450 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1875. 



The novels I have mentioned are not nearly 

 enough to meet the wants of the public, and 

 there is a great deal of translation done too 

 much, indeed. Still many good, and some of 

 the best, stories published abroad are translated, 

 for instance, this year, " Middlemarch ' and 

 "Don Quixote." Both of these were trans- 

 lated under the auspices of the "Kisfaludy" 

 Society. 



In Hungarian poetry, the book most worthy 

 of mention is the new edition of Francis Toldy's 

 " Handbook of Hungarian Poetry." This work 

 originally appeared in German, nearly fifty 

 years ago, and in Hungarian, in two volumes 

 (1855-'57), and now in five. The learned his- 

 torian of our literature, who till comparatively 

 recently showed himself somewhat hostile to 

 modern Hungarian poetry, is now more gra- 

 ciously disposed toward its younger represent- 

 atives. 



ITALY. The extraordinary events of the pres- 

 ent year have been the centenary celebrations of 

 Michael Angelo at Florence, of Ariosto at Fer- 

 rara, of Boccaccio at Certaldo. For the cente- 

 nary of Boccaccio some ten new publications 

 are announced, which will be subjects for the 

 literary chronicle of next year ; Ariosto has only 

 inspired Pietro Oossa, of Rome, to write a bad 

 comedy, and Signor Anselmi, a Piedmontese, 

 residing at Ferrara, a middling one: neither 

 the one nor the other will keep its place in the 

 repertoire in which several other new Italian 

 plays will be carefully retained. 



Several works on Italian bibliography have 

 been published this year in Italy. I will men- 

 tion " La Bibliografia dei Libri di Prima Stampa 

 e delle Edizioni Aldine e rare," which are 

 possessed by the library of Palermo, by Antonio 

 Pennino and Filippo Evola ; the " Bibliography 

 of Italian Journals," by G. Ottino; "La Bib- 

 liografia della Lunigiana," by G. Sforza; "La 

 Bibliogratia della citta di Pistoia," by V. 

 Oapponi. The mere enumeration of works is 

 quite enough to convey some idea of our activity 

 in this literary department. 



On the other hand, the Italian translation, by 

 Prof. A. Severini, of a work on Japanese as- 

 trology, and the essay of Prof. G. I. Ascoli, 

 entitled "Schizzi Franco-Provenzali," which 

 carried off the prize at the Congress of the Ro- 

 mance Languages at Montpellier, bear witness 

 to the depth and sagacity of Italian erudition. 

 Japan has also been illustrated in a most inter- 

 esting monograph by Pietro Savio, published 

 by Messrs. Treves at Milan. 



Those who are interested in popular litera- 

 ture will admire the persistent patience and 

 learning of Giuseppe Pitr6, who, alone and 

 without any assistance, has succeeded in col- 

 lecting, putting into good order, and writing a 

 judicious commentary upon four volumes of 

 Sicilian popular tales. They will also be pleased 

 with the second edition of Sicilian popular 

 songs, in one large volume, containing many 

 additional songs, collected by Lionardo Vigo, 

 a learned man of respectable erudition, who 



lives in Acireale, and whom the King of 

 Bavaria has recently decorated for his work. 

 In like manner the Emperor of Brazil has just 

 created Prof. Giacomo Bertini, the diligent 

 translator of Herodotus and of Theocritus, a 

 Chevalier of the Order of the Rose. 



The magnificent promise of a good transla- 

 tion of Lord Byron's " Don Juan " brings us to 

 a poet of Verona, Vittorio Betteloni, who has 

 given the episode of Haid6e in eight-line verses, 

 which are as harmonious as they are faithful. 

 Among the new Italian poetical works, marked 

 with vigor and originality, are the " Nuove 

 Poesie " of Giosu& Carducci, published at 

 Bologna ; " In Memoriam," by Giuseppe 

 Chiarini, President of the Lyceum of Leghorn; 

 "Erbuccie," by G. L. Patuzzi, of Verona ; the 

 poems of Luigi Morandi, an Umbrian, who is 

 a professor at Forli ; and the poems of Arturo 

 Graf, son of a German father and Italian 

 mother, born at Athens, brought up in Italy 

 a man full of strength and independence, and 

 perhaps destined one day to make his mark in 

 the world. 



I must not omit to notice the wonderful im- 

 provement which has shown itself within the 

 last few years in Italian fiction ; the publishers 

 who have encouraged this have their share in 

 the merit. Without pausing to speak of novels 

 of which the object is strictly educational, and 

 which are published at Milan, with success, by 

 Signor B. E. Maineri, and of historical novels 

 of which he has quite recently given a remark- 

 able specimen, Signor Pier Ambrogio Curti's 

 u Madama di Celan," we may consider that we 

 have half a dozen good novelists and some good 

 Italian novels to bring under notice. The 

 worthy veteran of Treviso, Antonio Caccianiga, 

 has given us an agreeable novel, " II Bacio della 

 Contessa Savina." The veteran Piedmontese, 

 Vittorio Bersezio, has written two novels, each 

 on a different subject ; one of them is called 

 " Cavalieri, Armi, ed Amori ; " the other, " II 

 Segreto d'Adolfo : " they prove that he has 

 lost nothing of his masterly power and spirit. 

 Anton. Giulio Barrili, the well-known Genoese 

 novelist, who owing to his elegant style and 

 finished wit requires a more cultivated public, 

 has this year given us a charming story, called 

 " Come un Sogno." Salvatore Farina, who 

 may be said, justly, to be the Italian novelist 

 who comes nearest to Dickens, is our subtilest, 

 tenderest, and most delicate writer; he it is 

 who writes with the most exquisite touches of 

 Nature. He has this year treated us royally, 

 and given three delightful novels "Un Tiranno 

 ai Bagni di Mare," "Arnore Bendato," and 

 " Capelli Biondi." I must also notice " Virtu 

 d'Amore," by G. L. Patuzzi, the author of the 

 charming collection of verses called " Er- 

 buccie ; " he is, too, in concert with Login 

 Sadler, the translator of "II Principe Sere- 

 brianni," by the late Count Tolstoi. 



I cannot say much of the literary, artistic, 

 and political history of Italy, although each 

 contributor has furnished notices that are not 



