THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.
39
in the study of the various subjects to which attention had been
drawn that day, and were anxious to increase their knowledge.
I think meetings of this kind are very desirable, because atten-
tion is periodically called to all kinds of interesting relics, and so
they become familiar to our members and enable them at once to
grasp the importance of investigating local excavations of any kind
and the removal of old buildings, or the turning out even of old
lumber rooms, and thus many an object of deep interest will be
preserved, which would otherwise have been consigned to the dust-
bin.
Another important work which has engaged our attention during
the last three years has reference to the Bibliography of the County
of Essex. It was felt by some of the members of this Club,
especially by those who were desirous of referring from time to time
to books relating to various matters connected with the county, that
there was no record, public or otherwise, of works written by Essex
men and women, or upon subjects connected with Essex. At
a preliminary meeting of a few gentlemen interested in the matter,
a committee was formed, consisting of Lord Rayleigh as President,
Mr. F. Chancellor as Treasurer, with Messrs. E. A. Fitch and R.
Miller Christy as Honorary Secretaries, together with Messrs. G.
Alan Lowndes, I. Chalkley Gould, Thos. Bird, W. Cole, and E.
Durrant. "The object of the Committee," quoting from the original
circular, "shall be to compile and to arrange for the publication of
a complete and comprehensive work on the Bibliography of Essex,
which shall enumerate all books, pamphlets, magazine articles, maps,
prints, and other publications that wholly or largely treat of the
Topography or History of the County of Essex ; or that have been
written by, or about, prominent natives or residents in the county,
together with all works that have been published within its borders."
It was at first supposed that the subscriptions of thirty members at
two guineas each would be sufficient for the purpose. Mr. W. H.
Dalton, F.G.S., a competent and experienced bibliographer, was
engaged to visit the various public and private Libraries for the pur-
pose of obtaining the necessary information, and it was hoped that
he would be able to complete his task within a year, but it was very
soon apparent that we had under-estimated the amount of literature
connected with the County, and the time had to be prolonged and
further subscriptions obtained, the result being that we have collected
and expended nearly £150, and that we are now in possession of