The Early English Customs System. By N. S. B. Gras.
(11. Milford. 15s. net.)—The American historian who is known to specialists by his work on our early corn trade has written another valuable book, based on fresh researches in the Record Office, on our mediaeval Customs system. Much of the space is given to documents, now first printed in full, but the develop- ment of the Customs is described very clearly in the introductory chapters. With regard to the Hanseatic merchants, to whom one imaginative writer would trace the origin of the war, Professor Gras thinks that their privileges and also the extent of their trade have been exaggerated. It seems that in the fifteenth century England exported a good deal of pewter, mOtal wares, And leather goods, besides the cloth which was our chief product. On the whole, Professor Gras concludes that England was more of a trading country before the Tudor ago than is generally supposed.
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