Debrett's Peerage, Baronotage, Knightage, and Titles of Courtesy for 1681.
Edited by R. II. Moir, LL.D. (Dean and Son.) —The contents of this carefully-arranged and valuable reference-book have this year been amplified to the extent of 160 pages. Some idea of the care and interest Mr. Mair takes in his work may be gathered from the state- ment mado in the preface, that the facts included in this extension amount to upwards of 100,000, and that they took ten years to collect. We also learn that the system of substituting " pot " for Christian names iu ordinary correspondence, and oven in official documents, has grown to such an extent that it cannot fail, in the author's opinion, to cause serious inconvenience to future genealogists, while it may militate injuriously against the interests of those persons who may hereafter be claimants for property or honours. In 1880, three peerages (Lauerton, Rivers, and Stratford de Redoliffe) and throe baroneteies (Birch, Cockburn, and Fleetwood) became extinct, one barony (Lucas) merged into an earldom, and a now bishopric (Liverpool) was founded. During the same period, the mortality among peers (16), baronets (24), and knights (28), was in each instance below the average ; while the number of peeresses (12) who died was unusually small. The contents have not only been cor- rected up to the 31st of December last, but events that have happened since then are separately recorded, under the heading of "occurrences during printing."
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