Kentish Bibliographical Notes

( 175 ) KENTISH BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. BY F. WILLIAM COCK, M.D., F.S.A. WHEN in 1837 John Russell Smith issued his Bibliotheca Cantiana he practically brought Gough's Topographical Survey up to date. He however enlarged, annotated, and, with regard to the Histories, gave the Collations in full, so that for the time, one had a good and very complete history of Kent books. But 1837 is ninety-three years ago, and time has turned up many a scarce pamphlet or broadside, which had been hidden in Ubraries or found in bundles of old papers and deeds, and local historians have been busy, new municipalities arisen, and old ones become active, so that a new edition of Smith is much to be desired. The writer has the copy which was Russell Smith's own, interleaved, and with many additions. It was afterwards the late Wm. John Mercer's. He, in his turn added to the lists, so that with those of the writer's own compiling, an increase of at least 1,500 to 2,000 new entries is possible. There is another interleaved copy with additions by the Rev. Lambert L. Larkin in the Maidstone public library, which is worth going through, although the number in items is not great. Beginning with Lambarde, Smith quotes an edition of 1640. This does not exist. I have seen two copies with that date in MS. The third, or N.D., edition was licensed according to Short Title Catalogue in 1638. My own copy, which was Thomas Lambarde's, is dated in MS. 1636. This was reissued in 1656 with a new title page " corrected and enlarged," having in addition " The Charters Laws and Privileges of the Cinque Ports." This is not a new edition but merely the remainder of the 1638 one with the new title and addition. This latter has no title page, although it has separate pagination. In both issues at page 68 is the catch word, A OABDE, which was intended to mark the place of A Carde of the Beacons, which came out in the second edition of 176 KENTISH BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 1596. But I suppose the copper had been lost or destroyed, although the original map is stiU in existence and was exhibited by Mr. Robert Mond at Olympia in 1928. It is listed as being among the " Plats " of the Lambarde property in 1654. Here I make a digression, more Shandeano, the survival of engraved coppers is quite an interesting bypath in Bibliography. The frontispiece portrait of Kilburne's " Topography " reappears in a certain proportion of the issue of the extra number of Nicol's Bibliotheca Britannica for Hawkhurst. It is from the original copper. Why not in aU ? The answer is probably because it was burnt in the fire at the publisher's, where much of Kentish interest perished, and so, a limited number of pulls having been taken, there were not enough to go round. Symondson's Map, 1596, lasted into the late eighteenth century. I have a copy which must be about 1770. Speed's map too came out as late as the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Faithorne's copper of the bust portrait of Wm. Harvey (born at Folkestone) is still in existence, and belongs to the great collection of Harveiana of my friend Dr. Badcock. I had a number of pulls taken from it about 1904. It is commonly stated that Harris's coUeetions for his second volume went to Mr. Goddard of Cliffe Pypard. It is possible, but my old friend, the late Nelson Goddard, Esq., told me that an ancestor had made a great clearance of papers from the library at Cliffe, so that Harris's memoranda may have gone in that way. According to Burke the then Mr. Goddard had married Harris's widow. If that is so, the dates given cannot be correct, because Dr. Harris died after Mr. Goddard, The Topographer, too, states that the widow of Dr. Harris lies buried in the Diggs's vault in Chilham Church. There are several points relating to Hasted's History. The booksellers, when advertizing a set of the foho edition, nearly always state, " having the rare map of the hundred of Worth." Of course it has. The map which belongs to the third volume came out in the fourth. It is not rare, KENTISH BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 177 it is found bound with the octavo edition and as a separate issue in the volume of maps. Thirty years ago, Walter Daniell had over twenty copies. The real reason for the statement is that imperfect sets up to volume 3 are without it. It happened that the fourth volume came out late, so that many original subscribers had died, or become tired ,of waiting, or didn't want to pay another five pounds for the last volume, and there is quite a number of imperfect sets. When Hasted was in the King's Bench, he is said by tradition to have extra illustrated twelve copies of the foUo edition. I have one and know of two others, one of which was the Surrenden copy, which fetched the highest price yet obtained. The extra illustrations are the same which came out in the folio volume of engravings, which are those of the folio edition plus fourteen more. Hasted has in each case added a MS. list of these with the page where the print is to be placed. This folio volume of engravings came out in eleven numbers in grey paper covers. This grey paper can sometimes be seen at the back edge of some of the engravings, which the binder could not remove. The Maidstone library has several numbers. I have one of