LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1886. 



501 



n6i. Rak6czy, on the side of Protestantism, 

 took up arms for national independence, while 

 Pazman aided largely in consolidating the Aus- 

 trian power. "The History of the Danubian 

 Navy," in early times, by E. Szentklarai, is in- 

 teresting and useful. " The Speeches of the 

 Hungarian Patriot, Francis Deak "(1848-1861), 

 edited by E. K6nyi, have been published, and 

 manifest the high and noble spirit of the man. 

 Geographical and ethnographical literature is 

 quite abundant in 1886, as is shown by Prof. 

 J. Hunfalvy's second volume of his great work 

 on the geography of the world, which is spe- 

 cially devoted to Hungary; Prof. Loe"zy's im- 

 portant work on China, based on personal in- 

 vestigations, with a valuable map attached ; 

 J. Asb6th's volume on Bosnia and Herzego- 

 vina, dealing with social, political, and other 

 features of the country ; and A. Vamb6ry's 

 " The Turkish Race," published by the Acad- 

 emy, the fruit of personal observation and ex- 

 perience among the Turks. A. Bedo's work 

 on the forests of Hungary deserves mention in 

 this connection. We may also note Prof. Z. 

 Beothy's " History of Folk-Lore in Hungary," 

 from the sixteenth century onward; J. Ha- 

 raszti's monograph on the naturalistic novel 

 cultivated by Zola so largely and offensively ; 

 and Prof. Gustav Heinrich's " History of Ger- 

 man Literature," which ranks with the best 

 books published on the subject in Germany or 

 I elsewhere. A word or two, in conclusion, is 

 due to the memory of Arnold Ipolyi, Bishop 

 of Nagyvarad, a man of vast learning and 

 rare accomplishments. He was author of a 

 number of valuable books, and his death, in 

 December, 1886, is a loss both to the church 

 and to science and art. 



Italy. The record of Italian literature for 

 1888 is only indifferently good. Some energy 

 has been manifested in the department of his- 

 tory. A Jewish writer, David Castelli, Pro- 

 fessor of Hebrew in the Institute Superiore of 

 Florence, has treated of the history of the Jews 

 from the beginning until the time of the kings, 

 using the modern rationalistic method, and 

 not regarding inspiration or church tradition 

 as of any special value. F. Covoni's mono- 

 graph, describing the visit of Frederick Augus- 

 tus IV, King of Denmark, to Florence, in 

 1708, is much praised by the critics. R. Galli 

 has made an excellent beginning toward a his- 

 tory of Venice ; and G. Govi has brought to 

 light an interesting document relative to the 

 expulsion of the Jesuits from Venice, in May, 

 1606. Some works in literary history deserve 

 mention, viz., V. Cian's " Un Decennio della 

 Vita di M. Pietro Bembo" (1521-1531); 0. 

 Ricci's volume on " The Spaniards and Vene- 

 tians in Romagna" (1527-1529); F. Fiorenti 

 no's " II Risorgimento Filosofico nel Quattro 

 Cento," which the author left only partly fin- 

 ished at the time of his death. In political 

 history may be named a few good productions, 

 based largely on original researches, such as 

 P. Fea's "Alessandro Farnese, Ducca di Par- 



ma"; C. Merkel's "Manfred! I e Manfredi II, 

 Lancia"; L. Cappelletti's " Storia popolare 

 critica della Rivoluzione Francese," etc. His- 

 torical societies in Italy and the Vatican ar- 

 chivists display much zeal and industry in this 

 department, with creditable results. In criti- 

 cism the best work of the year is that by Zum- 

 bini, professor in the University of Naples, 

 on the poems of Vincenzo Monti (1754-1828). 

 Foscolo and Leopardi continue to receive a 

 large share of attention from Italian critics. 

 Zanella has made a good beginning on the 

 subject of Italian literature in the eighteenth 

 century. Translations from the Greek and 

 other languages into Italian have also received 

 considerable attention. In poetry the yield 

 has not been large or important. I. de Chiara's 

 " Fumo " contains some good verses ; F. Zam- 

 boni's dramatic poem " Sotto i Flavi," is more 

 ambitious and exhibits much talent; V. Bar- 

 biera has issued a small volume of poems en- 

 titled " Come Detta il Core," which are char- 

 acterized by the critics as sweet, idyllic, and 

 true. No novel that may be called great has 

 appeared this year. Giacosa's "Novelle e Pa- 

 esi Valdsostani," contains stories and sketch- 

 es drawn from the scenery and inhabitants of 

 one of the most picturesque valleys of the Ital- 

 ian Alps, and are much praised. G. Viscon- 

 ti's story, * II Curato d' Orobio " is fairly well 

 done; as are also Campanus's "In quel Brutto 

 Mesa," Rovetta's tale "Tiranni Minimi," Vas- 

 sallo's romance u Diana Ricattatrice," and Ca- 

 pranica's romance, " Maria Dolores." E. de 

 Amicis has published a book entitled " Cuora," 

 for the benefit of boys, calculated to inspire 

 love of country, family, and God. In the de- 

 partment of law we may mention F. Brandi- 

 leone's work on " Byzantine Law in Southern 

 Italy from the Eighth to the Twelfth Century " ; 

 P. Cogliolo's manual of the "Sources of Roman 

 Law " ; and R. Foglietti's " Observations on the 

 History of Italian Law. 1 ' In this connection we 

 may properly make note of the death of Marco 

 Mingbetti, in December, who was distinguished 

 as a man of letters, and renowned as an orator 

 second to none of his countrymen. 



Norway. Fiction or light literature has had 

 chief sway in Norway during 1886. Two nov- 

 els have attained note, viz., K. Gloersen's 

 " Every-day Life," and A. Kielland's "Snow." 

 The former sketches life and manners among 

 well-to-do people, and displays much power in 

 character-painting. The latter is a trenchant 

 assault upon the priesthood and the general 

 bigotry that the author regards as prevalent 

 in conservative circles. Kielland also com- 

 pleted a play in 1886, called "Tre Par" (Three 

 Couples), which is French in style and bad in 

 moral tone. The critics affirm that the drama 

 could not be read aloud in a company of vir- 

 tuous and cultivated ladies and gentlemen. 

 Among the numerous novels published may be 

 mentioned "Farvel, Hansen," by K. Winter- 

 fa jelm ; " Spring Mist," by Kristofer Kristofer- 

 sen ; " The Neighboring Farms," by Immanuel 



