470 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1871. 



Fernando "), which deserves a special mention 

 for the engravings it contains of the fine pic- 

 tures of the Academy, and the excellent text 

 that accompanies them. 



The Society of " Bibliofilos Espafioles " has 

 published two more volumes this year, both as 

 interesting as the seven which have already 

 appeared under its auspices. The first of these 

 is the reprint of a book printed in Seville in 

 1498, and which has remained completely ig- 

 nored by the admirers of Spanish literature, 

 until Don Pascual de Gayangos found the only 

 existing copy at the Imperial Library at Vien- 

 na (" Historia de Enrique, Fi de Oliva "). This 

 "Enrique, Fi de Oliva," is a romance of chiv- 

 alry, one of the legends of Charlemagne, and 

 arranged, probably, from a French romance. 

 This book, besides being important in itself, 

 has helped to resolve the doubts of some of the 

 commentators of " Don Quixote" as to the ex- 

 istence of Count Tomillas mentioned by Cer- 

 vantes. This personage is one of the heroes 

 of " Fi de Oliva." The volume has been edited 

 by Senor Gayangos, and in the preface he gives 

 an entertaining account of a conversation be- 

 tween the two learned commentators of " Don 

 Quixote," Navarrete and Clemencin, in which 

 they doubted the existence of the Count. Cu- 

 riously enough, Senor Gayangos, even at that 

 time, was sure Cervantes had seen the book 

 he had quoted from. The second work pub- 

 lished by this society is taken from a manu- 

 script belonging to Senor de Gayangos, which 

 has never been printed (" El Crotalonde Chris- 

 tophoro Gnophoso"). The "Crotalon" is ex- 

 ceedingly interesting, and i? written in sup- 

 posed dialogues between a shoemaker and his 

 cock, in the manner of classic writers. The 

 object is to criticise several of the abuses and 

 manners of the sixteenth century in Spain. 



As specimens of books of voyages and im- 

 pressions of travels, three may be mentioned 

 which have appeared this year, the three dif- 

 fering from each other, but all of them excel- 

 lent in their different styles. 



The first of these works, " Viage de Ceylan 

 a Damasco " ("Voyage from Ceylon to Damas- 

 cus"), is written by Don Adolfo Rivadeneyra, 

 a young man of perseverance and talent, who 

 speaks Turkish and modern Arabic with a 

 correctness that is the astonishment of the 

 natives themselves. Senor Rivadeneyra has 

 spent the most of his youth in the East, and 

 has been Spanish consul for some time at 

 Ceylon and Damascus. He now publishes the 

 impressions of the countries has seen. While 

 at Bagdad he visited Babylonia, and one of 

 the most interesting episodes of his book is 

 the journey he took from Bagdad to Mosul, 

 accompanied by a Tartar, or carrier of dis- 

 patches. The extraordinary manner in which 

 he bore the fatigue and privations of every kind 

 which this journey entailed, and the vivid 

 manner in which he describes the native tribes, 

 and his complete absence of exaggeration or 

 conceit, render this book extremely entertain- 



ing. In a completely different style to Rivade- 

 neyra's " Viage de Ceylan " is Don Jose Cas- 

 tro y Serrano's "Novela del Egipto." This 

 volume has been already noticed by English 

 reviewers, and consists of a series of letters 

 which the author pretended to write from 

 Egypt at the opening of the canal. 



The third specimen of books of travels is 

 one written by a distinguished author, who 

 writes under the name of Juan Garcia. In 

 Senor Garcia's "Costas y Montafias," he de- 

 scribes the coast and mountain scenery of the 

 province of Santander, and the institutions, 

 monuments, customs, and manners of the past. 

 There is a combination of poetry, fancy, eru- 

 dition, and research, in this delightful book, 

 which is most remarkable. 



In treating of modern Spanish novelists, 

 Don Manuel Fernandez y Gonzalez must be 

 mentioned in the first line, although, perhaps, 

 the defects contained in his writings exceed 

 the beauties they contain. This author can be 

 compared to Alexandre Dumas, whom he has 

 always imitated. Gonzalez has genius, and, if 

 he had worked under other circumstances, his 

 novels would have been worthy of praise. His 

 most remarkable works are "El Cocinero del 

 Rey," "Martin Gil," and "Men Rodriquez de 

 Sanabria." 



Fernan Caballero is the only writer of fiction 

 who describes simple and local scenes. In the 

 modern Spanish drama, the traditions and ex- 

 ample of the great masters, Calderon and 

 Lope, are still followed ; but in Spanish novels 

 the influence of the two styles, the aristocratic 

 and popular, which were so much in vogue in 

 this country in the brilliant period of her liter- 

 ature, is gone. 



Don Gustavo Becquer, a young and distin- 

 guished author, died last November ; his works 

 in prose and verse have been collected into 

 two volumes (" Obras de Gustavo A. Becquer ") 

 and published by subscription. Don Gustavo 

 had a brother, Don Valeriano Becquer, who 

 died also just as his great talent had begun 

 to be appreciated. The works of Don Gustavo 

 Becquer may undoubtedly be considered as 

 of a first-rate order. A profound thinker 

 and a poet, Becquer was one of the first of 

 young literary men of the day. His prose is 

 like an English writer's, his poetry exquisite. 

 "Volveran las Golondrinas," p. 292, vol. ii., 

 and "Cerraron sus Ojos," p. 311, vol. ii., are 

 worthy of a German poet; and in the ele- 

 gance of his narrative and purity of his lan- 

 guage he maybe compared to a classic author. 

 Becquer has written several charming tales, 

 which would be well worth translating. Don 

 Augusto Ferrant, a friend of Becquer's, hns 

 brought out a volume of poems, entitled "Pe- 

 reza," a gem in its way. Don Ramon Cain- 

 poamor, a versatile writer, has published a 

 little volume, which he calls "Los Pequenos 

 Poemas." This author possesses an original 

 and brilliant style. 



Don Pedro Alarcon, well known in the 



