454 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1899. 



Denes Sztiry's Dramatic Impressions deals with 

 Shakespeare, Sardou, Dumas, Duse, etc.; and Al- 

 bert Popipi's study of Byron and Shelley is criti- 

 cised as readable but inadequate. There is not 

 much fiction of special excellence to record. F. 

 Herczeg's Story of a Girl shows his usual char- 

 acteristics taste, a smooth style, sarcasm, and 

 good though not thorough characterization; S. 

 Brody's The Silver Goat is praised as his ripest 

 production and one of the best novels of recent 

 years: the author here, we are told, abandons 

 naturalism for realism, and offers a richly colored 

 description of contemporary life in Buda-Pesth. 

 I. Szomahazy's Uneven Wednesdays is a pro- 

 pitious debut in novel writing, and A. Berczik's 

 short stories. Autumn Hunting, are as gay, ob- 

 servant, amiable, clever, and amusing as his 

 comedies. There are three poetical productions 

 of note: Verses (mild melancholy; subdued col- 

 ors), by Dezso Ambrozovics; A. Rado's Songs 

 and Stories ("gentle moods," quiet content, 

 warmth with a touch of sarcasm) ; and E. Makai's 

 Recent Poems (" deep sentiment and elegant 

 versification "). Among the plays of the year is 

 noted especially A. Berczik's Himfy's Songs, a 

 " charming literary comedy of the best type," the 

 hero of which is S. Kisfaludy, the noted author 

 of the " songs " which give the play its name. 

 F. Herczeg's comedy, dramatized from his novel 

 The Daughters of Gyurkovics, was well received; 

 his drama The First Storm is said to lack depth. 

 Jokai's historical dramas Black Blood and Le- 

 vente, though romantic and patriotic, were un- 

 successful, ''probably because Jokai's genre, 

 despite his enormous personal popularity, is 

 deemed to be a trifle out of date." 



Italy. Various periods and phases of national 

 history form the themes of Da Bonifazio VIII ad 

 Arrigo VII (a dramatic account of Florentine 

 history), by Prof, del Lungo; A. Gherardi's in- 

 teresting Consulte della Repubblica Fiorentina 

 ("scientific method and exemplary diligence");- 

 Niccolo Rodolico's Dal Comune alia Signoria: 

 Saggia sul Governo di Taddeo Pepoli in Bologna 

 (1898); Lucio Fiorentini's Le dieci Giornate di 

 Brescia del 1849 (accurate; fills in some lacunae) ; 

 Ant. Ugoletti's Brescia nella Rivoluzione del 1848- 

 '49; E. Bottini Massa's La Sicilia nel 1848; A. 

 Maurici's L'Indipendenza siciliana e la Poesia 

 patriottica dell' Isola dal 1820 al 1848 (1898); 

 Bibliografia storica delle Cinque Giornate e degli 

 Avvenimenti politico-militari in Lombardia nel 

 1848, by Antonio Vismara (1898) ; F. Bertolini's 

 Storia del Risorgimento italiano; N. Colajanni's 

 L'ltalia nel 1898: Tumulti e Reazione (1898); 

 and the lectures on La Vita Italiana, which have 

 been delivered in Florence during the last decade 

 by the most famous authors of the country 

 Carducci, Villari, Serao, del Lungo, Rovetta, and 

 many others. Among historical and descriptive 

 works on other lands are A. Lumbroso's Miscel- 

 lanea Napoleonica (serie 5, 1898) ; La Camicia 

 rossa nella guerra greco-turca del 1897, with 

 preface by Ricciotti Garibaldi (curious and in- 

 teresting account of the Italian expedition) ; Fra 

 Turchi e Arabi, by Sandro (pseudonym), an ani- 

 mated and faithful picture; In Terra Santa, by 

 A. de Gubernatis; G. Fano's II Viaggio d'un 

 Fisiologo intorno al Mondo ; Mario Borsa's Verso 

 il Sole di Mezzanotte; L'Omo Seconda Spedizione 

 Bottego: Viaggio di Esplorazione nelP Africa ori- 

 entale, by L. Vannutelli and C. Citerni ("/com- 

 plete account of an exploration which constitutes 

 a glory for our country," says an Italian critic) ; 

 and Ugo Ojetti's L'America vittoriosa (descrip- 

 tion of the United States, with the story of the 

 late war). Pt. Bertolino considers II Governo 



locale inglese e le sue Relazioni con la Vita na- 

 zionale. Of monographs on individuals we have 

 Enrico Zanoni's Carlo Cattaneo nella Vita e nelle 

 Opere (1898); Giacomo Dina e 1'Opera sua (Vol. 

