This history--or collection of "notes" as Mr. Thomas modestly labels it--reconstructs the stories of the Public Departments of England's government from their (sometimes obscure) origins to the 1840s. Francis Thomas (1794?-1857), Secretary of the Public Record Office, made extensive use of historical documents to compile this work, which was privately printed by W. Clowes & Sons for Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Among the useful material contained in the appendices is a list of fires in which public records were lost. The cover of this copy has some modest cosmetic damage and the corners have been bumped. The spine is a lighter color than the rest of the cover. The edges of the leaves are sprinkled. Some leaves show minor foxing.