LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1898. 



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Dovere sociale della Classe dominante " ; Mario 

 Morasso's "Domini e Idee del Domani L'Ego- 

 archia" (preaching individualism); Ggl. Ferrero's 

 " II Militarismo " ; and G. Mondaini's " La Ques- 

 tione dei Negri nella Storia e nella Societk nord- 

 americana." "Scelta di Prediche e Seritti di Fra 

 Girolamo Savonarola, con nuovi Docurnenti intorno 

 alia sua Vita," by P. Villari and E. Casanova (a 

 worthy commentary and supplement to Villari's 

 life of Savonarola), forms a fit commemoration of 

 the fourth centenary of Savonarola's martyrdom. 

 Adolfo Padovan's " Le Creature Sovrane " is a 

 'sort of natural history of the man of genius" 

 (" inadequate "). G. Negri's " Segni dei Tempi, Pro- 

 fili e Bozzetti letterari" and Aldo Maggioni's 

 " Edipo " belong to miscellany. The section "Lit- 

 erary history and criticism " is voluminous. We 

 note Luigi Rasi's " I Comici italiani " (complete 

 history of Italian dramatic art and artists) ; Luca 

 Beltrami's short biography of " Alessandro Man- 

 zoni " ; Ilario Rinieri's " Della Vita e delle Opere di 

 Silvio Pellico. Da Lettere e Documenti inediti " 

 (the documents more interesting than the editorial 

 work) ; and Egidio Gorra's " Lingua e Letteratura 

 spagnuola delle Origini." In Dante literature we 

 have Alfredo Nicefero's "Criminali e Degenerati 

 dell' Inferno Dantesco " (an " attempt to discover 

 anticipations of modern criminological theories in 

 Dante's ' Divina Commedia ' ") ; I. del Lungo's 

 " Dal Secolo e dal Poema di Dante " ; " La Divina 

 Commedia di Dante Alighieri, illustrata nei Luoghi 

 e nelle Persone," by Corrado Ricci (" the collection 

 of these pictures of persons and places ... is largely 

 original and photographic ") ; G. Cavaretta's " Vir- 

 gilio e Dante. Confronti critica tra 1'Eneide e la 

 Divina Commedia" ; G. Longo Manganaro's "Bruto 

 e Catone nella Divina Commedia " ; and " Seritti " 

 (Vol. I : Studi Danteschi. Vol. II : La Beatrice 

 svelata. Vol. Ill : Seritti rari), by F. Perez. The 

 Leopardi centenary was celebrated with great en- 

 thusiasm. New books dealing with the poet are 

 E. Celani's "Leopardi a Roma"; De Roberti's " Gia- 

 como Leopardi " and Giosue Carducci's " Degli 

 piriti e delle Forme nella Poesia di Giacomo Leo- 

 pardi," two valuable works ; Gi. Negri's " Divaga- 

 zioni Leopardiane " (Vol. IV) ; L. Perroni Grande's 

 "Giacomo Leopardi a Messina"; N. Vaccalluzo's 

 " Vittorio Alfieri e il Sentimento patriottico di Gia- 

 como Leopardi " ; E. Boghen-Conigliani's " La 

 Donna nella Vita e nelle Opere di Giacomo Leo- 

 pardi " ; and A. Faggi's " Lenau e Leopardi. Studio 

 psicologico-estetico." 



Among new novels are noted F. De Roberto's. 

 " Spasimo " (shows versatility and power, but not up 

 to his standard) and " Amori " and " Gli Amori," 

 psychological studies ; Girolamo Rovetta's ' L'ldo- 

 lo " (excellent characterization) ; Gabriele d'Annun- 

 zio's " II Fuoco " ; Enrico Rieta's " II Gusto d' am are : 

 Romanzo " ; Maddalena Cravenna Brigola's " Le 

 Vittorie di Clotilde : Romanzo sociale " ; Mario Pra- 

 tesi's " Le Perfidie del Caso " (a psychological study 

 , of great power) ; and Luigi Capuana's " La Sf inge " 

 (naturalism ; " flabby unwholesomeness"). The list 

 of poetry includes Antonio Fogazzaro's " Poesie 

 scelte " ; G. d'Annunzio's " I Sogni delle Stagioni. 

