502 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1886. 



Ross ; " Women's Fates," by Elizabeth Schoy- 

 en ; " Then and Now," by Charlotte Koren ; 

 and a series of hunting sketches, by Sofus 

 Aars. In the drama Bjornsen's twin- brother, 

 Henrik Ibsen, has contributed a four-act play, 

 entitled " Rosmersbohn," which is variously 

 criticised, some regarding it as his most suc- 

 cessful work, others condemning it as inferior 

 to previous dramas in spirit and execution. In 

 the department of history not much has been 

 added. Several works of value are in course 

 of publication, such as an illustrated u History 

 of Norway, 1 ' by O. A. Overland ; Unger's 

 " Diplornatarium Norvegicum," a thesaurus of 

 ancient lore ; Brynildreri's " Norwegian-Eng- 

 lish Dictionary," a very full and complete lexi- 

 con. Military history receives attention in 

 Lieut. Barstad's " The Defense of Bergen" 

 (1801, 1807-'14). N. Rolfsen has, with the 

 aid of H. Jaeger, completed a work entitled 

 " Norwegian Authors," which is an anthology 

 of native writers from Peter Dass to the pres- 

 ent time. It contains biographies and por- 

 traits, and is a work of value. In religious and 

 scientific literature some books have appeared, 

 but none of more than average importance. 

 F. Grung, in " Spiritual Fetters," attempts to 

 give a psychological analysis and refutation of 

 pessimism, with moderate success. Transla- 

 tions of a number of American works have 

 found favor in Norway, among which may be 

 named Henry George's " Progress and Pover- 

 ty " and Prof. Rasmus B. Anderson's " Norse 

 Mythology." 



Poland. More than usual activity was devel- 

 oped in the drama this year in Poland, owing 

 to the fact that three prizes were offered at 

 Warsaw for plays. An historical drama, " Wojt 

 Albert," by S. Kozlowski, was successful, as 

 were two comedies, one by Mankowski, en- 

 titled " Minowski," the other, " Besieged on all 

 Sides," by E. Lubowski. J. Blizinski and K. 

 Zalewski produced highly successful plays, 

 " Check and Mate," by the former, and " Our 

 Sons-in-law," by the latter, are much praised 

 by the critics. Historical novels and romances 

 are in high favor in Poland this year. Among 

 these may be named H. Sienkiewicz's "The 

 Deluge " (in six volumes), referring to the dis- 

 asters of Poland under King John Casimir ; 

 S. Kaczkowski's novel of the times of John 

 Sobieski ; P. Bykowski's " The Suitor of the 

 Chatelain's Daughter"; and W. Rapacki's 

 " The Sins of the King." In novels of man- 

 ners Madame E. Orreszko holds the first place. 

 Other writers in this line are also highly praised, 

 as A. Glowacki, in " The Sentry " ; J. Zacha- 

 ryasicwicz, in his series of stories entitled 

 " From Upper and Lower Ranks of Life " ; 

 Madame Ostoja in u Sketches and Pictures " ; 

 and M. Balucki, W. Sabowski, and T. Choinski, 

 in their tales and sketches. In lyric poetry 

 Rossowski's " Poems " have secured public ap- 

 proval. The able poetess, M. Bartns, who died 

 recently, is much lamented ; a collection of her 

 verses has been made and published under the 



title " The Spirit of the Ruins." History has 

 received fair attention, as is shown in " The 

 Diet of Four Years," by Kalinka; "The Saxon 

 Times," i. e., Poland under kings of the house 

 of Saxony ; the " Liber Diligentiarum " of the 

 University of Cracow, by W. Wislocki. Sev- 

 eral valuable works begun in former years in 

 this department are being continued by learned 

 editors and students. P. Chmielowski, well 

 known as an historian of literature, has pub- 

 lished " Sketches and Studies of Literature," in 

 five volumes ; and A. Belcikowski has brought 

 out his literary and aesthetic essays. 



Russia. During the present year, as was also 

 the casein 1885. Russian literature has suffered 

 much by the ravages of death among native 

 authors, such as Aksakov, Boutlerov, Ostrov- 

 ski, Kolomin, etc. The first named was the 

 leader of the old Philo-Slav party in Russia, 

 and was a poet of no little renown. His works 

 have been published in six volumes, containing 

 political articles, sketches of life and manners, 

 etc. Ostrovski, celebrated as a dramatist, did 

 good work for the national drama, in picturing 

 especially the manners and customs of the mer- 

 chant class. He was also a translator from the 

 Italian, Spanish, and English, in which difficult 

 work his success was marked. Count Leo 

 Tolstoi, the famous Russian novelist and man 

 of letters, has brought out a powerful story en- 

 titled " The Death of Ivan Ilyitch," together 

 with popular tales and sketches. He is also 

 doing good service to the cause of education, 

 in preparing popular reading-books, and the 

 like. The Russian satirist, Stchedrin, continues 

 his vocation ; besides a book of "Fables," he 

 has published a series of " Tales and Sketches," 

 which fully sustains his reputation. Korolenko 

 has brought out a new volume, containing sev- 

 eral tales, which prove his ability as a writer. 

 The year has been fruitful in novels, but the 

 great majority are mediocre and do not deserve 

 mention. History in its several departments 

 has received full attention during the year. 

 Martynov has published a good volume 

 " Gregory of Nyssa," and Plotinov has w< 

 set forth " The State of Heathen Beliefs at "'" 

 Time of the Appearance of Christianity.' 

 Smirnof also has given a sketch of the growl 

 of " The Christian Church," as relates to Ri 

 sia especially, and Koutepov has issued a 

 orous work " On the Heresy of the Skoptzi, 

 Godly People." The theological academi< 

 have been active, too, in the department 

 Church history. General history has receive 

 abundant care and attention from Russian st 

 dents and scholars, as is evident by the publ 

 cations of the " History of Russia," " Histor 

 of Protestantism in Russia," by Tzvitayev ; 

 " Russia's Role in the Seven Years' War," 

 Maslovski ; the " Memoirs " of the Rus 

 Historical Society, etc. Several good bo< 

 have appeared on ethnography, archaBolc 

 and numismatics. Prof. Tikhouravov has re- 

 produced the original text of Gogol's immortal 

 comedy, " The Revisor " ; a volume on Push- 



