_"A" or "An."--Quem Deus vult perdere._--Allow me to refer your correspondents "PRISCIAN" and "E.S. JACKSON" (of No. 22.), to the _Selections from the Gentleman's Magazine_, London, 1814, vol. ii. pp. 333. and 162., for some interesting papers on the subjects of their respective inquiries. The paper first referred to, at p. 333., is certainly well worth perusal, as the writer, "KUSTER," has examined the question with considerable care, and proves, by many curious instances, that most of those whom we have been taught to look up to as the greatest authorities in English writing--Dryden, Swift, Pope, Johnson, and others--seem to have had no fixed rule on the subject, but to have used "a" or "an" before the same words with the most reckless inconsistency. The second paper, at p. 162., gives a more detailed account of the adage, "Quem Deus (potius _Jupiter_) vult perdere," &c., than "F.C.B." (whose object, of course, was rather to compare _results_ than to trace _derivations_) has supplied in his interesting communication. C. FORBES. * * * * * MISCELLANEOUS. NOTES ON BOOKS, CATALOGUES, SALES, ETC. Such of our readers as do not possess Halliwell's _Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words_, which Mr. Way, a very competent authority, lately designated in our columns as Mr. Halliwell's "useful glossarial collections," will be glad to learn that Mr. Russell Smith has announced a second and cheaper edition of it. The new number of the _Archæological Journal_ is a very interesting one. That portion if it, more particularly, which relates the Proceedings of the Meetings of the Archæological Institute, contains a great mass of curious and valuable information; made the more available and instructive by means of the admirable woodcuts by which it is illustrated. We have received several curious communications on the subject of Parish Registers, with reference to the article on "Early Statistics," and the "Registers of Chart, Kent," to which we shall endeavour to give early insertion. We have also received a copy of _A Letter addressed to R. Monckton Milnes, Esq. M.P., on the Condition and unsafe State of Ancient Parochial Registers in England and the Colonies_, to which we beg to direct the attention of such of our friends as take an interest in this important subject. Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, of 191. Piccadilly, will sell on Monday, the 29th instant, and three following days, a selection from the valuable library of the Rev. Dr. Maitland. Although only a selection from the library of the learned historian of the Dark Ages, the Catalogue exhibits, in addition to numerous Polyglot and other important editions of the Scriptures, and the great collections of Baronius, Mabillon, Dupin, Martene, and Durand, &c., a vast number of works of the highest value in the departments of Theology and Ecclesiastical History.