The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-26 00:00:00

MORNING HERALD, Nov. 21, 1846.

Bulky as the proportions of this indispensable work have hitherto
been, the volume for 1847 comes forth under circumstances of still
further enlargement. The experience of 47 years has obviously en-
abled the proprietor, Mr. Frederick Kelly, to produce a Directory of
unrivalled completeness, wherein every species of fact likely to be
w nted by the merchant and the trader Is placed within convenient
access. The volume contains upwards of two thousand closely-
printed royal octavo pages; betokening a singular amount of indus-
try as a matter of compilation, and awakening astonishment at the
comprehensiveness of the machinery which could bring within a
common focus so much varied and scattered intelligence—embracing
as it does a multiplicity of heads, and involving the services of vast
numbers of contributors. We believe that the present volume is not

to be matched in the whole world ; for such a mammoth aggregate
of local and specific information is no less a typographical wonder,
than a prodigious monument of diligence and enterprise.
Some dozen or so of separate directories are included in this huge
periodical—the only one, it seems, of the annual tribe destined to a
permanent existence—a veritable triumph, indeed, of the utilitarian
principle over the ornamental. The "Official Directory" is A key to
the whole of the Goverment Offices, and a record of official perso-
nages. This is followed by a " Street Directory," exhibiting the

tradesmen In every thoroughfare, and the points at which the streets
are intersected by those at right-angles ; while the " Commercial and
Professional Directory" is an alphabetical arrangement of the above.
Then comes a " Trades' Directory," in which the names are allocated
'wrier their respective callings. The " Law Directory" is a list of the
judges, Queen's counsel, serjeants, barristers, attorneys, &c. with a
catalogue of the various courts of law, their officers, and their pecu-
liarities of jurisdiction. The "Court Directory" comprises the ad-
dresses of the nobility and gentry; and the "Parliamentary Direc-
tory" is a record of the Members of the Houses of Lords and Com-
mons, with an alphabetical list of the boroughs, cities, and counties
returning Members to Parliament, the surnames and eldest sons of
peers, &c. The " Postal Directory" contains the hour of receipt and
delivery of every post-office in the kingdom ; the cities and principal
places throughout the world to which mails are dispatched from
London; the rates of foreign postage; the railway mails, and the
crossroad mails, &c. The "City Directory" registers the civic au-
thorities, the public companies, the brokers, the incumbents and mi-
nisters of churches and chapels, the newsnapers, &c. ; and the

" Conveyance Directory" includes the railway tables, the coach and
booking-offices, the wharfs, &c. The volume closes with Banking
and Assurance Directories. These various heads will serve to indi-
cate the multitudinous nature of the contents ; for out of them come
a variety of subordinate directories, which meet every conceivable
want, presenting a curious analysis of the public and private institu-
tions of the metropolis and of the commercial world. Every person
is to be fouled under his proper section, from a prime minister down
to a sheriff's officer—every establishment, from a palace to a lodg-
ing-honse. The Editor, in his Preface, takes occasion to congratu-
late himself on the many Improvements be has this year introduced,
principally flowing from the employment of " selected agents," in-
stead of the ordinary carriers of the Post-office. Arneng the specific
alterations the new postage treaty with Prussia, which comes into
operation on the Ist of January, 1847, and disturbs to a considerable
extent the rates of postage over a great part of the Continent, seems
the most important.