LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1877. 



447 



literary productions of the past year and in 

 the field of fiction, as far as I know, the most 

 considerable ia a remarkable book, entitled 

 "Fru Marie Grubbe." Its author, J. P. Ja- 

 cobsen, is a young man, originally a naturalist, 

 who has done service in that department of 

 knowledge, among other things, by translating 

 a couple of Mr. Darwin's chief works into Dan- 

 ish. In his novel he, with poetical freedom, 

 treats the life of Marie Grubbe, a Danish noble- 

 woman of the 17th century, whose fate carried 

 her through almost all classes of society, from 

 the most refined circles of the court to the 

 rudest sections -of the common people. Taking 

 this lady for his chief character, Jacobsen, in a 

 great variety of scenes, has presented a series 

 of wonderfully striking pictures of high and 

 low life in the 17th century. Executed with 

 great poetical fancy, they are based upon a 

 deep study of the whole manner of living and 

 thinking in that age; thus all the conversa- 

 tions in the book are conducted in what is a 

 true imitation of the language and style of the 

 time. We this year have had " The Prisoner 

 inKall6,"by Carit Etlar; " Himmelbjerget," 

 by S. Bauditz ; a small novel, " Pictures from 

 a Manor-House," not without talent, by a new 

 pseudonymous author, Henrik Herholdt; "A 

 Free Man," by Holm-Hansen; "Rich Days," 

 by Johanne Schjorring. 



In the field of literary criticism and history, 

 I must mention that our eminent critic, Georg 

 Brandes, has made a volume, entitled "Danish 

 Poets," out of some essays, already in part pub- 

 lished, of much value about four of our consid- 

 erable poets. He besides has written a book 

 on our great religious thinker, the wonderfully 

 gifted genius, Soren Kierkegaard. 



Our literature of personal history and me- 

 moirs has also increased in the past year. Bille 

 and N. Bogh have edited a collection of letters 

 written to the poet H. C. Andersen (the con- 

 tinuation of whose self-told life has been edited 

 by J. Collin). Many of the letters in this col- 

 lection are from Andersen's maternal friend, 

 Fru Signe Leessoe, whose life has been de- 

 scribed by N. Bogh in a book lately published. 



FRAXCE. The political phylloxera that goes 

 by the name of the Crisis has raged in Paris 

 and all the departments without exception, 

 from the 16th of May till the 13th of Decem- 

 ber. For more than seven months not a book- 

 seller has dared to undertake a publication of 

 any importance. MM. Hachette have contin- 

 ued without a break, if not without anxiety, 

 the large and beautiful works which have made 

 their reputation European. The supplement 

 to the " Dictionnaire de la Langue Francaise " 

 of Littr6 is approaching its end. It will have 

 the importance of a fifth volume. The " Dic- 

 tionnaire d'Archeologie" of MM. Daremberg 

 and Saglio, the " Dictionnaire de Botanique " 

 of M. H. Baillon, advance slowly, but they 

 have not been stopped. The "Dictionnairo 

 Universel des Literatures " of M. Vapereau is 

 quite finished. It is full of precise information, 



well put together, marvelously arranged. M. 

 Elisee Reclus has completed the third volume 

 of his "Geographie Universelle." It is a large 

 octavo of some thousand pages, illustrated by 

 maps and drawings of an absolute exactness. 

 It embraces Central Europe. Madame Conrad 

 de Witt, the worthy daughter of Guizot, has 

 given to our children the second and last vol- 

 ume of his " Histoire d'Angleterre," which 

 ends with the accession of Queen Victoria. 

 The outrages de grand hixe those books which 

 the provincial booksellers feared they would 

 never sell, and which they are selling after all 

 are the splendid edition of the " Ciel " of M. 

 Guillemin, a manual of astronomy that anybody 

 can understand; the "Bords de 1'Adriatique 

 et le Montenegro," by M. Charles Yrinrte, a 

 handsome quarto, which, by its shape and deco- 

 rations, recalls the "Italic" of M. Gourdault 

 or the " Rome " of Francis Wey ; the " Vie 

 Vegetale," a handsome octavo of M. Emery; 

 pictures and scenes from the "Vie des Ani- 

 maux," by M. Lesbazeilles, in quarto, richly 

 illustrated; and, finally, two splendid folios, 

 containing Goethe's " Faust," translated by M. 

 Porchat, and the " Histoire de Joseph," print- 

 ed with the same type as the celebrated edition 

 of the Gospels, and illustrated even more brill- 

 iantly, if that be possible, with the etchings 

 and wood engravings of M. Bida. 



MM. Hetzel, father and son, have known 

 how to attach to themselves, by ties stronger 

 than those of interest, a certain number of 

 writers justly esteemed, and of whom the most 

 widely read is M. Jules Verne. This lucky 

 popularizer, after having rushed through the 

 deserts of Siberia in company with "Michel 

 Strogoff," has launched himself, perhaps im- 

 prudently, in the planetary world. His new 

 tale, "Hector Servadac," is more strange than 

 interesting, and I doubt if it will teach any- 

 thing to its young readers. M. Jules Verne has, 

 if I mistake not, arrived at the limit of useful 

 popularizations. M. Lucien Biart, a traveler, 

 scholar, and man of letters such as France can 

 count few, publishes a translation of "Don 

 Quixote," a little simplified, ad wvm jurentu- 

 tis, and an original novel, entitled "Deux 

 Amis." "Les Enfimts," a book for mothers, 

 illustrated by M. Froment, has its place in nil 

 family libraries. The " Histoire d'un Enfant," 

 a delicious tale of Alphonse Daudet's, was for- 

 merly styled the " Petit Chose." In its pres- 

 ent shape, with the illustrations of M. Philip- 

 poteaux, the refined work will find a new circle 

 of readers. I predict the same fortune for 

 "Une Famille pendant la Guerre" (1870-71), 

 the patriotic novel of M. Baissones, crowned by 

 the Academy, and, which is much better, by 

 the sympathy and esteem of all pood French- 

 men. M. Charpentier, the well-known pub- 

 lisher of Musset, of Theophile Gautier, and of 

 Prosper Meriraee, has given us the two ro- 

 mances that, in a year poor in works of imagina- 

 tion, have been the most widely read and wide- 

 ly circulated "L'Assommoir" and "Le Na- 



