We are glad to see a new and cheaper edition
of The Municipal Parks and Gardens of London, by Lieutenant-Colonel J. J. Sexby, V.D. (Elliot Stock, 10s. 6d.) It should be understood that Colonel Sexby limits himself in this volume to the parks and gardens kept up by the Council of the County of London, including, however, for convenience' sake, a number of smaller enclosures, such as disused burial grounds, which are maintained by Borough Councils, private bodies and individuals. Of the first, Battersea Park is a type; of the second, Lee Old Burial Ground, kept up by the Rector of St. Margaret's, Lee, and Paddington Green, in charge of the Paddington Borough Council, are examples. The old London parks, maintained as they are out of national funds, and the domains of the Corporation of London are not dealt with. Altogether the total of open spaces is magnificent. The spaces described in this volume cover about 5,410 acres; the City possessions amount to 6,500; and then Hyde Park, the Green Park, Regent's Park, and St. James's Park remain to be added. Altogether the area would measure more than four miles each way. When one compares this space, and still more the keeping up, to the state of things half-a-century ago, a Londoner has good reason to be proud.
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