418 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1896. 



sance Florentines " ; the unfinished " Storia di 

 Roma," by the late Ruggero Bonghi, a learned and 

 sympathetic writer ; Molmenti's " Banditi della 

 Repubblica Veneta " ; Bruto Amante's " Giulia 

 Gonzaga, Contessa di Fondi, e il Movimento religi- 

 oso femminile nel Secolo XVI " ; Michele Rossi's 

 valuable " La Riforma religiosa in Liguria " ; Spi- 

 nazzola's " Gli Augures." a noteworthy contribution 

 to the history of the Roman clergy ; and Vittorio 

 Cian's " L'Immigrazione dei Gesuiti spagnoli in 

 Italia.'' In " La Elezione del Papa : Storia e Docu- 

 menti " Giovanni Berthelet traces the development 

 of the laws governing papal conclaves. " L'ltalia 

 degli Italian! " is by C. Tivaroni. A. Milani's " Le 

 Armi italiane in Abissinia " and V. Mantegazza's 

 " Gl'Italiani in Africa" and " La Guerra in Africa" 

 deal with recent affairs. The papers of Giacomo 

 Dina have been edited by Luigi Chiala. Tebaldi, 

 in " Napoleone : una Pagina storico-psicologica del 

 Genio," strives to show the neurotic nature of his 

 subject. Robecchi-Bricchetti's "Ilarrar" (dealing 

 with Abyssinia), Leonardo Fea's " Quattro Anni fra 

 i Birmani," Bottego's " Le Sorgenti del Giuba," and 

 Guido Boggiani's " I Caduvei " are books of travel. 

 Socialism, spreading rapidly throughout Italy, is 

 the theme of " Societa, Socialismo e Anarchia," by 

 Augias, who suggests the anticipation of the move- 

 ment by the adoption of some socialist measures ; 

 Pancera's " 11 Socialismo e la Scuola" (proposing to 

 arrest social evolution through the schools) ; Gius. 

 Biraghi's " Socialismo " ; Villari's " La Sicilia e il 

 Socialismo " ; and Ed. Soderini's " Socialismo e Cat- 

 tolicismo." The Sardinian problem is attacked, 

 though hardly disposed of, in Paolo Orano's " Psi- 

 cologia della Sardegna " and De Stefani's " Le Con- 

 dizioni economiche e social! della Sardegna." Vol. 

 IV of Caverni's exhaustive " La Storia del Metodo 

 sperimentale in Italia" has appeared. Franceso 

 Edelman has written a not very important volume on 

 " Relazioni dell' Italia col Papato in Caso di Guer- 

 ra." Morselli impartially examines " L'Eredita 

 materiale, morale e intelletuale del XIX Secolo." 

 F. Cavazza's " Le Scuole dell'antico Studio Bolo- 

 gnese " and G. B. Gerini's " Gli Scrittori pedagogic! 

 italiani del Secolo Decimoquinto " (filling a gap by 

 its attention to the earlier Italian humanists) are 

 contributions to the history of education. In this 

 connection, one is reminded of the rapid progress 

 in public instruction, including a reform in method 

 which finds expression also in books for children, 

 such as Luigi Bertelli (Vamba) and Fernanindo Mar- 

 tini have issued. Art matters are treated of in An- 

 gelo Lupatelli's " Storia della Pittura in Perugia," 

 Antonio Dondi's "II Duomo di Modena: Notizie 

 storiche ed artistiche," and Lc. Beltrami's " Storia 

 documentata della Certosa di Pavia." An impor- 

 tant ' Dizionario dei Comici italiani " is by Luigi 

 Rasi. In literary history and criticism we have 

 " Vita e Poesie di Sordello di Goito," by De Lollis, 

 giving a new view of Sordello's character; Mine. 

 Zampini Salazar's appreciative essay on " Roberto 

 ed Elisabeth Browning " ; Gius. Chiarini's " Studi 

 Shakespearian! " ; Ugo Ojetti's " Alia Scoperta dei 

 Litterati " and " L'Avvenire della Letteratura in 

 Italia " ; and studies in psychopathy, such as " Sullo 

 Stato mentale di Lord Byron," by Giovanni Min- 

 gazzini, and M. L. Patrizi's " Saggio psico-antropo- 

 logico su G. Leopardi e la sua Famiglia," G. A. 

 Scartazzini has produced " a monument of pains- 

 taking devotion " in " Enciclopedia Dantesca : Dizi- 

 onario critico e ragionato di quanto concerne la Vita 

 e le Opere di Dante Alighieri." Vol. XIX of G. 

