3.—1637. Dublin.
The first of these, which is the first book printed in Ireland, is extremely rare. I believe only two copies are certainly known to exist; one of which is in the library of Trinity College, Dublin; and the other in that of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Both are in very fine condition.
The second is in my possession. The book is quite perfect; but some wiseacre has carefully erased the date. The Almanac for xxvi Yeares tells nothing, being for the years 1603 to 1628. But the book contains a prayer for "Frederick, the Prince Elector Palatine, and the Lady Elizabeth, his wife, with their hopeful issue." He married the princess in 1613; and in 1619 he was elected King of Bohemia, and thenceforward would be prayed for under his higher title. If the Sunday letter in the calendar is to be trusted, the book was printed (according to De Morgan's Book of Almanacs) in 1617. The Dublin Society of Stationers was established in that year; and it is not unlikely that they commenced their issues with a Prayer-Book. I have never seen nor heard of another copy, with which I might compare mine, and thus ascertain its date.
The third, of 1637, is reported; but I have never met with it.
H. Cotton.
Thurles.
ETYMOLOGY OF PEARL.
(Vol. vi., p. 578.)
The inquiry of your correspondent Ifigfowl respecting the etymology of the word pearl does not admit of a simple answer. The word occurs in all the modern languages, both Romance and Teutonic: perla, Ital. and Span.; perle, French and German, whence the English pearl. Adelung in v. believes the word to be of Teutonic origin, and considers it as the diminutive of beere, a berry. Others derive it from perna, the Latin name of a shell-fish (see Ducange in perlæ; Diez, Grammatik der Romanischen Sprachen, vol. i. p. 235.). Neither of these derivations is probable: it is not shown that beere had a diminutive form, and perna was a local and obscure name: see Pliny, N. H. xxxii. ad fin. Salmasius (Exercit. Plin., p. 40. ed. 1689) thinks that perla is formed from perula, for sperula, the diminutive of sphæra. A more probable origin is that the word is formed from the Latin pirum, as suggested by Diez, in allusion to the pear-shaped form of the pearl. Ducange in v. says that the extremity of the nose was called pirula nasi, from its resemblance to the form of a pear. But pirus was used to denote a boundary-stone, made in a pyramidal shape (Ducange in v.); and this seems to have been the origin of the singular expression pirula nasi, as being something at the extremity. Another supposition is, that the word perla is derived from the Latin perula, the diminutive of pera, a wallet. A wallet was a small bag hung round the neck; and the word perula, in the sense of a small bag, occurs in Seneca and Apuleius. The analogy of shape and mode of wearing is sufficiently close to suggest the transfer of the name. Perula and perulus are used in Low Latin in the sense of pearl. Ducange cites a passage from a hagiographer, where perula means the white of the eye, evidently alluding to the colour of the pearl.