Handbook of Fictitious Names. By Olphar Hamst, Esq. (J. R.
Smith.)—Some short time ago we noticed a biographical sketch of Qmirard by the writer of this work. In this work he endeavours to emulate Querard himself, and to do for the pseudonymous literature of England and the nineteenth century what Qaerard did for a wider field. We cannot say that Mr. Olphar Hamst comes up to his prede- cessor, but then he is far more modest in his pretensions. What he does is to publish the real names of authors who have written under assumed names. If people wish to know who is "The Hertfordshire Incumbent" or the "S. G. 0." of the Times, they have only to turn to the present work, where they will find a great many similar revelations. So far as we can judge, Mr. Olphar Hamst is a correct writer. We may safely say that his work is not complete, inasmuch as his own real name is not given in it, and we cannot believe that the name on his title-page proceeds from his godfathers and godmothers. How he has managed to steer himself safely through the mass of such names as "A Lady," "A Layman," " Scratator," &c., we cannot divine ; but he tells us there are at least a dozen different writers using the last signature, and more than fifty using the first who cannot be identified. This fact alone would be an excuse for many shortcomings. Fortunately, no one can discover the shortcomings unless he knows as much as Mr. Olphar Hamst him- self on the subject.
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