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LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL. 



portrait sketches of celebrities of the hour in Paris 

 have been collected under the title " Figures de 

 Cire," while Emile Page has revived the past in 

 his " Portraits du Vieux Temps," a series of able 

 essays on forgotten literary celebrities ; and Paul 

 Bourget, well known through his studies in psy- 

 chology, has issued another series of pastelles, 

 bitter sketches of certain literary characters. In 

 the field of literary history and criticism there 

 are De Varigny's historical sketches on the ori- 

 gin of journalism in America and " Enquete 

 sur 1'Evolution Litteraire," by Jules Huret, who 

 interviewed prominent authors on the present 

 state of literature in France. Lemercier de Neu- 

 ville has prepared a full " Histoire Anecdotique 

 des Marionettes Modernes," in which he chroni- 

 cles the history of a form of amusement which 

 has enjoyed general popularity and has enlisted 

 the services of various writers of note. The 

 literature of art has likewise been enriched 

 by various new works. Arsene Alexandre has 

 w'ritten a " Histoire de 1'Art Decoratif " and 

 " L'Art du Rire et de la Caricature " ; Lefort, 

 a volume of clever papers on " Murillo et 

 ses Sieves"; Maxime Collignon, a "Histoire 

 de la Sculpture Grecque " ; and Armand Dayot, 

 H. Beraldi, and others have used the pages of 

 the " Revue Nocturne " for reviving in detail the 

 memory of Raffet, whose admirers have pro- 

 posed the erection of a monument to his mem- 

 ory. Vol. I of " La France Artistique et Monu- 

 mentale," by Henry Havard, has appeared, and 

 in the set of " Artistes Celebres," published in the 

 collection " Bibliotheque d'Art," Fragonard is 

 treated by Felix Naquet, Abraham Bosse by 

 Antony Valabregue, Watteau by Dargenty, and 

 Corot by Roger Miles. ^Esthetic considerations 

 have no doubt influenced also " Japon Pratique," 

 in which the artist Felix Regamey enlightens 

 us in regard to disillusioning accounts by badly 

 informed and unobserving writers. His admi- 

 ration for Japan is shared by Edmond de Gon- 

 court, who has in hand a series of studies on 

 that land of enchantment. Andre Chevillon's 

 " Dans 1'Inde " is described as a contribution to 

 the literature of Buddhism, which seems to have 

 come into favor in France; Paul Bourget, in 

 " Sensations d'ltalie " (impressions of a journey), 

 evokes the art life of the Italy of the past with 

 most exquisite delicacy of feeling ; and Georges 

 Rodenbach's " Bruges-la-Morte," though ostensi- 

 bly a " romance," is of paramount interest in its 

 masterly description of the quaint old town. A. 

 Robida writes of old "Touraine"; "Diverses 

 Curiosites " is the last work of the late X. Mar- 

 mier ; Armand Sylvestre has given us a volume 

 of delightful impressions of a trip to Russia ; 

 " En Wherry," anonymous, is an account of the 

 Norfolk " Broads " ; and Africa forms the theme 

 of Vigne d'Octon's " Au Pays des Fetiches " (an 

 interesting account of explorations in the Sou- 

 dan), Chaudoin's " Trois Mois de Captivite au 

 Dahomey," and " A la Cpnquete du Tchad," in 

 which Harry Alis describes the work of Paul 

 Crampel, and which was published just as the 

 news of the young explorer's tragic end reached 

 France. Ernest Renan, who died during the 

 year, published his " Feuilles detachees," with 

 an interesting preface, as charmingly vague 

 and beguilingly contradictory as ever. Edouard 

 Rod has reprinted a number of essays, from 



various periodicals, under the title " Idees Mo- 

 rales du Temps Present " (dealing chiefly with 

 literary schools) ; Leon Daudet discusses the 

 human passions and death with much ingenious- 

 ness and subtlety of definition in his " Germe et 

 Poussiere " ; and Charles Richet, in " Dans cent 

 Ans," gives us one of those visions into the fu- 

 ture now so much in vogue. Maurice Barres 

 (who has published also " L'Ennemi des Lois," 

 a fantaisaie socialiste) explains his worship of 

 the " ego " by the aid of subtle distinctions and 

 cleverly stated propositions in new works such 

 as " Toute Licence sauf centre 1'Amour" and 

 " Examen de Trois Ideologies." 



A large number of successful novels have 

 seen the light. Such are " Ukko' Till," by 

 Rodolphe Darzens ; Jean Rameau's touching 

 " Simple " ; Louis de Gramont's amusing " Loca- 

 taire de Madame Brou " ; " La Femme Enfant," 

 by Catulle Mendes ; Aurelien ScholPs " L' Amour 

 appris sans Maitre " ; three psychological novels 

 by Abel Hermant : " Serge," " Ermeline," and 

 " L'Amant Erotique " ; " Faux Depart," by Alfred 

 Capus ; Jean Reibrach's " La Gamelle '' (military 

 stories) ; " Le Cuirassier Blanc " and " Sur le 

 Retour," by Paul Margueritte ; a powerful book 

 by Alexandre Hepp, " Le Lait d'un Autre " ; and 

 " Les vrais Riches," by Francois Coppee. Alphonse 

 Daudet's " Rose et Ninette " is a sad and painful 

 story concerned with the disposition made of 

 children in a case of divorce. Lieut. Pierre 

 Loti's " Le Livre de la Pitie et de la Mort " 

 was published just before his election to the 

 Academy ; his " Fantome d'Orient " appeared 

 after that event. The latter is the story of his 

 pilgrimage to the place where Aziyade, the 

 Turkish maiden, lies buried ; it contains many 

 sad and touching passages, but the author has 

 been accused by some of parading his sentiments 

 rather obtrusively. Andre Theuriet is a most pro- 

 lific novelist, although the effect of haste is said 

 to be apparent in some of his work, like the " Mari 

 de Jacqueline." More successful is his " Made- 

 moiselle Roche." the scene of which delight- 

 ful pastoral is laid in the land of the Savoyards, 

 which people long ago expressed their gratitude 

 to the author for his exquisite descriptions which 

 have attracted so much attention to their beauti- 

 ful country. Ferdinand Fabre is, as always, 

 fine in his descriptions of life in the Cevennes 

 in "Sylviane"; Jules Claretie has published 

 " L'Americaine," a sentimental novel; Henri 

 Lavedan (Manchecourt) describes the extrava- 

 gances of the Jin de sieeh Parisian in his " Nou- 

 veau Jeu." Edouard Rod has gone over from 

 naturalism to mysticism in his " Sacrifice " ; 

 Armand Sylvestre's fanciful romance " Floreal " 

 furnishes a picturesque reconstruction of society 

 under the Directoire ; the late Xavier Marmier's 

 " Les Contes des Grand'meres " is a collection of 

 northern popular tales ; and J. H. Rosny shows 

 a thorough knowledge of archaeology in his 

 " Vamirch." which takes us back to the troglo- 

 dytes ; and Madame Jane Dieulafoy, who had 

 been led by a similar enthusiasm for ancient 

 times to the production of " Parysatis," now 

 comes down to the time of the republic in her 

 "Volontaire." Emile Zola's "Debacle," that 

 graphic description of the deteriorated and de- 

 moralized army at Sedan, seems to have excited 

 even more than the usual stir which his works 



