452 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1875. 



for he died in the maturity of his powers 

 but because he was a support to the cause of 

 art for art's sake, and his literary brethren 

 found in him ready sympathy and quick en- 

 couragement, and were cheered on to fight for 

 the sake of truth. He himself had written 

 from the need of expressing the poetic ideas 

 which thronged into his brain, and was averse 

 to popularity and seeking for an audience. But 

 a few days before his death his last poem, 

 "The Dragon," appeared in the European 

 Messenger. It is on an Italian subject, in the 

 Italian style, in terza rima, and is headed 

 "From the Italian " simply, as the author said 

 in a letter, to puzzle his friend De Gubernatis. 



Of other works of fiction there are some 

 charming little sketches by V. Krestofsky 

 (Madame Khvostchinsky), entitled "An Al- 

 bum," and two tales by Melnikof (novels they 

 can hardly be called), " In the Forests " and 

 "Among the Mountains," devoted to careful 

 studies of life among the Dissenters, especially 

 those sects which keep apart from the main 

 body of Russians and are hardly known. 



Poetry, we fear, has for a time disappeared 

 from materialistic and socialistic Russia. In 

 the drama there are two new plays by Ostrof- 

 sky, " Bread gained by the Sweat of the Brow," 

 and " Wolves and Sheep : " the former feeble ; 

 the latter on a fresh subject, and interesting, 

 but still not thoroughly good. 



In other departments of belles-lettres there 

 are some new satirical sketches by Stchedrin, 

 which show that he is wearing out both his 

 subject and his style: some reprinted feuille- 

 tons of Suvorin distinguished by a sparkle 

 which shows the author capable of something 

 better ; some new critical studies of Pypin on 

 the history of Russian literature, treated ac- 

 cording to the comparative method. 



The modest title of " Oompte Rendu of the 

 Imperial Archaeological Commission for 1872 " 

 covers a book of great value for the history 

 of art. It contains an essay, by the well-known 

 Prof. Ludolf Stephani, on the group which 

 filled the western pediment of the Parthenon, 

 founded on some medals and works of art 

 found in the neighborhood of Kertch in 1872, 

 and now in the Hermitage Museum ; descrip- 

 tions of vases found in the Crimea; and an 

 essay, by Vladimir Stasof, on a sepulchral 

 chamber with frescoes laid bare at Kertch in 

 the same year. The book, which is printed 

 with a luxury which only Government publi- 

 cations can afford, is plentifully illustrated with 

 cuts and lithographs in the color of the fres- 

 coes, and is accompanied by a large atlas con- 

 taining supplementary plates. 



In political and legal literature by far the 

 most important book is the second volume ol 

 " Essays in Political Science," published under 

 the direction of the academician Bezobrazof. 

 Prof. A. Gradofsky has published the first vol- 

 ume of " The Basis of Russian Constitutional 

 Law," and a book on the "German Constitu- 

 tion." Prof. A. Stoyanof keeps up the tra- 



ditional reputation of the University of Khar- 

 kof by his interesting " Sketch of the History 

 and Dogmas of International Law." 



The last year has not been so fertile either 

 in historical works or in collections of histori- 

 cal material as those which have immediately 

 preceded it. In this department the most in- 

 teresting book is, without doubt, "The First 

 Forty Years of Intercourse between England 

 and Russia, 1553 to 1593," by Yurii Tolstoi. 

 The introduction and all the documents, eighty- 

 two in number (thirty-three of which are pub- 

 lished for the first time), are printed both in 

 Russian and in English ; and some of the let- 

 ters exchanged between Queen Elizabeth, Ivan 

 the Terrible, and Boris Godunof, as well as the 

 reports of their respective envoys, are curious 

 and valuable. The fourteenth volume of the 

 " Collections of the Imperial Russian Histori- 

 cal Society" is filled with the continuation 

 of the reports of the great Diet held by Cath- 

 arine II. The veteran historian, Pogodin, 

 has presented, in his usual discursive and po- 

 lemic manner, " The First Seventeen Years of 

 the Life of Peter the Great ; " and N. A. Po- 

 pof has published an interesting volume on 

 " The Free City of Cracow." 



Books of geography and travel, as is but 

 natural, relate mostly to Asia; the exhaustive 

 work on Lake Ladoga, by Colonel Andreief, 

 being the single exception of note. The only 

 really remarkable account of travel is Captain 

 Prezhvalsky's " Mongolia and the Country of 

 the Tanguts," a relation of his notable journey 

 to the edge of Thibet, which, it is announced, 

 will appear in an English translation. " Eng- 

 land and Russia in Central Asia " is full of in- 

 terest, as the author had access to the chan- 

 cery of General Kaufmann, and has published 

 many extracts from official documents. An- 

 other book, "Russia and Asia," by Prof. Gri- 

 gorief, is one that all who are interested in 

 the East and in Russia will be glad to get. 



A little book published in Paris, "Histoire 

 de la Litt6rature Contemporaine en Russie," 

 by C. Courriere, should not be forgotten. Al- 

 though by no means perfect, it is the best 

 sketch of modern Russian literature published 

 abroad, and will be of great use to any one 

 desiring to know what the Russian authors 

 have thus far done. 



SEEVIA AND CROATIA. This year the lit- 

 erary activity displayed by the two nations 

 has been quite equal to that of last year : in 

 many points it has been greater. Besides the 

 Learned Society in Belgrade, the Matica Srbska 

 in Neusatz, and the Academy of Science at 

 Agram, which published their transactions un- 

 der the names of GlasniTc Ljetopis, Bad Jvgo- 

 slavensTce Akademije, and Magazin Dalmatin- 

 ski, which are mainly taken up with history 

 and philology, other branches of knowledge 

 are the objects of the labors of individuals. 



In poetry, matters are at a standstill. Some 

 songs have been called forth by the events of 

 the year, and some dramatic trifles have ap- 



