The appendix contains much that is in Gore's publication, but, in addition, gives a list of the Mail Coach routes. In September 1825 Baines issued a supplement to the Liverpool portion of his work containing corrections and additions, but he issued no more Liverpool directories. In Gore's directory for 1827, we see two of Baines's ideas adopted, viz. (1) An alphabetical list of the professions and principal trades, and (2) the announcement that in the following year the publishers would issue a supplement containing the alterations up to that period. Such a supplement Gore also issued to the 1829 edition, the idea being to give the directory all the advantages of an annual publication, while avoiding the labour and expense entailed by reprinting the whole volume each year.

The year 1827 also saw another attempt on the part of a rival firm of local stationers to establish a directory. Messrs. Andrew Picken & Son published "Picken's Annual Directory of Liverpool and its Environs, for 1827." Only one edition appeared, but that deserves a passing notice. It does not contain any historical information, and the useful local information usually included in the appendices to the directories was, in this instance, published on a sheet. Very few, if any, copies of that sheet are now to be found-I have never seen one. That was an idea that all who are interested in records of the past may be thankful Messrs. J. Gore & Son did not adopt. In the preface to this directory appears the following interesting paragraphs :—

"We trust the attention of the spirited local authorities of this important town will shortly be drawn to the exceedingly incorrect manner in which the houses are numbered, particularly in the outskirts, where correct numbers are most wanted, and in great part of which the houses are not numbered at all."

In a footnote to this paragraph it is stated that: "In the principal cities of Scotland, the houses are numbered thus: on the right hand side run the even numbers, and on the left the odd-alternately -an excellent plan for knowing on which side you are to make your inquiry, if you know the number you want. . . ."

This system of numbering the houses in Liverpool was adopted about 1838, eleven years after Messrs. Pickens' suggestion. These publishers concluded their preface by appealing for support on the peculiar ground that the "undertaking has at least the merit of being very unsuitable to indolence or want of perseverance.'

Gore's Liverpool directories may be roughly divided into three series, according to their sizes:

The first, or small octavo series extends from 1766 to 1827.

The second, or narrow octavo series, extends from 1829 to 1855.

The third, or large octavo series, extends from 1857 to the present day.

The reason for altering the size and shape of the directory for 1829 may have been to add to the convenience in handling it—and certainly the long narrow volume is very easy to hold and refer to but I think that it is probable the real object of the publishers was to arrange for the insertion of advertisements. It is indeed surprising that these publications were not systematically used for general advertising until 1832, and the surprise on this point is the greater as Messrs. J. Gore & Son were also the publishers of a newspaper, and as such possessed a great advantage for the development of their directory for advertising purposes.

The changes in the directory from 1829, with one or two exceptions, do not call for special notice,

and I therefore need not occupy your time with such a minute description of the contents of the issues of succeeding years. The first of the exceptions to which I wish to refer was in 1839, when the first numerical or street directory was inserted. The numbering of the houses had been altered, and the odd numbers are in this directory given as being on one side of the street, and the even numbers on the other. In 1859 this portion of the directory was made more useful by the addition of the names of the intervening streets to the lists of residents in each street.

Although the directories now begin to be uniform in appearance, the value of the appendices for historical purposes is not diminished. In 1832 there is a full account of the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and also of the death and funeral of William Huskisson. In 1837 there is a full description of the Boundaries of Liverpool under the Reform Bill, and of each ward under the Municipal Corporation Bill, while in the directory for 1853 is given the Boundaries of the Port of Liverpool, as defined in 1680 and 1723.

In the issue for 1835 there is an advertisement of Leasowe Castle as an Hotel and Summer Residence, Louis Bussard, Proprietor. At a later date this Castle became a private residence, and a few years ago was again turned into an hotel.

It is possible from these directories to trace the rise and decline of the Stage Coach. In the appendix to the edition for 1834 is the first notice of "Railway Coaches," a quarter of a page being devoted to them, while the Mail and Stage Coaches occupy a page and three quarters. The advertisements in the issue for 1834 contain what must have been the first time-table of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. In 1837 was announced the opening of the Grand Junction Railway-Liverpool to

Birmingham. The advertisement gives the times of the trains and the fares through to London, the journey from Birmingham to London being continued by Stage Coaches. In 1839 appeared the advertisement of the first Railway Train to London. The list of Stage Coaches steadily diminished until they disappeared early in the 'forties. But about the time the Stage Coach disappeared the Omnibus came into evidence, and the directory for 1841 contains a list of the suburban Omnibuses.

Students of the municipal, parochial, and economic history of this city, as well as those interested in the progress of its various religious, charitable, literary, and educational institutions, will find that the contents of the appendices and advertisements in these directories will well repay careful examination, and no portion of Liverpool history in the nineteenth century should be written without such an examination being made. The greater part of the information is official, and therefore reliable; it is well arranged and indexed, and readily accessible, as long sets of these volumes are in our local libraries.

If it be true that the history of Modern England will be found in the newspapers, it is no exaggeration to say that the history of the development of Liverpool will be found in the directories.

In conclusion, I desire to pay a tribute to the memory of John Gore. He was but a young man (aged 29) when he published the first directory in 1766, and the difficulties with which he had to contend in the compilation of that book must have been considerable, while its small sale must have been very discouraging. He lived to see Gore's directory thoroughly established, but I doubt if, at the date of his death (1803), it could be regarded as a really profitable publication. We have therefore the more reason to admire the public spirit which, in his own