Chats on Old Silv3r. By E. L. Lewes. (T. Fisher
lJnwin. 5s. net.)—There are many books, and good ones, about silver, as the bibliography which Mr. Lowes appends to this volume will show, but there is still room for a new one. Circumstances change, tastes and fashions alter, prices advance or recede—in the matter of old silver advance is the rule—and so a writer has opportunities of saying old things in a new way, as well as of adding something to his predecessors. Here we have the indispensable tables of plate marks (for the chief provincial manufactories as well as for London), a sketch of the progress and the variations of the silver- smith's art, descriptions of notable pieces of plate, and, not the least interesting, lists of prices realised. This might, perhaps, have been made more extensive. We may have no wish to sell our old silver, but may like to measure its value. There are interesting things of many kinds in the volume, which will be useful both to those who have and to those who wish to have.
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