20 MAY 1922, Page 23

The collected edition of the historical works of Sir Francis

Palgrave, projected by his son, the late Sir R. H. Inglis Palgrave, and then supervised by his great-grandson, Mr. G. P. Barker, is now complete (Cambridge University Press, ten vols., £2 2s. each volume). The eighth volume, entitled Truths and Fictions of the Middle Ages, contains Palgrave's historical stories, " The Merchant and the Friar " (1837) and " Three Generations of a Norfolk Family," which was left unfinished in manuscript ; Mr. A. Hamilton Thompson has prefixed a learned and kindly introduction. The ninth and tenth volumes, edited by Mr. H. E. Malden, contain a number of Edinburgh and Quarterly articles with Paigrave's introductions to his editions of the Rotuli Curiae Regis and Ancient Kalendars, which recall the excellent work that he did as Deputy-Keeper of the Records. Paigrave's wide knowledge and easy style are exemplified in the miscellaneous articles dealing principally with mediaeval themes.