F. S. A.
Introduction of Glass into England (Vol. v., p. 322.).
—It is impossible to determine at what period the use of glass utensils for domestic purposes was first introduced into this country; but being manufactured by the Egyptians and Phœnicians, we may very probably owe the introduction of it to them. Window glass appears to have been used in the churches of France as early as the sixth century; and according to Bede, artificers skilled in the art of glass-making were invited into England by Abbot Benedict in the seventh century; and the churches or monasteries of Wearmouth and Garrow were glazed and adorned by his care. Wilfrid, Bishop of Worcester, about the same time took similar steps for substituting glass in lieu of the heavy shutters which were then in use; and great astonishment was excited, and supernatural agency suspected, when the moon and stars were seen through a material which excluded the inclemency of the weather. York Cathedral was glazed about the same time; and in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, when a great stimulus was given to the erection of religious edifices, glass was generally employed in the windows. It appears to have been used in domestic architecture but very sparingly, till a much later period, when it came to be gradually adopted in the residences of the wealthy. As late as the middle of the sixteenth century it was recommended, in a survey of the Duke of Northumberland's estates, that the glass in the windows should be taken down, and laid by in safety during the absence of the Duke and his family, and be replaced on his return; as this would be attended with smaller cost than the repair rendered necessary by damage or decay. In Ray's Itinerary it is mentioned that in Scotland, even in 1661, the windows of ordinary houses were not glazed, and those only of the principal chambers of the King's palaces had glass; the lower ones being supplied with shutters, to admit light and air at pleasure.
Plate glass for mirrors and coach windows was introduced into England by the second Duke of Buckingham, who brought over workmen from Venice, and established a manufactory at Lambeth, where the works were carried on successfully according to the process in use at Venice.
The first manufactory for cast plate glass, according to the process invented by Abraham Thévart, was established in 1773, at Prescot in Lancashire, by a society of gentlemen, to whom a royal charter was granted, under the name of the "British Plate Glass Company."
D. M.
Maps of Africa (Vol. v., p. 236.).
—As your correspondent has no faith in Spruner, but appears to have confidence in Kiepert, it may serve him to be informed that there is a General Map of Africa by Kiepert published in 1850, and that Drs. Barth and Overweg, the travellers in Africa, have this map with them: also, that Kiepert published a map of Algiers, Fez, and Morocco, Tunis, Tripoli, &c. There is also another map by Kiepert, of the Roman Empire in the first centuries of the Christian era, which includes the northern coast of Africa.
S. W.