Crown 8vo. cloth extra, 38. 5d. CURIOSITIES OF PURITAN NOMENCLATURE. By CHARLES W. BARDSLEY, Author of English Surnames.' ... M.A. 'Mr. Bardsley has done himself some injustice by the title he has chosen for his book. . . If Mr. Bardsley had devoted himself to searching old books, church registers, and other records for no better purpose than bringing to light all the freaks of the Puritans in naming their children, he might fairly have been reproached with a frivolous waste of time. But, as a matter of fact, his book contains the results of a much more profitable and better directed inquiry. What he has done has been to accumulate during long years of research a most interesting collection of Christian names, showing how fashion has changed in naming since the Conquest. His main object has been to trace the influence upon this fashion of the Reformation and the popularisation of the Bible, and thence, probably, the title of the book; but he has really brought together a much greater variety of curious facts that such a title would lead one to expect.' --PALL MALL GAZETTE. 'It is enough to mention the fact that "Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature" is the work of the author of " English Surnames" to ensure for the book that careful consideration to which it is entitled. Mr. Bardsley, in the one case as in the other, speaks with authority. There has been no student of this field of knowledge so pasient and successful as he. If he is not exhaustive, it is simply bec use life has its limits. Apart from the assistance he has obtained from standard works and from gentlemen in different parts of the country, the personal investigations he made to secure the material embodied and commented upon in this volume represent some twelve years of research. ... Mr. Bardsley under-estimates the historical value of his work, which is very great.' LEEDS MERCURY. 'Mr. Bardsley has produced a useful and amusing book. We welcome most gladly the large collection of facts which Mr. Bardsley's industry has brought together, and are thoroughly at one with him in many of the in ferences which he draws. . . . Every future writer on this subject will find Mr. Bardsley's book a great help to him.'-ACADEMY, 'Mr. Bardsley's researches in parish registers enable him to bring forward a large number of curious and interesting examples of all the different classes of Puritan names, and to trace the waxing and waning popularity of several of them.... The facts collected in this entertaining volume must represent a large amount of patient and intelligent research, and it furnishes us with a substantial amount of curious and interesting information arranged on a simple and convenient system.'- MANCHESTER EXAMINER. 'The work is written in a light, pleasing, gossipy style, and it is so full of interesting and curious details, interspersed with lively anecdotes, that it is pretty sure to find a large circle of appreciative readers.'-SCOTSMAN. A curious and amusing volume. . . . The chapter on Puritan eccentricities is by far the most valuable part of the book, and will furnish the general reader with a rich fund of out-of-the-way information. Diners. out a d"amusing ta kers" will do well to possess themselves of so useful a volume.'-ATHENEUM. London: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111 St. Martin's Lane. |