LITERATUKE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1872. 



463 



that M. Lioy has found the key to the myste- 

 rious law which, from the earliest antiquity to 

 the present time, has perplexed and tormented 

 the brains of the learned ; but there is much 

 in the pages of M. Lioy which is valuable as a 

 contribution to science, and his book is ex- 

 tremely witty, and pleasant to read. I must 

 not quit the subject of naturalists without 

 mentioning two works by two distinguished 

 travellers and naturalists, both of Genoa, Prof. 

 Arthur Issel, who has published an interesting 

 narrative of his travels among the Bogos and 

 the Red Sea (" Viaggio nel Mar Rosso, e tra 

 i Bogos"), and the Marquis Jacques Doria, 

 under whose supervision tiie important work, 

 "Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale 

 di Genova," has been produced. Books of 

 travel naturally lead me to speak of the splen- 

 did edition which that young, intelligent, and 

 highly-cultivated Oriental scholar of Lombar- 

 dy, the Marquis Gian Martino Arconati, has 

 recently published in Turin, at the Bona print- 

 ing-office. He calls it " Diario di un Viaggio 

 nell' Arabia Petrsea." The diary consists only 

 of the notes made by the intrepid and intelli- 

 gent traveller in his daily journal, but the book 

 reads like a romance, and, by reason of the 

 force and simplicity of the recital, the work 

 ought to find favor with English readers, for 

 it is free from false sentiment, and contains no 

 fabulous adventures, but there is a certain 

 dash of humor which seasons the whole, and 

 makes the work delightful. These travels are 

 in one superb quarto volume, of four hundred 

 pages, illustrated by numerous photographs, 

 and accompanied by a good map. The Mar- 

 quis Arconati has taken us to the East. Let 

 us delay there for a moment. He has shown 

 us the Arabs of to-day, while Siguor Michel 

 Amari, the illustrious President of our little 

 Oriental Society (which is about to issue its 

 first Annuario), has now published the third 

 volume of his important work, "Storia del 

 Musulmani in Sicilia" ("The History of the 

 Mohammedans in Sicily "). The young Orien- 

 talist, Italo Pizzi, of Parma, has translated into 

 blank verse the episode of Shahnarneh, "Sto- 

 ria di Sohrab." Prof. Antelmo Severini has 

 translated from the Japanese into the best 

 Italian a very curious little romance, entitled 

 "Uomini e Paraventi;" Prof. Fausto Lasinio 

 watches with care over the text of " Aver- 

 roe ; " and, in a word, all the Oriental schol- 

 ars in Italy have given signs of being alive. 



Considerable advance has been made in the 

 study of our language and of our various dia- 

 lects. A young professor, Signer Napoleon 

 Caix, has just written an excellent- essay, 

 "Sulla Storia della Lingua, e del Dialetti 

 d'ltalia; " Prof. R. Fornaciari, upon the traces 

 of the work of Fr. Diez, gives a resume of " La 

 Grammatica Storica della Lingua Italiana ; " 

 Dr. A. U. Cannello has published some good 

 articles on Prof. Diez and Romance Philology, 

 and Dr. F. D'Ovidio on Italian Grammar. But 

 the work which will do most service to con- 



temporary philological science in Italy is due 

 to Prof. I. Ascoli, of the Academy of Milan. 

 This eminently learned man, this subtle and 

 profound analyst of Indian and Neolatine 

 morphology, has just written a large volume 

 of "Saggi Ladini," in which he gives us the 

 historical grammar of the Ladin's dialect (from 

 Coire, in the Grisons, to the farthest extremity 

 of Friuli). The " Saggi Ladini " form one por- 

 tion of a new collection which Prof. Ascoli is 

 making, under the title of "Archivio glotto- 

 logico Italiano," with which the most active 

 and intelligent of the Neolatine philologists 

 are connected, and where they labor on com- 

 mon ground. Prof. J. Flechia will shortly pub- 

 lish in this collection his important essay upon 

 the Dialects of Piedmont. 



Historical literature has been by no means 

 neglected during the course of the past year. 

 I need only mention the "Note di Letteratura 

 Italiana," in two small volumes, by Prof. Pietro 

 Corbellini, a study on the condition of con- 

 temporary Italian literature in Venetia. (It is 

 by Signora Louisa Codemo de Gerstenbrand, 

 author of " Scene della vita Veneziana." She 

 is a lady of high cultivation and much intelli- 

 gence. She also wrote " Scene della Guerra 

 dell 1848.) 



As regards biographical monographs, I can 

 recommend one excellent work, by Antonio 

 Mastscheg, of Venice, upon "Cesare e il suo 

 tempo," and the good monograph of Prof. 

 Alberto Errera and Cesare Fingi on Daniele 

 Manin and his time. Auguste Alfani has pro- 

 duced a work, for the use of Catholics, upon 

 the philosopher Horace Ruccella. Federico 

 Odorici, the librarian of Parma, has brought 

 out a book which is rich in curious and hith- 

 erto inedited documents upon his illustrious 

 friend the late Count Cibrario, " II Conte 

 Luigi Cibrario e i tempi suoi." It is full of 

 historiettes, and gives valuable details of the 

 political life of King Charles Albert. "While 

 speaking of artistic literature, I must not omit 

 to mention the beautiful book which the Mar- 

 quis Pietro Selvatico has composed for the 

 use of schools of design, "II Disegno Elemen- 

 tare e Superiore." 



I must call attention to the interesting vol- 

 ume on the family of Leonardo da Vinci, 

 "Ricerche su Leonardo da Vinci," by Signer 

 Gustavo Uzelli ; and also the splendid edition, 

 in quarto, of the unpublished designs of the 

 works of Leonardo which forms part of the 

 Code Atlantique of the Ambrosiana Library 

 at Milan. 



Father Garrucci has issued a splendid edition 

 of his "History of Christian Art during the 

 First Eight Centuries," published at Prato; 

 and, thorough Jesuit as he is, I can heartily 

 and sincerely recommend it. Several other 

 historical works deserving of notice might be 

 mentioned, and I would especially call atten- 

 tion to the "Inventory of the Archives of 

 Lucca," published by Signor S. Bongi; also to 

 the "Archivio Veneto," which Prof. Adolfo 



