A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents preserved in
the Public Record (*ce. By S. R. Scargill-Bird, F.S.A. (Printed for H.M.'s Stationery Office ; Eyre and Spottiswoode.)—The delicta majorum had, at the beginning of the present century, left the mass of documents now preserved in the Record Office in a condition that was only less wonderful than the fact that they had been preserved at all. The rat-eaten heaps of parchment have been slowly collected under one roof, and considerable progress been made towards a complete catalogue. The work, of course, is vast, and what has been done may seem small ; but in accordance with the scheme of arrangement decided upon, the various records have been sorted into proper classes. It always seems to us that a transfer might be made with safety to the British Museum of all documents at present in Fetter Lane which date, say, from before the beginning of the seventeenth century. This would,
of course, necessitate a larger staff at the Museum, but it would facilitate the use of the information for historical purposes, which is, after all, its chief use, and it would mean that the documents themselves would be kept in a much cleaner condition. Any one who has used the papers preserved in the Augmentation Office, and those which form the Cotton Collection, will be easily able to judge of the best destination for the whole. The question of certain documents being legal evidence, and certain others not, is difficult, but, as the history of the Records would suggest, surmountable. Mr. Scargill-Bird's guide must find its value in
the hands of those who frequent the Record Office, just as other works, such as Thomas's, have done before it. It is well printed, alphabetically arranged, and provided with an index. It also contains a clear account of the sources from which the various documents have been derived. It is pleasing, too, to notice a proper reference made to such catalogues as have been printed, notably those contained in the Reports of the Deputy-Keeper, which will, it is to be hoped, continue the work of their pre- decessors in the changed form now contemplated. The proposed enlargement of the Record Office, though it bodes ill for any change such as that suggested above, is a sign of the activity of the Deputy- Keeper and his assistants, as, indeed, also is this volume compiled by Mr. Sc.srgill-Bird.
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