LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1881. 



501 



et Pecuchet," appeared at the beginning of the 

 year. 



One of the most notable works of the year 

 as a popular success has been the " Numa Rou- 

 mestan " of Alphonse Daudet. Jules Claretie's 

 "Amours d'un Interne " initiates his reader into 

 the sorrows and mysteries of Parisian hospitals, 

 and describes their machinery in a realistic 

 style ; while in u Monsieur le Ministre," his 

 last work, the author has succeeded in fixing 

 an image of the new parliamentary manners. 

 The "Histoire d'une Parisienne " of Octave 

 Feuillet is sober as regards details, and easy in 

 style. The author of " M. de Cauiors " has 

 written a novel free from his usual eccentricity. 

 Ferdinand Fabre, in " Mon Onclo Celestin," ap- 

 proves himself an observer and a brilliant 

 writer. The " Noirs et Rouges " of M. Cher- 

 buliez, the newly elected member of the Acade- 

 my, is an irritating political novel, but elabo- 

 rated with care. Madame Henri Greville's " Le 

 Moulin Frappier " and " Perdue," are romantic 

 and passionate tales. 



In " Le Bachelier," Jules Valtes has given 

 in a very excellent if mutinous style the second 

 part of his confessions, which are finished in 

 a third volume, h L'Insurge." In " Le Roi 

 Vierge " Catulle Mends has painted the court 

 of the capricious King of Bavaria. " Le Pere 

 de Martial" of Albert Delpit is one of the 

 better works of the year; as are also "Pom- 

 pon," by Hector Malot, and " Oezette," a story 

 of country manners in the south, by Arthur 

 Pouvillon. A striking analysis of vice is " La 

 Glu," by Richepin. 



"Les Quatre Vents de 1'Esprit " of Victor 

 Hugo is the most beautiful volume of poems 

 that has appeared since the first series of " L6- 

 gendes des Siecles." " Les Poesies Inedites de 

 Lamartine," which has just appeared, contains 

 some exquisite pieces. Paul D6roulede, in 

 "Marches et Sonneries," is inspired by the 

 patriotic braggadocio of his nation. A revised 

 edition of " La Chanson des Gueux " of Jean 

 Richepin has appeared. 



Of the plays of the year, "Madame de Main- 

 tenon," a pretty piece in verse by Francois 

 Copp6e, had only a succ&s (Pestime. The " Prin- 

 cesse de Bagdad," by Alexandre Dumas, was 

 almost a failure. " Le Monde ou 1'on s'ennuie " 

 of Edouard Pailleron was the greatest success 

 of the year. " Odette," by Victorien Sardou, 

 is a captivating play. The dramatized versions 

 of " L'Assommoir " and "Nana" have been 

 printed. Zola has besides published a critical 

 brochure styled "Nos Auteurs Dramatiques," 

 in which he passes sentence on his brethren. 



The dramatic works of Ohlenschlager and 

 Holberg, the Corneille and Moliere of Den- 

 mark, have been translated by Xavier Marmier. 

 " Le Theatre en Angleterre " embraces the his- 

 tory of the English stage down to the imme- 

 diate precursors of Shakespeare, by J. Jusse- 

 rand. 



Works connected with the fine arts are the 

 " Benvenuto Cellini " of M. Quantin ; " La Re- 



naissance en France," a colossal work by L6on 

 Palustre ; the " Van Dyck " of Jules Guifrey ; 

 "L'Art & travers les Moeurs," by Henri Ha- 

 vard; the "Albert Durer et ses Dessins" of 

 Charles Ephrussi ; the " Arts du Metal," by 

 Giraud ; " Millet," by M. Sensier ; " Les Monu- 

 ments de 1'Art Antique," by Olivier Rayet; 

 and the new work of Paul Lacroix, ' Le XVII" 

 Siecle, Science et Arts." 



GERMANY. More books are written in Ger- 

 many than in any other country, but fewer 

 bought. In no other part of Europe is the 

 number of family libraries proportionately so 

 small; that of lending libraries, of which the 

 rich and the well-to-do avail themselves with- 

 out expense, so large. In consequence of this 

 state of things the profits of a German writer 

 are small, though books are dear. Of late ef- 

 forts have been made to rescue authors, pub- 

 lishers, and the public from this imbroglio. 

 Only since the house of Cotta lost " protect- 

 ing privileges " have the German classics real- 

 ly begun to be the possession of the people, 

 and enter the home of the tradesman and the 

 cottage of the peasant. Along with the cheap 

 editions, which unfortunately include only the 

 works of past generations, there have appeared 

 of late collections of single works of the best 

 writers, which in part comprise the produc- 

 tions of living authors. The " Haus- und Fa- 

 milien-Bibliothek," published by Spemann, 

 consisting of nicely printed volumes at a mark 

 each, after the fashion of the French one-franc 

 libraries, has had a great success. Enterprises 

 like this, and like the collection of novelettes 

 edited by Paul Heyse and Hermann Kurz 

 which has been discontinued spare the ordi- 

 nary reader the task of selection and the disap- 

 pointments attending it. 



Proportionately as the political ferment in- 

 creases in Germany, the literary and scientific 

 settles down. 



Victor von Scheffel heads the numerous band 

 of German convivial poets. One of the mer- 

 riest is Rudolf Baumbach, the author of " Zlato- 

 rog" and " Frau Holde," who has published 

 a volume of " Spielmannsliedern." Richard 

 Volkmann, a noted physiologist and the author 

 of the fairy tales " Plaudereien an Franzosi- 

 schen Kaminen," has published " Burschenlie- 

 der"; and another Halle professor, Ernst Zi- 

 telmann, also has published a volume of light 

 poems. 



The more dramatic prizes there are, the few- 

 er plays there are that deserve them. The 

 jury at Vienna has once more found no piece 

 produced within the three years worthy of the 

 Grillparzer prize. The conditions stipulated by 

 Grillparzer include the Draconian rule that 

 not only must the prize-work give promise of 

 lasting success on the stage, but also possess 

 literary merit. The first part of the rule was 

 directed against the increasing number of clos- 

 et dramas ; the second against the degradation 

 of the play into a spectacle. The jury debated 

 whether they dared award the prize to the 



