LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1888. 



495 



with favor, but the question is still unsettled 

 as to the origin of the present Hungarian lan- 

 guage ; whether it be of Turco-Tartar charac- 

 ter, or one of the Ugrian or Ugro-Finnic lan- 

 guages. In connection with this point it may 

 be mentioned that able scholars are making 

 a special study of divers dialects, such as the 

 Lapp, the Votyak, and Vogul. Prof. I. Bud- 

 enz has finished his comparative grammar of 

 the Ugrian languages. As belonging partly 

 to philology and partly to history, honorable 

 mention should be made of M. L. Rc-thy's 

 Origin of the Roumanian Nation and Lan- 

 guage." a work of undoubted merit ; and of M. 

 Fred. Pesty's book on the topographical no- 

 menclature of Hungary. In history proper there 

 have appeared A. Szilagyi's " Transylvaniau 

 Parliamentary Records," Vol. XII, reaching 

 to 1661; the " Diplomatarium Ragusanum"; 

 and Prof. Marczali's third and concluding vol- 

 ume of his ' History of Hungary in the Time of 

 Joseph II." This last-named work gives uni- 

 versal satisfaction. We may note also " Old 

 Hungary," by M. B. Grunwald, which is said to 

 be a really fascinating book; Prof. G. Ballagi's 

 "Hungarian Political Literature until 1825." a 

 of curious and interesting documentary 

 matter ; and a clear and satisfactory account 

 of the war of independence in 1848-'49, wherein 

 the somewhat famous Gorgey surrendered to 

 the Russians. The critics hold that Gorgey's 

 character is fully vindicated in the book. Mem- 

 oirs and biographies have received large at- 

 tention. Among the workers in this line we 

 name M. A. Zichy, who has edited all that re- 

 lates to Count Stephen Szechenyi, the real 

 founder of modern Hungary, whose speeches 

 have been published through the care of the 

 academy ; N. Kubinyi, who has prepared an 

 excellent biography of Emeric Thurzo (1598- 

 1621); and D. Angyal, whose "Life of Em- 

 eric Tokoly " is learned and valuable. A his- 

 tory of Hungarian agriculture and a history of 

 the Hungarian theatre have appeared. The 

 prolific M. Jokai continues to write novels in 

 abundance, and M. A. Varady, in his " Doctor 

 Faust," seems to be trying to introduce what 

 is called naturalism into Hungary. M. A. 

 Baksay, a Protestant minister, furnishes a col- 

 lection of pleasant novelettes entitled "Foot- 

 path." In lyric and epic poetry the posthu- 

 mous work of the great national bard, John 

 Arany, is specially noteworthy. Various trans- 

 lations have been successfully made of Tenny- 

 son's " Idylls of the King," of Boras'* ' Songs'." 

 of Petrarch's " Sonnets," etc., all said to be 

 marked by fidelity and vigor of language. 



Italy. Nothing striking or out of the usual 

 order has occurred in literary matters during 

 the present year in Italy. The founding of a 

 chair in Rome, in 1880, for the exposition of 

 the " Divina Commedia " of Dante has not re- 

 sulted in what was hoped for and expected, 

 viz., an increase in the study of the great 

 poet's works. Carducci, a distinguished poet 

 himself, was appointed professor, and began 



a course of lectures ; G. Bovio also lectured 

 on Dante in Naples ; a Roman priest, G. Po- 

 letto, has brought out a Dantean dictionary, 

 in seven volumes, with notes and illustrations 

 drawn, in part, from St. Thomas Aquinas; and 

 a Jesuit father named Cornoldi lias published 

 a commentary on the "Divina Cornmedia." in 

 which he shows much enthusiasm for his 

 author; but, in general, the movement is re- 

 garded as a failure by those most competent to 

 pronounce judgment on the subject. As con- 

 nected with Dantean literature, mention may 

 be made of a commentary of L. de Biase, with 

 notes by G. da Siena, and a reprint of the com- 

 mentary of Stefano Talice di Ricaldone. Fail- 

 ure has also attended the attempt to revive the 

 memory of and do justice to Giordano Bruno 

 (burned by the Inquisition in Rome in 1600). 

 An edition of the works of the philosopher of 

 Nola is under way, it is true, but only three 

 volumes have been published in nine years. 

 The period most studied just now is the fif- 

 teenth and sixteenth centuries. A. Grafs 

 " Attraverso il Cinquecento " relates to this 

 portion of the past, and consists of various 

 studies on Petrarchism and anti - Petrarch- 

 ism, on Pietro Aretino, on Veronica Franco, 

 etc. C. Gioda's book on Girolamo Morone 

 (1470-1529) is well worth reading. A book 

 by Salvagnini on St. Anthony of Padua has 

 met with warm appreciation. E. Musatti is 

 reprinting his work on Venice, the Doge, etc., 

 with additions and corrections. F. Calvi has 

 brought out a monograph on Bianca Maria 

 Sibrza Visconti. A work of superior merit 

 comes from the pen of L. Chiappelli, commem- 

 orating the eighth century of the Bologna 

 University. Bartoli is working on his full and 

 elaborate " History of Italian Literature," of 

 which (as noted last year) the- sixth volume 

 has been published. G. Diaconis has brought 

 out Vol. I of a new biography of D.inte, and 

 V. Crescini gives the public the benefit of his 

 careful studies on Boccaccio. Reprints of the 

 ancient classics meet with favor, as do also 

 those of standard Italian authors. The " Bib- 

 lioteca di Autori Italian! " is well under way, 

 and promises well for the future. In the his- 

 tory of art may be named a work by Pietro 

 Caliari on Paul Veronese. A periodical de- 

 voted to art has been begun, and it is hoped 

 may meet with full success. The historical 

 societies have not been idle, but have published 

 from their archives valuable documents, such 

 as the " Gesta " of Frederick Barbarossa, the 

 "Secondo Registro della Curia Arcivescovile 

 di Genova," and the " Statutum Potestatis 

 Communis Pistorii Anni MCCLXXXVI." G. 

 Stocchi's history of the first conquest of Brit- 

 ain by the Romans and Castelli's second vol- 

 ume of the history of the Jews are praised by 

 the critics, as are nlso E. Parri's ' Vittorio 

 Amedeo II ed Eugenio di Savoia" and E. 

 Ma-i's volume, containing new facts about Na- 

 poleon's two wives. The critics aver that lit- 

 erature in Italy, whether in poetry or novels, 



