The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-29 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Dugdale's England and Wales Delineated. Edited
by E. L. Blanchard. 2 vols., pp, 1582. L.
Tanis, 21, Warwick-square, Paternoster-row,
London.

No Preface--no Table of Contents—nothing but
a little flyleaf key to the abbreviations. Nor can
any reasonable man wonder at this, after turning
over these two goodly volumes of thoroughly read-
able, and generally reliable letterpress, profusely
illustrated with maps of the counties and with a
variety of carefully drawn and admirably well-
selected steel engravings. The work speaks for
itself. It requires no introduction—simply because
we all recognise in it at once a familiar acquaint-
ance. It is in reality nothing more nor less than
an old friend with a new face—it is Dugdale re-
edited. And the new editor of this venerable com-
pilation must certainly be allowed at once to have
put " the best face upon it." Mr. Blanchard has
evidently undertaken the responsible and difficult
possible up to time" with no ignorance of the diffi-
duty ofediting Dugdale, and of bringing him as far as
culty and with no feeble sense of the responsibility.
And he has acquitted himself so exceedingly well
upon the whole, that if ever we do find him in some
exceptional instance tripping, it is only as
rarely as when Homer nods. Ungrateful though it
may appear so to do, we will nevertheless give one
solitary instance—which we have found after
keenly searching for it; and we give it purely
as affording evidence that we do not speak in
commendation of the accuracy of the elaborate
edition of Dugdale now under notice, merely at
random, and upon a superficial examination of its
merits and pretensions. Under the head of Chel-
tenham,:,Gloucestershire, the Gazetteer before us,
then, we would thus venture to intimate, appears
to be rather after date in its information when, at
the turn of 1860-1861, it can observe, in regard to
that fashionable watering-place, that " much of its
present popularity is owing to the patronage and
influence of Earl Fitihardinge"—instead of having
been owing to that patronage and influence, now
passed away ! And again, when speaking of the
same place as a political borough, the work remarks
"hitherto (since the passing of the Reform Bill) one
individual has been selected—(as M.P. for Chelten-
ham)—the youngest of the sons of the late Earl of
Berkeley.' The fact being that several years have
elapsed since the death first of all of that youngest
son, the late Hon. Craven Berkeley, and afterwards
of the eldest son, the late Earl Fitzhardinge. What-
ever patronage comes to Cheltenham now from the
Berkeley family comes from the present possessor
of Berkeley Castle and aspirant to the Berkeley
peerage, viz., Admiral Sir Maurice Berkeley, whose
eldest son, Colonel Francis Berkeley, ever since the
death of his uncle Craven, has, since May,
1856, represented the borough of Chelten-
ham in the Commons House of Parliament.
We repeat, however, that we particularise these
rare and most exceptional scraps of obsolete infor-
mation, simply that we may indicate the more
clearly that we are not speaking of the work from
a merely hasty and superficial glance through its
pages. We have turned those pages again and
yet again with peculiar satisfaction, stored as they
are abundantly with information of the most useful
kind, conveyed to the reader in a manner the most
entertaining. Scattered more plentifully through.
the letterpress than even the numerous maps and
embellishments, adorning the two:volumes so very
profusely, are anecdotal particulars of men and
events associated with the numerous localities enu-
merated. Wherever a great event has happened,
wherever an eminent person has been born, bas
lived, or has died, the Editor, like another Captain
Cuttle, is sum to make a note of it. If only re-
garded in this particular the work of Dugdale as
now revised by Mr. Blanchard could not fail to
prove singularly attractive. But, apart from its
swarms of anecdotal recollections, it will be found
to be singularly readable and wonderfully useful as
a topographical authority.