LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1886. 



kin, entitled " Pushkin iana," has been brought 

 out by Mejov ; and Prof. Miller, of St. Peters- 

 burg, has considered with much care " Russian 

 Writers after Gogol," including Pissewski, 

 Stchedrin, and Leo Tolstoi. Karjeev's " Lit- 

 erary Evolution in the West," and Vesselov- 

 ski's " History of the Romance and Novel," de- 

 serve mention here. Philosophy and ethics are 

 duly attended to in " The Philosophical Quar- 

 terly," and in a number of volumes that have 

 appeared during the year. Two volumes may 

 be named, Lopatin's " Positive Problems of 

 Philosophy," and Prof. Grot's "The Soul in 

 Connection with Contemporary Knowledge of 

 Force." In social science we have Prof. Kova- 

 levski's " Contemporary Custom and Ancient 

 Law," and his work on " Primitive Law." 

 The latter discusses questions of no less inter- 

 est than importance. Gradovski's " Constitu- 

 tional Laws of European States " is well adapt- 

 ed for popular use. In finance and statistics 

 two volumes have been published, entitled a 

 44 Historico-Statistical Review of the Industry 

 of Russia," giving a full account of the agricult- 

 ural and manufacturing industries of the em- 

 pire. In fiscal law a number of valuable works 

 have appeared, which we have not room to 

 name here. On universal history works have 

 been abundant, specially Bauer's ''Lectures on 

 Modern History in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth 

 Centuries," Osokin's "The Political Move- 

 ments in Europe in the Nineteenth Century," 

 and Vinogradov's " Researches into the Social 

 History of England during the Middle Ages." 

 Much attention also has been given to transla- 

 tions into Russian from English, French, and 

 German authors, such as Gibbon, Dickens, Her- 

 bert Spencer. Victor Hugo, Rochefoucauld, 

 Goethe, and Heine. 



Spain. Much activity has been displayed in 

 literature in 1886, and the promise for the fu- 

 ture is very encouraging. The academies and 

 other learned bodies have been very diligent in 

 cultivating the field of national history, and 

 their publications are of first importance, espe- 

 cially those of the Royal Academy of History. 

 Private individuals, too, have labored in the 

 same department. This is shown by works on 

 the Inquisition, the reign of Philip IV (1621- 

 1626, and later years), the cities and towns of 

 Spain, the traditions, archives, etc. Several 

 manuals of topographical history have ap- 

 peared, which may serve, it is suggested, as 

 guide-books. In biography little has been ac- 

 complished ; yet, Alfonso's " Life of Muril- 

 lo" deserves mention. The Royal Academy's 

 " Dictionary of the Spanish Language " has met 

 with some sharp criticism, and various essays 

 on both the language and the dialects of the 

 kingdom have appeared. These latter call 

 forth much talent and devotion on the part of 

 students in this interesting line of research. 

 Poetry, novels, and light literature in general, 

 are on the increase in Spain. Campoamor has 

 published seven poems, lyric or dramatic 

 Nunez de Arce one, Palacio one, and Zorilla 



one. New editions of Alarcon, Valera, Guer- 

 rero, and others have been issued, and the 

 names of Villanova, Valcarcels, Alvear, Sala, 

 etc., are added to the list of new poets in search 

 of fame and right appreciation. Fiction is 

 abundant in the way of folk-lore, translations 

 from other languages, and original contribu- 

 tions. Among these may be named " Los Pa- 

 ros de Ulloa," by a lady, E. P. Bazan ; " Espe- 

 ranza y Caridad," by P. Nieva ; " Maria," by 

 Turena ; " Luisa Minerva," by J. R. Melida ; 

 and "Mio Devociones, Notas Intimas de Ma- 

 drid y Paris," by Blasco. Societies and print- 

 ing-clubs are actively engaged in bringing out 

 of their hiding-places and putting into print 

 various and valuable manuscripts, tracts, pa- 

 pers, etc. The " Autores Espanoles " is an 

 interesting and handy collection of old and 

 modern standard works, of which six volumes 

 have been issued during the year, and well re- 

 ceived by the reading public. The political 

 sciences, including popular education, civil 

 rights, government, freedom of the press, etc., 

 are being largely studied, and several volumes 

 on these topics have appeared. In the physi- 

 cal and natural sciences some progress has been 

 made, and some good volumes on geology, 

 botany, mineralogy, etc., have been published. 

 The Cervantes literature has been allowed to 

 rest in peace this year. 



Sweden. In literature, Sweden has suffered 

 during 1886 from obvious depression, arising 

 apparently out of important and delicate ques- 

 tions being brought into debate. Mrs. A. C. 

 Edgren has written " A Summer Tale," touch- 

 ing sharply upon unsettled questions of the re- 

 lations of husband and wife; and Strindberg, 

 the representative of the Zola carnalistic school 

 in Sweden, has said some bitter and mean 

 things about women in his last novel, " The 

 Son of the Servant." Poetry received but 

 scant attention this year, and has no record 

 worth presenting. Victor Rydberg's "Inves- 

 tigations in Germanic Mythology " is perhaps 

 the most important work of the year, as pro- 

 ceeding from Sweden's ablest writer, and 

 marked by skill and ability of high order. F. 

 F. Carlson has brought out a new volume of 

 his " History of Charles XII of Sweden." To 

 K. G. Grandinson we owe " Studies in the 

 Hanseatic Swedish History " ; to A. Nystrom 

 the beginning of a " General History of Cult- 

 ure " ; to B. Meyer the completion of his "Lit- 

 erary Lexicon " ; and to O. Sjogren a continu- 

 ation of his labors on a " History of Antiquity." 

 T. Ekelund has published "Literary Silhou- 

 ettes," and J. Sundblad a selection from the 

 correspondence of Archbishop Lindblow, at the 

 end of the last century, entitled " Among Cro- 

 siers and Mitres." Two more volumes have 

 been added by A. Ahnfelt to the " Recollec- 

 tions of Foreign Diplomatists in Stockholm." 

 Biography has been enriched by a " Life of a 

 Swedish Musical Composer, J. A. Josephson," 

 and by P. T. Cleve's notes on Wilhelm Scheele, 

 the celebrated Swedish chemist. In art has 



