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Banbury Old Church.

A Gentleman wrote to one of the newspapers some time ago, detailing a curious incident that happened to himself, showing how these very interesting prints and blocks are being scattered and destroyed. He says “In the old days when Catnach was King of the ballad world, boys used to steal the woodblocks of Mr. Bewick the wood-cutter, and sell them to the great song singer. Yesterday, for a halfpenny, I picked up in a bye street in London one of the prints of a very beautiful block of this kind heading a song called ‘The Wealthy Farmer’s Son.’ I wonder whether anybody has ever thought it worth while to collect these pictures.” This interesting pursuit of collecting and illustrating with extra cuts, pages of child book literature of the 17th, 18th, and early 19th century, would indeed be a charming recreation. On this subject there appeared a long article in the Graphic, where the writer says, under the initials ‘C. H.,’ “There are few more agreeable occupations for anyone who has sufficient leisure at his disposal, than that of embellishing a favourite book with illustrations appropriate to the subject, and thereby endowing it with additional interest and value. To those who cultivate this fascinating pursuit with taste and intelligence, there are two indispensible conditions of success. The task of collecting the materials is a labour of love, and every fresh discovery in some out-of-the-way corner, of a long-sought desideratum, a delight which the patience and industrious enthusiast alone can appreciate.” Then follows much genial advice on tasteful and judicious collecting, and how to illustrate. In the present case the interest and value could only be realized or conceived on the completion of a choice collection of extra cuts, and cuttings of articles, portraits, views, autograph letters, etc., carefully mounted on cartridge paper, paged to correspond with the text, and then handed to a judicious binder—this is a very important item—who would carefully encase it, and make it form a select and an exceptionibly valuable addition to the library.

That this interesting idea may not be considered unworthy of adoption—which by the way the few large paper copies of this book are admirably adopted—we give a short list of those who have collected and treasured with care these little brochures. In the South Kensington Museum on exhibition, is a collection of Horn Books and Battledores, exhibited by Kenneth, R. H. Mackenzie, Esq., F.S.A., who read a paper on this subject before the Society of Antiquaries. There is another collection which includes many curious Horn Books or Battledores, from circa 1750, 1784, 1800 to 1810, including photo and facsimiles of one of the Middleton Horn Books now in the Bateman Museum. There is also a curious poem on the Horn Book by a Gent. suffering from the gout, printed at Dublin by T. Cowan, 1728, small 4to, only a few leaves. Another very neat Horn Book with the Horn in front, hence its name, is also on view. The scarcity of these quaint early educational books may be understood from the fact that Mr. Hone, author of the Every Day Book, etc., sought for an original Horn Book for years without success. Mr. Coleridge had one or two cases on exhibition, with numerous examples of Newbury and Marshall’s little books, but we believe these are withdrawn. There is also a selection of early educational books; but the largest collection formed is still on exhibition. In conclusion, it may be said that the present volume contains many precious relics of the Bewick, Newbury, Goldsmith, Newcastle York, Banbury, Coventry, and Catnach presses, and a representative collection of the stock of workable woodcuts of a provincial printer in the latter part of the 18th century, and to those who would like to inspect the rentable copies of those valuable and interesting little books, and some of the original Horn Books, etc., let them see the Coleridge, Kenneth Mackenzie, and Pearson collections in the South Kensington Museum.

Since writing the above, there appeared in the catalogue of books belonging to William Bell Scott, Esq., recently sold at Messrs. Sotheby, a small 4to Album containing a collection of wood engravings by Bewick, Clennell, and others, which with some newspaper cuttings made quite a dainty extra illustrated volume.

If so eminent an artist could find pleasure and recreation in this pursuit, others may certainly rely upon finding it equally attractive, but he would have found his task much easier if he had had a large paper copy of this work interleaved. This is recommended to any person desiring to take up this charming recreation.

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BANBURY FAIR.

About 1820, many curious Tracts were issued by various Societies with the illustrations which follow. Some of these Tracts relating to Social and Religious questions of that day had been edited by Hannah More and her sister—at “Barley Wood,” near Bath—also by Rowland Hill, the eccentric divine of old Surrey Chapel, and others; these are now quite ephemeral literary productions, notably some on the “Sunday Question.” Several of the following cuts were used contemporary with Timothy Spagg’s (Charles Dickens’s) Sunday Under Three Heads. One of these, an 8vo pamphlet, has on the title, a large woodcut by Thomas Bewick, commencing;—Here we have Bewick, I declare, etc. Many of the original cuts to the Bristol series of Tracts issued from 1805 to 1820 are in this volume.

Used by Rusher at Banbury.

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Bible Cut.

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Frontispiece to Banbury Local Biography.

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Battle of the Nile.

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Battle of Trafalgar.