4 JUNE 1927, Page 26

RECOLLECTIONS OF SIXTY YEARS. By Allan Fea. (Richards. 12s. 6d.)—These

scrappy memoirs of what the author calls a " reminiscenta/ recorder , ' contain a quantity of kindly gossip about mid-Victorian London during the era of the ' knife-board ' buses (thickly lined with straw inside, with a sort of night-light hung within the door) " ; quantities of antiquarian lore, as becomes the author of Secret Chambers and Hiding Places ; some anecdotes of the painter, Seymour Lucas, and the eccentric veteran soldier, Lord Strathnairn ; and, alas ! much triviality. As thlis : " becoming the proud possessor of a silver watch at the age of eleven was to the author an " outstanding " event. Doubtless ; but is it worth recording ? To the fast dwindling band of mid-Victorians the volume may recall some fond memories.