448 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1875. 



hundredth anniversary of the day on which 

 Goethe entered Weimar. Keil has also pub- 

 lished a fragment of Goethe's Diary of that 

 time, the complete text of which is kept by the 

 poet's heirs shut up in Goethe's house at Wei- 

 mar. The most important publication that the 

 celebration called forth was that of S. Hirzel, 

 the owner of the richest Goethe library in 

 existence. Under the title of "Der junge 

 Goethe," this Leipsic bookseller has brought 

 out an edition, arranged in strict chronological 

 order, of all that Goethe printed and wrote 

 between 1764 and 1776. In the collected edi- 

 tion, which he himself revised, the poet altered 

 many passages in his youthful writings of the 

 "Sturm und Drang" period, and improved 

 some, but weakened others. The edition I am 

 speaking of adheres throughout to the original 

 readings, and even reproduces its" frequently 

 curious orthography. All his letters are in- 

 cluded, even those first printed a few months 

 ago by L. Urlichs, which were addressed to Jo- 

 hanna Fahlmer, a relation of Jacobi, and after- 

 ward the wife of Goethe's broth er-in law, 

 Schlosser ; and from them the reader can gain 

 for the first time a complete idea of Goethe's 

 whole private life and poetical activity. The 

 one is explained by the other. The volume, 

 which is distinguished by its philological exact- 

 ness, has been supervised by M. Bernays, the 

 critical editor of the Schlegel translation of 

 Shakespeare. Another interesting contribution 

 to Goethe literature is Eric Schmidt's book, 

 u Richardson, Rousseau, und Goethe," which 

 points out the influence of " Clarissa " on the 

 " Nouvelle Helo'ise," and the influence of the 

 " Nouvelle Heloise " on " Werther." A paral- 

 lel is drawn between Goethe and Rousseau, 

 Lotte Buff and Madame d'Houdetot. 



Among books of travel, the most important 

 are Von Thielmann's " Reise im Kaukasus und 

 Persien," Marno's " Reise im Gebiete des Weis- 

 sen und Blauen Nil's und im Sudan " (1869- 

 1873), and Gerhard Rohlfs's "Quer durch 

 Afrika." Among periodicals, the Deutsche 

 Rundschau, started a year ago by Julius Ro- 

 denberg, maintains an honorable position. Of 

 books of reference, a class which do not come 

 within the scope of this article, I may name 

 the " Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie," com- 

 menced on the plan of the " Biographie Uni- 

 verselle ; " the " Deutsche Plutarch," edited by 

 Gottschall; and Meyer's " Illustrates Con- 

 versationslexicon," the third edition of which, 

 now in course of publication, seems likely to 

 surpass its predecessors and rivals. 



Upon the whole, the literary position of 

 Germany is not equal to its political. Unlike 

 its neighbors, German literature was at its best 

 before, not after, the political greatness of the 

 nation. 



HOLLA.ND. The weeks preceding Christmas 

 often give birth to the most important publica- 

 tions of the year. Two of the most remark- 

 able contributions to our belles-lettres are 

 Schimmel's "Sinjeur Semeyns" and Pier- 



son's " Opinions on Life and Living." The 

 first is on the eve of publication ; the other 

 has but just appeared. Schimmel and Mrs. 

 Bosboom-Toussaint, the wife of the painter, 

 are the best historical novelists we have. Of 

 Mrs. Bosboom-Toussaint's "Major Frans," 

 published toward the end of last year, several 

 editions have appeared, among them a large 

 one, illustrated by the painter Rochussen. If 

 not the most learned of her works, it certainly 

 is the most attractive. Already a French 

 translation, by M. R6ville, has appeared in the 

 Revue des Deux Mondes. Mr. Hazebroek's two 

 volumes of " Poetry and Prose " were welcomed 

 especially by those who rightly foster love 

 and admiration for the triumvirate of about 

 1840 Jonathan (Hazebroek), Hildebrand 

 (Beets), and Klikspaan (Kneppelhout) who 

 exercised so wholesome an influence on the 

 development of Dutch prose. At that period 

 Hazebroek published, under the pseudonym of 

 "Jonathan," his "Truth and Fiction," or 

 rather " Reality and Fantasy," a collection of 

 humoristic essays in the style of Lamb. Beets, 

 his fellow-student, wrote his inimitable " Ca- 

 mera Obscura by Hildebrand," our best stand- 

 ard prose work, of which the tenth edition, an 

 edition de luxe, illustrated by Carl Sierig, is in 

 course of publication. Mr. Beets is, perhaps, 

 better known in England than " Hildebrand." 

 Many will remember the banquet in honor of 

 Sir Walter Scott, at which the Utrecht minis- 

 ter, now professor of divinity, made such an 

 agreeable impression, " being more dean than 

 the dean himself," as the Scotsman of the day, 

 in allusion to the English dean, had it. From 

 the " Camera Obscura " only a couple of 

 sketches have as yet been translated into Eng- 

 lish ; they appeared some years ago in Fraser 

 and Chambers^ Journal. Besides the several 

 translations into European languages, a Japa- 

 nese translation is now in preparation. Beets, 

 who, as poet, was for a time strongly influ- 

 enced by Byron's works, as many other Dutch 

 poets were, often reminds us in his prose works 

 of Dickens. He is the greatest humorist in 

 Dutch literature, and, if the language of the 

 Netherlands were more generally known, he 

 would be acknowledged by foreigners to stand 

 high among European writers. Besides being 

 a poet, he is the most elegant of our essayists 

 and lecturers, as his inaugural address " On 

 Character " has again proved. The third of 

 the trio mentioned, Mr. Kneppelhout, whose 

 principal works, containing humorous sketches 

 of Dutch university life (" University Types " 

 and " University Life," by Telltale), have gone 

 through many editions, published this year a 

 biography of the late De Graan, the young 

 Dutch violinist, who already at an early age 

 had acquired a European reputation. 



Messrs. Emants, Kolff, Kleine, and a few 

 others, started last year a monthly, the Banner, 

 termed Young Holland's Periodical, " Young. 

 Holland" being the favorite name assumed 

 by, or given to, that part of the rising genera- 