 I.I), edited by L. Chiala; and E. Masi's abridgment 

 of the curious memoirs of Ferdinando Ranalli, a 

 linguistic purist. There have been many commem- 

 orations in recent years: Vespucci, Paolo Tosca- 

 nelli, Savonarola. Leopardi, Moretto da Brescia, and 

 Bernini have been thus honored in celebrations, 

 with the usual attendant stream of orations and 

 biographical and critical monographs. Here, as 

 in the congratulatory offerings published on the 

 occasion of weddings, the usual poetry of former 

 days has been superseded to a great extent by 

 learned monographs, which frequently show a 

 pedantic and tiresome erudition without a touch 

 of genius. The noteworthy products of these 

 celebrations include for 1898-'99: For Vespucci, 

 an edition de luxe of A. M. Bandini's Life of 

 Amerigo Vespucci, with notes and additions by 

 G. L T zielli; for Savonarola, the Cronaca of Filipepi, 

 the brother of Alessandro Botticelli, an impor- 

 tant document; for Leopardi, the Pensieri inediti 

 di G. Leopardi (Vols. I-III; show "the whole 

 development of the poet's mind," the " raw mate- 

 rial " of his work; of "inestimable value"), Fr. 

 Ridella's Una Sventura postuma di Giacomo 

 Leopardi, P. Puglisi's Giacomo Leopardi (a psy- 

 chological study; tends to lessen Leopardi's philo- 

 logical fame), a large part of M. L. Patrizi's Nell' 

 Estetica e nella Scienza, orations by G. Mestica 

 and A. d'Ancona, and V. Spezioli's Guide to 

 Recanati; and for Moretto da Brescia, a good 

 monograph on the artist by P. Molmenti. Study 

 and republication of old authors goes on, as wit- 

 ness Le Rime di Francesco Petrarca, . . . com- 

 mentate da G. Carducci e S. Ferrari (the result 

 of thirty years' study by Carducci) ; G. Lisio's 

 edition of Machiavelli's Principe; E. Solmi's se- 

 lection from Lionardo's prose writings; a fine 

 edition of the Promessi Sposi, illustrated by Pre- 

 viati. Dante literature has been increased by 

 Con Dante e per Dante: Discorsi a Conferenze 

 tenute a Cura del Comitato Milanese della Societa 

 Dantesca Italiana (1898); Vol. IV of Codice 

 diplomatic Dpntesco, by G. L. Passerini; and G. 

 Biagi's and Pio Rajna's masterly edition of the 

 De Vulgari Eloquentia (won the philological 

 prize of the Accademia dei Lincei). The Floren- 

 tine committee of the Societa Dantesca Italiana 

 has revived the* reading and commentating of the 

 Divine Comedy, originally begun by Boccaccio (it 

 appears that public readings and lectures are 

 increasing in favor as media for the dissemina- 

 tion of culture). There are also such serials as 

 the Biblioteca Storico-critica della Letteratura 

 Dantesca (directed by G. L. Passerini and L. 

 Papa), Passerini's Giornale Dantesco, and the 

 excellent Bullettino della Societa Dantesca Itali- 

 ana, edited by Barbi. Good minor studies of 

 various phases in literature appear in the Biblio- 

 teca critica della Letteratura italiana (directed 

 by F. Torraca), the Giornale storico della Lettera- 

 tura italiana (edited by F. Novati and R. Renier), 

 the familiar Archivio storico italiano, and nu- 

 merous other historical reviews. Other works on 

 literary topics are F. Squillace's Le Tendenze pre- 

 senti della Letteratura italiana (" scien tin 1 co-lit- 

 erary criticism " ; physiological and psychological 

 aspects well considered) ; Arturo Graf's Foscolo, 

 Manzoni, Leopardi, Saggi, aggiuntovi Preraffael- 

 liti, Simbolisti ed Esteti e Letteratura dell' Av- 

 venire (1898; essays; sympathetic, appreciative); 

 Gerardo Hauptmann e 1'Opera sua letteraria, by 

 Ces. de Lollis; Giulio Pisa's fine Studi letterari 

 of Leonardo da Vinci, Stendhal, Whitman, Dide- 