 Pitre's great undertaking, the " Biblioteca delle Tra- 

 dizioni popolari siciliane," deals with " Medicina 

 popolare siciliana." The study of Italian dialects 

 has resulted in a number of creditable works, a re- 

 cent one being "II 'Gelindo,' Drama sacra piemon- 



tese della Nativita di Cristo," rescued from obliv- 

 ion by Rodolfo Renier. 



Noteworthy in prose fiction is Ant. Fogazzaro's 

 " Piccolo Mondo antico," pronounced a masterpiece. 

 Girolamo Rovetta shows progress in " II Tenente 

 dei Lancieri "; Matilde Serao's " L'Indifferente " is 

 not equal to her former efforts ; " Sulle due Rive," 

 by the vigorous and profound Bruno Sperani 

 (Beatrice Speraz) and " Anima Sola," by Neera, are 

 worthy of praise; and Gemma's "II Fascino" was 

 very successful. Further productions in this field 

 are Castelnuovo's "La Bottega del Cambiovalute " 

 (pleasant reading) ; Farina's ' II Numero 13 " (with a 

 curious preface on the art of novel writing) ; Marco 

 Praga's mediocre stories of the stage; F. de Roberto's 

 "L'Amore" ("dallying midway between science 

 and romance "); Adolfo Albertazzi's " L'Ave " and 

 " Vecchie Storie d'Amore"; Dino Mantovani's 

 "Passioni illustri"; 0. Grandi's"!! Destino"; G. 

 A. Cagna's "Quando Amore spira"; C. A. Levi's 

 " Le Trasfigurazioni " ; and A. G. Barrili's "II 

 Prato maledetto." In poetry the book of the year 

 was Ada Negri's "Tempeste," which appears to 

 show all the defects of her earlier volume, " Fata- 

 lita." lessening the hopes concerning this author, 

 who attained success so quickly. Further poetical 

 productions are Arturo Colautti's original and vi- 

 vacious " Canti virili"; Antonio dalla Porta's curi- 

 osities in ancient meters ; Mario Rapisardi's ' Nel 

 XX. Settembre " and " Africa Orrenda," both not 

 remarkable: works by Diego Angeli ("La Citta 

 della Vita "), C. Giorgeri-Contri (" Convegno dei 

 Cipressi "), and F. Pastonchi, all three disciples of 

 D'Annunzio; F. Galanti's " Spirito e Cose ; Do- 

 minico Oliva's " II Ritorno"; G. A. Cesareo's " Gli 

 Inni " (delightful in thought and form) ; Marino 

 Marin's " I Sonetti Secolari," with a eulogistic pref- 

 ace by Panzacchi ; and Alberto Cioci's " Myo 

 sotis." 



Norway. There is not much historical or sci- 

 entific literature to record. Miss Clara Tschudi has 

 issued the third and last volume of her life of 

 Marie Antoinette. W. Coucheron Aamot, in " Gjen- 

 nem de Gules Land og Krigen i Ostasien," gives a 

 picturesque account of personal experiences in 

 China. W. C. Brogger and Nordahl Rolfsen write 

 enthusiastically of " Fridtjof Nansen, 1861-'9o," 

 and the late Eivind Astrup describes Peary's jour- 

 ney " Among the Neighbors of the Pole " in Green- 

 land. With Vol. V, Part II. the valuable collection 

 of " Norges gamle Love intil 1387," edited by Gus- 

 tav Storm and Ebbe Hertzbere:, has been completed. 

 Fritzner's " Dictionary of Old Norwegian " and 

 Hans Ross's " Dictionary of Norwegian Dialects " 

 have both met with approval. Worthy of note in 

 literary history are Vilhelm Olsvig's incisive and 

 somewhat dictatorial essay on Ludwig Holberg, the 

 " Northern Moliere," and the influence exerted on 

 him by his English contemporaries (calling forth 

 much adverse criticism, notably a sharp reply from 

 Christian Bruun) ; Hjalmar Christensen's excellent 

 character studies of "Nordiske Kunstnere," such 

 as Arne Garborg. the late Kristian Elster, and Ola 

 Hansson ; and the brilliant and masterly essays 

 of Nils Kjaer on Blaise Pascal, Edgar Poe, etc. 

 Bjornstjerne Bjornson's article on " Modern Nor- 

 wegian Literature," in the " Forum " for May and 

 June, 1896. attracted much attention in Norway, 

 but aroused contradiction also by its attitude 

 toward dialect literature. 



The chief literary production has been fiction. 

 Jonas Lie's " Naar Sol gaar ned," though not in his 

 best style, was very successful ; " Life " and " The 

 Lowland " are two' finished and refined stories by 

 Sigbjorn Obstfelder, well known as a poet ; T. P. 

 Krag reveals his artistic disposition in " Kobber- 

 slangen " ; and poetical feeling marks Vilhelm 