 Sogno d'un Tramonto d'Autunno. Poema tragico " 

 (a sensuous picture, presented with masterly magic 

 of style); "Versi postumi " of Domenico Stromei, 

 the " Italian Hans Sachs " ; " Vita " by Luisa Anzo- 

 letti (hitherto known chiefly as a profound writer 

 of philosophical and religious books) ; Angiolo Or- 

 vieto's graceful " Poesie " of love and melancholy ; 

 Anita Zappa's "Intime Sinfonie " ; Chiggiato Gio- 

 vanni's " Rime dolenti " ; Gustavo Pittaluga's " II 

 Canzoniere " ; Giuseppe Lipparini's " Lo Specchio 

 lelle Rose " ; Francesco Matteucci's " Atomi e Raggi, 

 1892-'95"; D. Gnoli's "Vecchie e nuove Odi 



tiberine"; and Flora d'Adria's "Versi." Finally, 

 a number of new plays are noted : Gabriele d'An- 

 nunzio's "La Ville Morte" (produced by Sarah 

 Bernhardt ; unpleasant subject ; high poetic quali- 

 ties; beauties and defects remove it far from the 

 sympathies of the general public); A. Paterno 

 Castello's "La Fine di Livia" (comedy); Dani 

 Gino's "Teresina" (drama); Franceso Pastouchi's 

 " Oltre 1'Umana Gioja: Favola in terza Rima"; 

 Celestino Calleri's "I due Caporali reduci dall' 

 Africa " ; Dante Bicchi's " Sulla Rotonda " (com- 

 edy) ; Ersilio Bicci's " Ena " (comedy) ; and Fran- 

 cesco dall' Ongaro's " II Fornaretto : Dramma 

 storico." 



Norway. A. Raider's " Keiser Hadrian " is called 

 the best historical book of the year. Other works 

 in the field are H. T. Aschehoug's excellent one on 

 Norwegian communal affairs ; some exhaustive 

 monographs on Trondhjem, published at its nine 

 hundredth anniversary ; and C. Hallendorff 's " Bid- 

 rag till det stora nordiska Kriget's Forhistoria." 

 In "Discovery and travel " we have two accounts of 

 the Nansen expedition by members of the same : 

 "Selv-Anden pa 86 14' " (much new material), by 

 Lieut. Hjalmar Johansen, Nansen's sole companion 

 after leaving the " Fram," and a work by the elec- 

 trician Bernhard Dordahl ; Knut Dahl's " Dyr og 

 Vildmaemd " (account of author's explorations in 

 South Africa and Australia) ; and J. Raabe's " trust- 

 worthy sketches from Germany, Austria, and Italy." 

 Ethnography is supplied in U. Sverdrup's '" Extracts 

 from the History of Iroquois Indians." There are 

 two interesting and scholarly works in philology 

 Amund B. Larsen's " Oversigt over de norske Byg- 

 demaal " and " Dansk-norsken's Lyd-Historie," by 

 Alf Torp and Hjalmar Falk. Church history is fur- 

 nished in A. C. Bang's ''Den norske Kirkes Geist- 

 lighed i Reformationsaarhundredet (1536-1600) " ; 

 and theological controversy in 0. C. Breda's Uni- 

 tarian manifesto "Ny Grand" and Axel Andersen's 

 " attack on the recognized theory " of " Nadveren." 

 " Reminiscences from the Life of L. Wolff '' (a tal- 

 ented actress) and Dietrichson's " Fra svunden Tid " 

 are noteworthy memoirs. Norwegian literature 

 in various phases is dealt with in Carl Nasrup's 

 useful " Skildringer og Stemninger fra den yngre 

 Litteratur " ; Arne Lochen's scholarly, exhaustive 

 account of the poet J. S. Welhaven ; F. Jonsson's 

 " Den oldnorske og oldislandske Litteraturs His- 

 torie" (3 vols., 1893-'97) ; and J. B. Halvorsen's 

 " Xorsk Forfatter-Lexikon " (in course of publica- 

 tion). Axel Arstal's essay " Between the Lines" is 

 " well-planned, but ill-written." 



In prose fiction there is nothing of high impor- 

 tance, but a number of works deserve mention : Peter 

 Egge's historical novel " Jomf ru Nelly Maartens " ; 

 T. P. Krag's lyrical " Ulf Ran " and " Tusmorke " ; 

 T. Madsen's sad " Under Kundskabens Tras " ; H. 

 S. Sasther's contemplative " Oves Breve " ; J. Tvedt's 

 " Hamskifte " (good sketch of peasant life) ; Ivar 

 Saeter's short story " Ideelle Krav " (psychological) ; 

 K. Viller's detective story " Karl Monk's Oplevel- 

 ser"; and P. Rosenkrantz Johnsen's " Dobbelt- 

 Konsulen " (society novel). Johan Bojer's " Paa 

 Kirkevei " (fairy tales) and the charming stories for 

 small boys by Hans Aanrud and Bernt Lie were 

 highly appreciated. Poetry to be mentioned is con- 

 tained in Vilhelm Krag's volume of pretty poems, 

 and J. H. Bull's very popular patriotic songs. M. 

 J. Monrad's " Efterladte Digte have appeared. In 

 dramatic literature there are noted, as of distinct 

 merit and individuality, Jonas Lie's masterly fairy 

 play " Lindelin " (his first dramatic success) ; K. 

 Hamsun's "Aftenrode" (marked, like the two first 

 parts of the trilogy, by " biting censure on feminine 

 love-making ") ; Peter Egge's touching little play 

 " Godfather's Gift " (a. " Dickens-like portrayal of 



