278.-Photograph of the proof impression of Droeshout's engraved portrait of Shakespeare, 1623, from the original formerly in the possession of J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps.

This impression of the Droeshout engraving differs in some details from that ordinarily found in copies of the First Folio, and shows the picture in its first state. Halliwell-Phillipps' early impression of the engraving is now in the library of H. C. Folger, Brooklyn, New York. Another early impression in Malone's copy of the First Folio, now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, shows some other differences in the details.

Presented by J. O. HALLIWELL-PHILLIPPS, 1866.

279.-Photograph of the so-called "Darmstadt Death-Mask of Shakespeare."

The mask (formerly in the Kesselstadt collection dispersed at Mainz in 1843) was purchased by Ludwig Becker, of Darmstadt, in 1847, and is now in the possession of his representatives at Darmstadt. The inscription "A° Dni: 1616" is said to be on the edge at the back. The chain of evidence which would identify the mask with Shakespeare's features is incomplete.

Purchased.

280.-"The South East View of Stratford Church"; a sketch in water-colours, "[John] Jordan del,"

The artist John Jordan, born 1746 and died 1809, was a wellknown antiquary of Stratford-on-Avon, many of whose manuscripts belong to the Trustees.

Presented by MISS ANNE Wheler.

281.--The chancel of Stratford-upon-Avon Church, taken before the restoration of 1835; a view in water-colour; 1 ft. 51⁄2 in. by 1 ft. 2 in.

Presented by HENRY GRAVES, 1886.

282.--The interior of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, looking east, before its restoration in 1835.

A view in water-colours (varnished) by Charles Barber, a native of Birmingham, who won much repute as an artist at Liverpool.

Purchased

283.--The arms of Shakespeare, in plaster,

coloured.

See No. 26 supra.

284.-A cast taken by Bullock in 1814 from the bust of Shakespeare in the chancel of Stratford-uponAvon Church.

It

This cast was painted by Mr. Simon Collins, in 1861. temporarily filled the place of the monumental effigy in the Church while the effigy was removed for the purpose of allowing Mr. Collins to remove the coat of white paint (which had been put upon the original in 1790 at the suggestion of Edmund Malone), and to restore the obliterated colours.

Presented by W. O. HUNT.

285.--Rubbing of the inscription on the brass attached to the stone over the grave of Anne, widow of William Shakespeare, in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Transcript.

"Heere lyeth interred the bodye of Anne wife of William Shakespeare who departed this life the 6th day of August 1623, being of the age of 67 yeares.

Vbera, tu mater, tu lac, vitamq' dedisti.

Væ mihi: pro tanto munere saxa dabo.

Quam mallem, amoueat lapidem bonus angelus ore,
Exeat vt Christi corpus, imago tua.

Sed nil vota valent: venías cito, Christe; resurget,
Clausa licet tumulo, mater, et astra petet.

Translation by Ribton Turner:—

"Mother (to me) thou gavest thy breast, and milk, and life Woe me! For such great gifts I give a tomb!

I would far rather that the good angel should from its mouth the stone remove

That like Christ's body, thy image might come forth.

But vain are wishes: Mayest thou come quickly Christ (and then). My mother though entombed, shall rise again and seek the stars."

The inscription may have come from the pen of Dr. John Hall, husband of the poet's elder daughter, Susanna.

286.-Rubbing of the inscription on Shakespeare's monument on the North wall of the chancel of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Made and presented by WILLIAM BENNETT,
Parish Clerk, and RICHARD SAVAGE,
Secretary and Librarian to the Trustees.

287.-Rubbing of the inscription on Shakespeare's grave-stone made by Thomas Kite, Parish Clerk, in 1844.

Presented by THOMAS KITE, Stratford-upon-Avon,

1893.

288.-Oak chair with arms, the back carved with pattern of vine-leaves, etc.

This chair was described by the donor as "An ancient chair from the Falcon Inn, Bidford, called Shakespeare's Chair, in which the Poet is said to have sat when he held his Club Meetings there.”

Presented by DENNIS DIGHTON, April, 1865.

289.-Thirteen encaustic tiles (nine in iron frame and four loose) removed from the chancel of Stratford-upon-Avon Church in 1835.

The four loose tiles are thus inscribed

I. In the centre a rose surrounded by the inscription: "Mentem sanctam, spontaneum honorem Deo et patrie liberacionem," i.e. "The holy mind, honour freely rendered to God, and liberty to the country.' The same legend is quoted by Sir William Dugdale as having been inscribed upon the great bell given to Kenilworth Church by Prior Thomas Kedermynstre, elected in 1402. In a little volume of MS. notes in the British Museum (Add. MSS. 12, 195) compiled by a XVth century monk, the legend is mentioned as a charm against fever and other ailments and its further efficacy indicated by a marginal note "for fyre.”

The modern rendering is :—

Think, man, thy life may not ever endure:
That thou doest thyself, of that thou art sure:
But that thou keepest unto thy executor's cure,
And ever it avail thee, it is but aventure."

The words convey the moral admonition to "work while it is day," and not defer to the care of an executor those duties of Christian benevolence, which might be better discharged by

ourselves.

3. On a shield three lions of England passant regardant (Arms of the Plantagenet kings, surmounted by the inscription "Fiat voluntas Dei "-God's will be done.)

4. A chevron between three martlets. This tile was originally in the pavement of the Guild Chapel. (See Fisher's Antiquities of Stratford-upon-Avon, plate xx.)

Of the tiles in the frame, two have the single rose inside the symbol of the Holy Trinity (the interlaced triangle); a third has I. H. C. crowned; a fourth has a quarter of the double rose. Presented by MISS ANNE Wheler.

290.-Herne's Oak, Windsor Park; painted by Francis Nicholson of Pickering, Yorkshire, and London, from an original sketch of the tree in 1788; 1ft. 9žin. by Ift. 3 in.

Nicholson, the artist, 1753-1844, was one of the founders in 1804 of the old Society of Painters in Water Colours.

See No. 130.

Presented by THOMAS FRANCIS DILLON CROKER,
F.S.A., the artist's grandson, London, 1870.

291. Several specimens of wood from the tree in Windsor Park, known as Herne's Oak, which fell down in 1863.

The donor supplied a certificate attesting the genuineness of the specimens. See No. 130.

Presented by WILLIAM PERRY, Windsor, 1867.