Notes and Queries, Number 173, February 19, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.

Notes and Queries offers a lively forum where 19th‑century scholars, artists and collectors exchange brief researches, reflections and unanswered questions. Each issue gathers together terse notes on literature, antiquities, genealogy and the arts, inviting readers to add their own observations. The style is conversational yet rigorous, giving a sense of a bustling correspondence club held together on cheap paper.

This February 1853 number turns its attention to the long‑standing fascination with prophetic warnings of London’s ruin. Contributors quote obscure 17th‑century pamphlets, Quaker journals and even a contested Nostradamus quatrain, all of which claim foreknowledge of a great fire and accompanying plague. The editor asks fellow correspondents to verify sources, compare the verses with genuine early editions, and share any similar sightings, making the issue both a scholarly puzzle and a snapshot of Victorian curiosity about disaster lore.