398 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1898. 



Barres (first of a series offering a psychological 

 study of France since 1870 ; surcharged with details, 

 but a serious work by a reflective spirit) ; Marcel 

 Prevost's "Trois No'uvelles" (three stories; his 

 best); "La Femme et le Pantin. Roman espagnol," 

 by Pierre Louys, a stylist of extraordinary virtuos- 

 ity (style delicate, even "chaste"; not exactly^for 



" Le Secret du blesseY' by P. Sales ; J. H. Rosny's 

 " Un autre Monde " and " Les Retours du Coeur " 

 (charming, sentimental) ; P. MafeTs " La Roche-qui- 

 tue" and "Marc et Lucienne"; E. Daudet's " La 

 M . mgautier. Roman des Temps revolutionnaires " ; 

 Michel Corday's "Confessions d'un Enfant du 

 Si.-ge''; Maindron's "Saint Cendre"; "Cceurs en 

 D6tresse," delicate impressions by Gabriel -Mourey ; 

 " Le Roi de Paris " and " Vieilles Rancunes," by G. 

 Ohnet, " the E. P. Roe of France " ; Marcelle Ti- 

 nayre's" La Rancon " (delicately feminine) ; Charles 

 le Goffic's " Morgane " (" written for young girls ") 

 and "La Payse"; Andre Lichtenberger's "Mon 

 petit Trott " (a fine, searching study of the child 

 soul) ; Gyp's usual batch, including " Journal d'un 

 t Grinchu (on the Dreyfus affair, etc.); and new 

 l>ooks by R. Maizeroy, Richard O'Monroy, M. 

 Montegut, and E. Delpit. New poetry by the young 

 men includes the Vte. de Guerne's " Les Siecles 

 morts " and " Bois saore " ; Henri de Regnier's 

 " Jeux rustiques et divins " ; Samain's " Au Jardin 

 de 1'Infante ("insinuating and winning charm ") ; 

 Francis Vield-Griffin's "La Clarte de Vie" (does 

 some violence to prosody) ; Henri Ronger's " Poeines 

 fabuleux" (rather rhetorical); Georges Druilhet's 

 " Le Temps des Lilas " (pleasant, not very original) ; 

 Jean Richepin's " Les Caresses " ; and Marcel 

 Rouffs " Les Hautaines " (shows faults as well as 

 talent). A number of notable plays have been pro- 

 duced : Francois de Curel's " Repas du Lion" (deals 

 with the labor problem in an " intrepid, ingenious, 

 if slightly incoherent manner"; eloquent passages, 

 but not well carried out) ; Octave Mirbeau's " Les 

 inauvais Bergers " (also a " labor-and-capital " play, 

 not free from sensationalism ; generous feeling, but 

 want of moderation) ; Jules Lemaitre's " L'Ainee " 

 (scene laid in French Protestant circles; firm, 

 supple, and delicate style); E. Rostand's trium- 

 phantly successful " Cyrano de Bergerac " (romantic 

 drama, generally and enthusiastically praised for 

 its beautiful language and exquisite sentiments ; 

 some critics not so eulogistic, one speaking of 

 " banal but graceful rhymes " ; exceedingly skillful 

 construction conceded by all); Dubout's "Frede- 

 gonde " (pseudo-classic tragedy) ; Richepin's " Mar- 

 tyre" ("melodrama of the false romantic sort") and 

 " Ije Filibustier " (comedy) ; and Haraucourt's " Don 

 Juan de Manara" (brilliant verse, weak character- 

 ization) and Georges de Porto- Riche's " Le Passe " 

 (bold, penetrating, and unpleasant observation), 

 both ardently sensual. Further dramatic produc- 

 tions are Sardou's " Pamela" (a dramatized anec- 

 dote of the Revolution, "an historic vaudeville"; 

 ingenious, superficial); "Medea," by Catulle Mendes, 

 written for fc>arah Bernhardt; " Le trois Filles de 

 M. Dupont," comedy by Brieux (not entirely co- 



action is only vaudeville, the characters are comedy, 

 and the dialogue is " infiniment spirituel"), and 

 "Rosine" (successful) by Alfred Capus; Leclerq 

 and Bisson's " Jalouse " ; Abel Hermant's " Trans- 

 atlantiques " (deals with life of American million- 

 aires on the Continent ; delicate wit and fancy; 

 strong dash of farce) ; Henri Lavedan's comedies 

 'Catherine " (sentimental) and " Le nouveau Jeu"; 



Pierre Veber's " Julien n'est pas ingrat " (a divert- 

 ing sainete); " L'Affranehie," comedy by Maurice 

 Donnay (naturalness of dialogue) ; Pierre Wolf's 

 " Le Boulet " (sharp observation, spirited dialogue) ; 

 " Lysiane," by Remain Coolus (produced by Sarali 

 Bernhardt; "vital energy, mediocre ") ; Ambroise 

 Janvier's rather farcical comedy " Mon Enfant "' ; 

 Louis Bouilhet's " Melcenis " (curious, lifelike 

 picture of Roman customs) ; D. Valabrcgue's one- 

 act comedy " Le quatorzieme Convive " ; and 

 " L'Enfant du Man," comedy by Mme. Jane 

 Meyerheim and Serge Rello (produced at the 

 Theatre Feministe, established for women play- 

 wrights). 



