposes among the treasures of the British Museum. When this useful work was completed, Mr.

Furnivall was anxious to follow it by a reprint of all the known collections of Ballads, such as the Roxburghe, Bagford, Rawlinson, Douce, etc., and for this purpose he started the Ballad Society in 1868. He himself edited some particularly interesting "Ballads from Ma.n.u.scripts," and an elaborate account of Captain c.o.x's Ballads and Books in a new edition of Robert Laneham's Letter on the Entertainment at Kenilworth in 1575. The veteran Ballad ill.u.s.trator, Mr.

William Chappell, undertook to edit the "Roxburghe Ballads,"

and produced nine parts, when the Rev. J.W. Ebsworth took the work off his hands. Mr. Ebsworth had previously reproduced the "Bagford Ballads," and he is now the editor-in-chief of the Society. The following is a short list of the publications of the Society: Nos. 1, 2, 3, 10, "Ballads from Ma.n.u.scripts"; Nos. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 18, 19. "The Roxburghe Ballads," edited by Wm. Chappell; No. 7, "Captain c.o.x, his Ballads and Books"; No. 11, "Love Poems and Humourous Ones"; Nos. 14, 15, 16, 17, "The Bagford Ballads." No. 20, "The Amanda Group of Bagford Ballads;"

Nos. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, "The Roxburghe Ballads," edited by the Rev. J.W. Ebsworth. No. 26 completes the fifth volume of the "Roxburghe Ballads." There are two more volumes to come, and then Mr. Ebsworth will undertake "The Civil War and Protectorate Ballads." Much of the work on these volumes is done, and they only await an increase in the subscription list. It is to be hoped that when the good work done by the Ballad Society is better known, the editor will not be kept back in his useful course by the want of funds for printing.

Mr. Ebsworth's thorough work is too well known to need praise here, but it may be noted that his volumes contain a remarkable amount of ill.u.s.tration of the manners of the time not to be obtained elsewhere. The value of this is the more apparent by the system of arrangement in marked periods which the editor has adopted.

_The Chaucer Society_ was founded in 1868 by Mr. Furnivall, "to do honour to Chaucer, and to let the lovers and students of him see how far the best unprinted Ma.n.u.scripts of his Works differed from the printed texts." For the Canterbury Tales, Mr. Furnivall has printed the six best unprinted MSS.

in two forms--(1) in large oblong parts, giving the parallel texts; (2) in octavo, each text separately. The six ma.n.u.scripts chosen are--The Ellesmere; The Lansdowne (Brit.

Mus.); The Hengwrt; The Corpus, Oxford; The Cambridge (University Library); The Petworth. Dr. Furnivall has now added Harleian 7334 to complete the series. The Society's publications are issued in two series, of which the first contains the different Texts of Chaucer's Works, and the second such originals of and essays on these as can be procured, with other ill.u.s.trative treatises and Supplementary Tales.

_The Spenser Society_ was founded at Manchester in 1867 for the publication of well-printed editions of old English authors in limited numbers. The chief publication issued to subscribers was a reprint, in three volumes folio, of the works of John Taylor, the Water-poet, from the original folio. The other publications are in small quarto, and among them are the works of John Taylor not included in the folio, the works of Wither, etc.

_The Roxburghe Library_ was a subscription series, commenced by Mr. W. Carew Hazlitt in 1868, with the same objects as a publishing society. It was discontinued in 1870. The following is a list of the publications:--"Romance of Paris and Vienne"; "William Browne's Complete Works," 2 vols.; "Inedited Tracts of the 16th and 17th Centuries (1579-1618)"; "The English Drama and Stage under the Tudor and Stuart Princes, 1543-1664"; "George Gascoigne's Complete Poems," 2 vols.; "Thomas Carew's Poems."

_The Harleian Society_ was founded in 1869. Their chief publication has been the late Colonel Chester's magnificently edited Registers of Westminster Abbey. Other Registers published are those of St. Peter's, Cornhill; St.

Dionis Backchurch; St. Mary Aldermary; St. Thomas the Apostle; St. Michael, Cornhill; St. Antholin, Budge Lane; and St. John the Baptist, on Wallbrook. Of the other publications there are Visitations of Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, c.u.mberland, Devon, Ess.e.x, Leicestershire, London 1568, 1633, Nottingham, Oxford, Rutland, Somersetshire, Warwickshire, and Yorkshire, and Le Neve's Catalogue of Knights.

_The Hunterian Club_ was founded at Glasgow in 1871, and named after the Hunterian Library in the University. Among the publications of the Club are a Series of Tracts by Thomas Lodge and Samuel Rowlands; the Poetical Works of Alexander Craig; Poetical Works of Patrick Hannay; Sir T.

Overburie's Vision by Richard Niccols, 1616. The printing of the famous Bannatyne Ma.n.u.script, compiled by George Bannatyne, 1568, was commenced by the Society in 1873, and the seventh part, which completed this invaluable collection of Scottish Poetry, was issued in 1881.

