LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1877. 



449 



first place ; characteristically enough in a conn- 

 try in which "der Schulraeister Schlachten 

 gewinnt," it is supplanted by school-books and 

 pedagogic literature, which counted in all 

 1,629 entries, 300 more than in the previous 

 12 months. Even the second place theology 

 cannot claim; for it has had to yield to jurispru- 

 dence and politics, which attained the high fig- 

 ure of 1,329, 152 more than in 1875. On the 

 other hand, history experienced a fall from 708 

 to 687, geography and travels from 314 to 296, 

 while philosophy, wliich had of late shown 

 symptoms of recovery, receded, I am sorry 

 to say, from 199 to 178. Belles-lettres, with 

 1,070 against 1,061 in 1875, remained nearly 

 stationary. 



So far as a judgment can he formed, 1877 

 will prove not less productive than 1876. 



German lyric poetry has this year lived on 

 its old renown. The most considerable of the 

 new publications are the work either of de- 

 ceased poets or those of established reputation. 

 Among the plays produced this year are pro- 

 ductions of men of high repute, most of whom, 

 however, have distinguished themselves in oth- 

 er walks of literature. The epic poet Hermann 

 Lingg has produced a tragedy called "Macal- 

 da," relating to the period of the Hohenstau- 

 fens. The most recent tragedy of Paul Heyse, 

 " Graf Konigsmark," deals with the unlucky 

 fate of the brother of the beautiful "Aurora," 

 who was made away with in a mysterious way 

 at the Palace of Hanover because the Electoral 

 Prince, afterward George the First of England, 

 suspected him of an intrigue with the Princess 

 Sophie Dorothea, Another play by the same 

 author, "Elfriede," also treats the well-known 

 intrigue of the Anglo-Saxon King Edgar with 

 the wife of his servant Ethelwold. The sub- 

 ject-matter is depicted with glowing colors, 

 and both these dramas surpass in pathos and 

 warmth all the former plays of the author. 



The most gifted of living German novelists, 

 Fr. Spielhagen, has, since he printed " Sturm- 

 flut," laid aside his pen, and sought in the 

 south to recruit his overtasked strength. G. 

 Freytag, as the fourth part of the " Ahnen," 

 called " Marcus Konig," shows, is not yet ex- 

 hausted. But in this story of citizen life, 

 which is laid in the extreme east, in Thorn, 

 on the Polish border, the descendants of Ingo 

 disappear from view. 



Neither unity of treatment nor unity of race, 

 but only the prevalence of the same ideas, con- 

 nects the tales which form the second portion, 

 styled "Das Eigenthum," of the collection 

 which Sacher-Masoch is issuing under the gen- 

 eral title of " Das Vermachtniss Kains." This 

 author, who is often roughly treated by Ger- 

 man critics, while by Frenchmen he is placed 

 alongside of Turgeneff and Merim6e, pos- 

 sesses an extraordinary power of description, 

 which he usually uses to inculcate ambitious, 

 but at the end conciliatory, social theories. 



History and biography have received a nota- 

 ble addition in the " Denkwurdigkeiten des 

 VOL. xvii. 29 A 



preussischen Staatskanzlers Fursten von Har- 

 denberg," edited by L. von Ranke. The vet- 

 eran historian has not contented himself with 

 merely printing the fragments, which are 

 mostly autobiographical or documentary, but 

 he has furnished explanations and supplements 

 which serve to link events together. Heigel, 

 of Munich, has derived from the archives of 

 that city materials that throw light on the 

 Austrian "War of Succession and the election 

 to the imperial dignity of Charles Albert of 

 Bavaria. The eighth volume, which has ap- 

 peared, concludes Arneth's history of Maria 

 Theresa. Another Austrian historian, Ad. 

 Beer, has endeavored to give a clear exposi- 

 tion of that complicated subject, the finances 

 of Austria in the 19th century. That keen 

 critic, Ottokar Lorenz, has investigated the 

 German sources for the mediccval history of 

 Austria. Arnold Goedeke's account of the 

 policy of Austria in the Spanish question is 

 based upon the Vienna archives and the family 

 papers of the former imperial embassador at 

 Madrid, Count Harrach. Spain's latest history, 

 from the fall of Isabella to the accession of Al- 

 fonso, has been written by "Wilhelm Lauser. 

 The Heeren-Uckert collection of histories of 

 European states makes rapid progress under the 

 editorship of W. von Giesebrecht. Of Hertz- 

 berg's " History of Greece " another volume 

 has appeared, while Reumont's " History of 

 Tuscany " is finished in the second volume, 

 which is devoted to the princes of the house of 

 Lorraine. The histories of the Papal States, 

 by Lasch, and of Venice, by G. M. Thomas, 

 will follow. The first volume of a " History 

 of Modern France (1830-1871)," by 0. Hille- 

 brand, has been issued. Histories of Bavaria 

 (by Riezler), of "Wurtemberg (by Stalin), of 

 Switzerland (by Giss, of Berne), of the Nether- 

 lands (by Wenzelburg, of Delft), are announced. 

 In place of the now antiquated " History of the 

 Germans," by Pfister, a new work is to be 

 brought out, in which the various periods have 

 been divided among such scholars as F. Dahn, 

 Giesebrecht, Wegele, Kluckhohn, Dove, Roe- 

 pell, and Heigel. In military history, besides 

 countless chronicles of regiments, have ap- 

 peared the continuation of the great work of 

 the Prussian General Staff upon the Franco- 

 Prussian War, down to the capitulation of 

 Metz, and the well-known W. Rustow's account 

 of the war in Turkey (Servia and Herzegovina). 

 The handsomely-printed "Festschriften," pub- 

 lished by the University of Tubingen, in cele- 

 bration of its quater-centenary, comprise in- 

 teresting contributions to the history of Ger- 

 man universities and education. An imposing 

 volume contains the original authorities for the 

 history, down to 1550, of the university, which 

 was founded in 1477, by Count (afterward 

 Duke) Eberhard the Bearded, of Wurtemberg. 

 Another of not less dimensions contains the 

 44 Festschriften," properly so called, of which 

 the account of the instructors and instruction 

 in the " Evangelical Faculty of Theology from 