the covers. The most valuable copy that I know of is Thomas Streatfeild's, in the British Museum. It is full of his annotations and beautUul heraldic drawings. I suppose it represents the germ of that new edition of Hasted, for which he issued two prospectuses, although it never came to the birth. The folio edition was printed on two kinds of paper, a fine yeUow white and a grey blue or war paper. I have the bill for the paper for the first volume. It came to no less than £180. Hasted has added it up himseU, as is shewn by his peculiarly formed figures in the total. There were no large-paper copies issued to the public, although six were printed for special purposes, including that for the Royal Library. The fourth volume hung fire, as the author was in great straits for money. According to a family tradition nvy mother told me that he borrowed £500 from her granduncle. All that was balanced against this was a copy of the work. I have Wm. Boys's letter to Pennant, asking 16 178 KENTISH BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. him to befriend Hasted, also Hasted's receipt for the five guineas to Boys, and his letter to Pennant asking for support for the last volume. Pennant has put a sarcastic note on Boys's letter re Hasted's frailties, and adds that he has sent a similar sum. So after 140 years the three papers have come together again. Here we may note that the two editions were issued in boards, and in half leather both uncut. The part which is sometimes absent or imperfect is the frontispiece map to volume 1 of the foUo edition. This is large, and when unmounted gets torn or mutilated. The rarest things connected with the volumes are the four prospectuses. I have never seen a complete set. Of all the rare Kent books, I suppose Kilburne's A Brief Survey of the County of Kent, 1657, is facile princeps: Smith in 1837 says " very rare." I have made quite a search, and can only find reference to four copies; that in the British Museum and my own, both perfect, and two others, each with the last leaf imperfect. These were sold at the Hovenden sale in 1911. They had belonged to Robert Furley of Ashford. One turned up again at Francis Edwards' last year. The book is the first Kentish Gazetteer, as Lambarde's is the first county history. It is a narrow folio, not an oblong quarto, as Smith describes it. It is bound as a quarto. In all four copies Kilburne has added in his own hand, " Preston nigh Feversham," which had been omitted. There are many other omissions and faults ; these were corrected in his Topographic, 1659, and occupy quite a number of pages. This MS. correction of books by theh authors is quite a common thing. Lambarde has done so in his first publi cation, the Archaionomia, 1568. I have seen five copies, all corrected by him ; and his writing is so characteristic and good that there is no great likelihood of mistake. Henry Oxinden, of Barham, has corrected his ~EIKU>V BacriXuai in a number of places, and his square script is unmistakable. The Kentish historians wrote remarkably good hands, Lambarde a small middle Elizabethan script, quite easy to read, and remaining good to the end ; Phillipot a largeish KENTISH BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 179 legal hand, not difficult; Harris a very good late-Italian hand. The most characteristic are the square early eighteenth century script hands of Samuel Denne and Hasted. Whether they were taught by the same master I know not, but both are quite characteristic of their period. There is not a Kentish writer of the older sort whose handwriting is not recognisable and easily legible. 0, si sic omnes ! There are not many books on sport in Kent, but among the rarissimi, as also most interesting in itself, is The Kentish Angler or Young Fisherman's Instructions shewing the nature and properties of the Fish which are generally angled for in Kent, 12mo., Canterbury, 1804. This has a frontispiece. I only know of one other copy than my own. At the time of publication, the Stour at Canterbury was a fine salmon river, and the Fordwich trout was still a common fish, running up to seven to eight pounds. The account of the fishing is excellent; how they put some of these large trout in a pond, how the trout sulked and died, how the corporation dragged the river, keeping the salmon and giving the coarse fish to the poor, the poaching of pool locked salmon which weren't worth eating when caught, gives one a most intimate view of the sport on the river in those days. The author was evidently a good coarse fisherman and had many happy and successful days round about his native town. The tale is so naturaUy told that it would be almost worth while reprinting the little book. What stopped the salmon coming to Canterbury % The answer is the sewage of the Cathedral town. Even now, when effluents are purified, fish cannot live in them because the process of purification deprives the water of its oxygen. There is one other book on fishing in Kent. It is Trout Fishing, or the River Darent, a rural poem, by C. Wayth, Esq., 1845. It, too, is getting among the rariora. Of other sports, I have no notes, but later I hope to mention the earlier works on Cricket. It may be here noted that the first return of a Medical Officer of Health in England was that made by the elder Dr. Rigden, for Canterbury, in 1847. This, too, is exceedingly scarce.