Dr. Phenè, F.S.A., is engaged in investigating the museums and private collections of antiquities in Scandinavia, and also the Mounds of Norway, and the stone monuments of Denmark and Sweden, in continuation of his researches in Iceland and the North American continent.
The Abbot Pietro Pressutti has completed the first volume of the “Regesta” (i.e., the letter-books) of Pope Honorius III., dating from 1216 to 1227, compiled by order of the Pope from the Codices in the Vatican archives.
The “History of the Church of Manchester,” compiled from ancient documents and authentic records, by the Rev. Ernest F. Letts, M.A., Precentor and Minor Canon, is announced for publication, by Mr. Henry Gray, of Cathedral-yard, Manchester.
The suggestion of the Mayor of Lichfield that Dr. Johnson’s centenary should be celebrated in December next, was anticipated by a letter from Mr. Walford, the editor of this magazine, which was published in the Athenæum several months ago.
An order has been made by Mr. Justice Chitty, authorising the Trustees of the Marlborough Estates and Heirlooms to sell to the Trustees of the National Gallery the Madonna Ansidei, by Raphael, for £70,000; and the equestrian picture of Charles I., by Van Dyck, for £17,500. The Trustees were also authorised to sell two pictures in the Blenheim Collection by Rubens, namely, one of that artist and his second wife and another of that lady and her page, for £50,000.
The extensive collection of coins and medals, and also of antiquities, belonging to the family of the late Dr. Jacob Amiet, ex-Attorney-General of the Swiss Confederation at Solothurn, Switzerland, is announced for sale. The coins and medals include Greek, Roman, Swiss, French, English, and Italian; and among the antiquities are Egyptian idols and Babylonian cylinders; also weapons, tools, ornaments, &c., of the stone, bronze, and iron ages; potteries and implements of earthenware, stone, and glass, &c. Full particulars of the collection can be obtained from Mr. F. Schulthess, 16, Cantlowes-road, Camden-square, N.W.
Lord Granville is about to erect a monument at Ebb’s Fleet, near Pegwell Bay, in commemoration of the landing there of St. Augustine on his mission to England in the sixth century. The memorial will consist of a reproduction of one of the famous Saxon crosses at Sandbach, near Crewe, and stands twelve feet in height. On the west front will be carved a representation of the landing of Augustine, the annunciation, crucifixion, the transfiguration, saints, early Christian martyrs, &c.
General Pitt-Rivers, as Inspector of Ancient Monuments in Great Britain, has printed, by permission of Her Majesty’s Commissioners of Works, his official report to them on excavations in the Pen pits, near Penselwood, Somerset, made for the purpose of ascertaining whether any portion of these ancient pits should be placed under the protection of the Ancient Monuments Act. The excavations took place in October, 1883.
Catalogues of rare and curious books, all of which contain the names of works of antiquarian interest, have reached us from Mr. William Downing, 74, New-street, Birmingham; Mr. Frank Murray, 26, Strand, Derby (includes purchases from the Gosford Library); Mr. Andrew Iredale, 3, Cary-place, Torquay; Messrs. Jefferies & Sons, Redcliff-street, Bristol; Mr. William Withers, Loseby-lane, Leicester; Mr. A. B. Osborne, 11, Red Lion-passage, W.C.; Mr. W. P. Bennett, 3, Bull-street, Birmingham; Mr. James Aston, 49B, Lincoln’s Inn-fields; Messrs. Fawn & Son, 18, Queen’s-road, Bristol; Mr. J. Whiteley, 2, Princess-street, Halifax, Yorkshire.
The following articles, more or less of an antiquarian character, appear among the contents of the magazines for September: Macmillan, “The Northumbrian Border,” and “A Genealogical Search;” English Illustrated Magazine, “Covent Garden;” Contemporary Review, “The Purgatorio of Dante;” Art Journal, “Preservation of the Monuments of Cairo,” “The Port of Leith,” and “Delft Ware;” Fortnightly Review, “Sport and Travel in Norway; “ Magazine of Art, “A Cartoon by Leonardo,” “Strand and Mall,” “Head-gear in the Fifteenth Century,” “Menzel and Frederick the Great;” “The Inns of Chancery,” by Rev. W. J. Loftie, and “Old Church Plate,” by Rev. H. Whitehead; Century Magazine, “From Coventry to Chester;” St. Nicholas Magazine, “The Queen’s Museum.”