544 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1885. 



Mahrenholtz and Janvier. The Goethe liter- 

 ature seems to keep on growing, and fresh doc- 

 umentary matter of importance is expected to 

 appear, now that the poet's last grandson has 

 died. H. Duntzer has supplied a new biogra- 

 phy of Goethe, which is not praised by the 

 critics. A. Stern has given a "Life of H. 

 Hettner," a clever historian of German, French, 

 and English literature in the eighteenth centu- 

 ry, and Von Reumont has issued a valuable 

 " Life of King William IV." In the realm of 

 poetry A. Meissner's death is regarded as a 

 positive loss. The product of the year has not 

 been remarkable or encouraging. Gensichen's 

 "Frauenlob," Baumbach's "The Godfather 

 of Death," and A. von Putkammer's lyric 

 " Poems " are all that we can name here. E. 

 von Wildenbruch has followed up his tragedy 

 of " Harald " by another taken from the history 

 and fate of Christopher Marlowe. The drama 

 has merit certainly, but it does not equal "Ha- 

 rald." F. von Saar, another eminent German 

 dramatist, has published "Thassilo," which 

 has points of comparison with Shakespeare's 

 "Hamlet." Both the dramas just named are 

 said by the critics to contain passages of great 

 beauty and force. In fiction, George Ebers, in 

 his last novel, "Serapis," occupies again his 

 favorite field on the Nile. The critics point 

 out the similarity in this novel to Kingsley's 

 "Hypatia," at the same time pronouncing.it 

 inferior to the latter in poetic charm and phil- 

 osophical and religious depth. Novels seem 

 to increase in number as the years roll on. 

 "letta," by George Taylor; "Die Siebalds," 

 by W. Jordan, and " Die Saxo-Borussen," by 

 G. Samarow, are among the few noted with 

 approval. A. Kielland's " Fortuna," and Sloet's 

 " Sins of the Fathers " are also named as good 

 specimens of stories, with a didactic, moral 

 purpose in view. In philosophy it appears as 

 if the heroic age of German philosophy had 

 passed away forever. Some are anxious for a 

 return to Kant. Others deny to Kant all claim 

 of originality. Constant attempts at new theo- 

 ries of knowledge and cognition are made, in 

 connection with Kant's " Critique." Schubert, 

 Brodbeck, and Glogau deserve especial men- 

 tion here. Drobisch and Dietrich also are 

 named in this connection. F. Todl's " History 

 of Ethics " is pronounced to be valuable, as is 

 also 0. Werner's " History of Italian Philoso- 

 phy in the Nineteenth Century." 



Greece. Notwithstanding the serious disturb- 

 ance of this year in eastern Europe, in which 

 Greece had its full share, considerable intel- 

 lectual activity has been displayed, and a fair 

 literary production. In history the publica- 

 tions have been quite numerous. C. Sathas 

 has brought out the sixth volume of his great 

 collection, "Monumenta Historic Hellenics," 

 and also a monograph on the Greek Stradiotes 

 in the . west. M. Dimitsas has published a 

 " History of Alexandria from its Foundation till 

 the Arab Conquest." A. Paspastis has writ- 

 ten a very interesting volume on "The Im- 



perial Palaces of Byzantium," which is valu- 

 able for the topography of Constantinople in 

 the middle ages." National history excites 

 much attention, and several able writers have 

 devoted themselves to its illustration. In phi- 

 lology the Greeks have shown themselves to 

 be active and successful. G. Chatzidakis, in his 

 " Studies on the Modern Greek Idiom," J. 

 Sakellion, in an edition of the " Letters of The- 

 odoret," the ancient historian of the Church, 

 and A. P. Kerameus, in a first installment of 

 a description of the MSS. preserved in the 

 Greek East, fully evidence this ; and other writ- 

 ers have followed in the same line. The philo- 

 sophical and educational publications of 1885 

 deserving notice are those of C. Papamarkos, 

 director of the Normal School at Athens, " On 

 the Object of the Education of Greek Youth " ; 

 G. Bizyinos, " On the Philosophy of the Beau- 

 tiful, according to Plotinus"; and M. Evan- 

 gelidis, on the " History of the Theory of Cog- 

 nition." Several valuable works on education 

 published this year show the deep interest the 

 nation has in this important department. Fic- 

 tion and works of travel seern to be steadily 

 on the increase, and for the most part are 

 issued in the weekly and even daily papers. 

 Very few of these, however, have any special 

 merit, and none of them are at all likely to 

 survive their ephemeral origin. Two or three 

 plays, a few poems, and some fragmentary es- 

 says are all that can here be chronicled. 



Holland. Novels of various sorts, and stories 

 of all sorts, have appeared in Holland during 

 1885. The critics complain of the too general 

 carelessness of style on the part of writers of 

 this class, and name but few novels with ap- 

 probation, such as M. Van Java's "Miss Camp- 

 bell," Mrs. Westhreene's " Ver Vanden Stam," 

 J. Van Woude's " Zyn Ideaal," Ten Burch's 

 " Outrouw," etc. Some religious novels of the 

 proselyting description have been published, 

 and also stories of the olden time, revived by 

 Rogge and Rovers, which contain pleasing 

 types of courage, piety, and earnestness. Poet- 

 ry flourishes in the sonnets of W. Prins and 

 the " Panopticum " of Mallinckrodt. Also, in 

 Kate's " De Nieuwe Kerk," which tells of the 

 foundation, history, etc., of the church in Am- 

 sterdam, this being to Holland much like what 

 Westminster Abbey is to England. Transla- 

 tions from the English have found favor. Bur- 

 gersdyk is rendering Shakespeare's plays into 

 Dutch with success, and Le Comte has repro- 

 duced Tennyson's " Guinevere " in excellent 

 style. Numerous new ventures in periodical 

 literature have been made, which promise 

 much that may or may not be realized, 

 tory has received fair attention in its varioi 

 subdivisions. Dutch India, Borneo, Amstei 

 dam, etc., have given rise to valuable works 

 An exhaustive history of the newspaper press 

 in Holland has been brought out by R. > an- 

 der Meulen. B. Huet, in " The Land of Kern 

 brandt," describes the unique character of the 

 Dutch school of painting, the greatest glory ot 