_The Folk Lore Society_ was founded by the late Mr. W.J.

Thoms (inventor of the term Folk Lore) in 1878, and during the seven years of its existence it has done much valuable work, chiefly through the energetic direction of Mr. G.L.

Gomme, the Hon. Sec. (now Director). The object of the Society is stated to be "the preservation and publication of Popular Traditions, Legendary Ballads, Local Proverbial Sayings, Superst.i.tions and Old Customs (British and Foreign), and all subjects relating to them." The princ.i.p.al publication of the Society, the _Folk Lore Record_, now the _Folk Lore Journal_, was at first issued in volumes, and afterwards in monthly numbers. It is now a quarterly. The other publications are:--Henderson's Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders, a new edition; Aubrey's Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme; Gregor's Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-east of Scotland; Comparetti's Book of Sindibad and Pedroso's Portuguese Folk Tales; Black's Folk Medicine; Callaway's Religious System of the Amazulu.

The year 1873 saw the formation of several publishing Societies.

_The New Shakspere Society_ was founded by Dr. F.J.

Furnivall, for the reading of papers, which have been published in a Series of Transactions, and also for the publication of collations of the Quarto Plays, and works ill.u.s.trating the great Dramatist's times. Among the latter works are Harrison's Description of England, Stubbes's Anatomie of Abuses, Dr. Ingleby's Shakespeare's Centurie of Prayse, etc.

_The English Dialect Society_ was founded at Cambridge by the Rev. Professor Skeat. Its objects are stated to be (1) to bring together all those who have made a study of any of the Provincial Dialects of England, or who are interested in the subject of Provincial English; (2) to combine the labours of collectors of Provincial English words by providing a common centre to which they may be sent, so as to gather material for a general record of all such words; (3) to publish (subject to proper revision) such collections of Provincial English words that exist at present only in ma.n.u.script; as well as to reprint such Glossaries of provincial words as are not generally accessible, or are inserted in books of which the main part relates to other subjects; and (4) to supply references to sources of information which may be of material a.s.sistance to word-collectors, students, and all who have a general or particular interest in the subject. The publications are arranged under the following Series: A, Bibliographical; B, Reprinted Glossaries; C, Original Glossaries; D, Miscellaneous. In 1875 the Society was transferred to Manchester, and Mr. J.H. Nodal became Honorary Secretary.

_The Palaeographical Society_ was formed for the purpose of reproducing Specimens of Ma.n.u.scripts, and it has produced a Series of Facsimiles of Ancient Ma.n.u.scripts, edited by E.A.

Bond and E.M. Thompson, Part 1 being issued in 1873.

At the end of the year 1877 _The Index Society_ was founded for the purpose of producing (1) Indexes of Standard Works; (2) Subject Indexes of Science, Literature and Art; and (3) a General Reference Index. The publications were commenced in 1878, and the First Annual Meeting was held in March, 1879, the Earl of Carnarvon being the first President. The first publication was "What is an Index?" by H.B. Wheatley.

Among the important books issued by the Society may be mentioned Solly's "Index of Hereditary t.i.tles of Honour"; Daydon Jackson's "Guide to the Literature of Botany" and "Literature of Vegetable Technology," and Rye's "Index of Norfolk Topography."

The _Society for the Promotion of h.e.l.lenic Studies_ was founded in 1879 for the following objects: (1) To advance the study of the Greek language, literature, and art, and to ill.u.s.trate the history of the Greek race in the ancient, Byzantine, and Neo-h.e.l.lenic periods, by the publication of memoirs and inedited doc.u.ments or monuments in a Journal to be issued periodically. (2) To collect drawings, facsimiles, transcripts, plans, and photographs of Greek inscriptions, MSS., works of art, ancient sites and remains, and with this view to invite travellers to communicate to the Society notes or sketches of archaeological and topographical interest. (3) To organise means by which members of the Society may have increased facilities for visiting ancient sites and pursuing archaeological researches in countries which, at any time, have been the sites of h.e.l.lenic civilization. Five volumes of the _Journal_ have been issued.

_The Topographical Society of London_ was formed in 1880.

The Inaugural Meeting was held at the Mansion House, and the first Annual Meeting at Drapers' Hall on Feb. 3, 1882, with the Lord Mayor (Sir John Whitaker Ellis), President, in the chair. The following reproductions have been issued to subscribers:--Van der Wyngaerde's View of London, ab. 1550, 7 sheets; Braun & Hogenberg's Plan of London, 1 sheet; Visscher's View of London, 4 sheets.

_The Browning Society_ was founded by Dr. Furnivall in 1881, and besides papers read at the meetings, the Society has issued Dr. Furnivall's "Bibliography of Browning."

_The Wyclif Society_ was founded also by Dr. Furnivall in 1882, for the publication of the complete works of the great Reformer.