New Provencal publications are "La Terreur" 

 (rich color, swift action) by Felix Gras and 

 Alphonse Tavan's play " Li Mase " (remarkable 

 local success). Some critics have noted a growing 

 influence of the Province as a subject of and a 

 force in French literature, and ask : " Is French 

 literature becoming decentralized ? Is Paris losing 

 its commanding pre-eminence ? " 



Germany. Noteworthy contributions to na- 

 tional history are Hermann Grimm's " Neue Bei- 

 trage zur Culturgeschichte " ; F. Zarncke's " Auf- 

 satze und Reden zur Kultur- und Zeitgeschichte " 

 (" Klein e Schriften," Bd. II); Elard Hugo Meyer's 

 " Deutsche Volkskunde " (dealing particularly with 

 the life of the peasantry) ; Friedrich von Keussler's 

 " Der Ausgang der ersten russischen Herrschaft 

 in den gegenwartigen Ostseeprovinzen im XIII. 

 Jahrhundert " ; E. K. Daenell's noteworthy " Ge- 

 schichte der deutschen Hanse in der zweiten 

 Halfte des 14. Jahrhunderts " ; " Aus des Grossen 

 Kurfiirsten letzten Jahren. Zur Geschichte seines 

 Hauses und Hofes, seiner Regierung und Politik," 

 by Hans Prutz ; the late Max Lossen's excellent and 

 thorough " Der Kolnische Krieg," Vol. II (Vol. I, 

 1883) ; Gust. Heinr. Schneider's " Die Burschen- 

 schaf t Germania zu Jena. Eine Festschrift " ; Js. 

 Emmer's " Kaiser Franz Joseph I. 50 Jahre oster- 

 reichischer Geschichte, Jubilaums-Ausgabe," Vol. 

 I, 1848-'59; Ernst Victor Zenker's "Die Wiener 

 Revolution 1848 in ihren sozialen Voraussetzungen 

 und Beziehungen " ; Hs. Blum's Die deutsche 

 Revolution, 1818-'49"; Stephan Bern's "Erin- 

 nerungen eines Achtundvierzigers " ; Prinz Kraft 

 zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen's " Aus meinem Leben," 

 Vol. I, 1848-'56 (important) ; Theodor Fontane's 

 charmingly personal " Von zwanzig bis dreissig. 

 Autobiographisches " ; K. Jansen's " Schleswig- 

 Holstein's Befreiungskampf " ("a belated protest 

 against the incorporation of the duchies into the 

 Prussian monarchy"), completed by K. Samwer; 

 " Feldzugsbriefe des Generals der Kavallcrie 

 Graf Wartensleben-Carow. im deutsch-franzo- 

 sischen Kriege vom 1870 " ; and G. W. Buex- 

 enstein's " Unser Kaiser. Zehn Jahre der Regie- 

 rung Wilhelms II. 1888-'98." New Bismarck lit- 

 erature includes the prince's own long-expected 

 memoirs, "Gedanken und Erinnerungen " (intro- 

 duction and notes by Ilorst Kohl) ; Moritz Busch's 

 " Bismarck und sein Wcrk. Beitriige zur inneren 

 Geschichte der letzten Jahre bis 1896 " (of no great 

 historical importance : met with a storm of adverse 

 criticism; admitted by many to be a faithful, 

 frank portrayal of Bismarck : some new truths, 

 diminishing halo of William I) ; H. v. Posching- 

 er's " Filrst Bismarck und der Bundesrat " 

 (Vol. IV, 1878-'81) ; Js. Penzler's " FHrst Bismarck 

 nach seiner Entlassung," 6 vols. (1897-'98) ; etc. 

 In our 1895 report a list of works, mostly serial pub- 

 lications, on local history was given ; this is here 

 supplemented by the following titles, entered with- 

 out comment: "Badische Bibliothek. Systematische 

 Zusammenstellung selbstandiger Druckschrifton 

 fiber die Markgrafschaften, das Kurfurstenthum 