_The Pipe Roll Society_ was established in 1883, and in 1885 the first three volumes of its publications have been issued to the members. These are--Vol. 1, Pipe Rolls, 5 Hen. II.; Vol. 2, 6 Hen. II.; Vol. 3, Introduction.

_The Oxford Historical Society_ was formed in 1884, and four handsome volumes have been issued for that year and 1885.

These are--1, "Register of the University of Oxford" (vol.

1, 1449-63, 1505-71), edited by the Rev. C.W. Boase; 2, "Remarks and Collections of Thomas Hearne" (vol. 1, July 4, 1705-March 19, 1707), edited by C.E. Doble, M.A. Both these volumes are supplied with temporary Indexes. 3, "The Early History of Oxford, 727-1100," by James Parker; 4, "Memories of Merton College," by the Hon. George C. Brodrick; 5, "Collectanea." First Series. Edited by C.R.L. Fletcher.

_The Middles.e.x County Record Society_ was formed in 1885 "for the purpose of publishing the more interesting portions of the old County Records of Middles.e.x, which have lately been arranged and calendared by order of the Justices."

Nothing has been published as yet, but Mr. Cordy Jeaffreson is engaged upon the first two volumes, one of which will be issued shortly.

The Rev. Dr. A.B. Grosart has himself printed by subscription more works of our Old Writers than many a Society, and therefore it is necessary to mention his labours here, although a complete list of them cannot be given. The chief series are: "The Fuller Worthies Library,"

39 volumes; "The Chertsey Worthies Library," 14 vols. 4to., and "The Huth Library."

CHAPTER VIII.

CHILD'S LIBRARY.

The idea of a Child's Library is to a great extent modern, and it is not altogether clear that it is a good one, except in the case of those children who have no books of their own. It is far better that each child should have his own good books, which he can read over and over again, thus thoroughly mastering their contents.

It is a rather wide-spread notion that there is some sort of virtue in reading for reading's sake, although really a reading boy may be an idle boy. When a book is read, it should be well thought over before another is begun, for reading without thought generates no ideas.

One advantage of a Child's Library should be that the reader is necessarily forced to be careful, so as to return the books uninjured.

This is a very important point, for children should be taught from their earliest years to treat books well, and not to destroy them as they often do. We might go farther than this and say that children should be taught at school how to handle a book. It is really astonishing to see how few persons (not necessarily children) among those who have not grown up among books know how to handle them. It is positive torture to a man who loves books to see the way they are ordinarily treated. Of course it is not necessary to mention the crimes of wetting the fingers to turn over the leaves, or turning down pages to mark the place; but those who ought to know better will turn a book over on its face at the place where they have left off reading, or will turn over pages so carelessly that they give a crease to each which will never come out.

For a healthy education it is probably best that a child should have the run of a library for adults (always provided that dangerous books are carefully excluded). A boy is much more likely to enjoy and find benefit from the books he selects himself than from those selected for him.

The circ.u.mstances of the child should be considered in the selection of books; thus it is scarcely fair when children are working hard at school all day that they should be made to read so-called instructive books in the evening. They have earned the right to relaxation and should be allowed good novels. To some boys books of Travels and History are more acceptable than novels, but all children require some Fiction, and, save in a few exceptional cases, their imaginations require to be cultivated.

It will soon be seen whether children have healthy or unhealthy tastes. If healthy, they are best left to themselves; if unhealthy, they must be directed.

It is easy for the seniors to neglect the children they have under them, and it is easy to direct them overmuch, but it is difficult to watch and yet let the children go their own way. We are apt, in arranging for others, to be too instructive; nothing is less acceptable to children or less likely to do them good than to be preached at. Moral reflections in books are usually skipped by children, and unless somewhat out of the common, probably by grown-up persons as well. Instruction should grow naturally out of the theme itself, and form an integral part of it, so that high aims and n.o.ble thoughts may naturally present themselves to the readers.

One of the chapters in the United States Libraries' Report is on "School and Asylum Libraries" (pp. 38-59), in which we are informed that New York was the pioneer in founding school libraries. "In 1827 Governor De Witt Clinton, in his message to the legislature, recommended their formation; but it was not till 1835 that the friends of free schools saw their hopes realized in the pa.s.sage of a law which permitted the voters in any school district to levy a tax of $20 to begin a library, and a tax of $10 each succeeding year to provide for its increase."

Another chapter in the same Report is on "Public Libraries and the Young"

(pp. 412-418), in which Mr. Wm. J. Fletcher advocates the use of the library as an addition to the school course. He writes, "It only remains now to say that, as we have before intimated, the public library should be viewed as an adjunct of the public school system, and to suggest that in one or two ways the school may work together with the library in directing the reading of the young. There is the matter of themes for the writing of compositions; by selecting subjects on which information can be had at the library, the teacher can send the pupil to the library as a student, and readily put him in communication with, and excite his interest in, cla.s.ses of books to which he has been a stranger and indifferent."