LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1877. 



451 



historical for example, in " Tizio-Caio-Sem- 

 pronio" and in "Diana degli Embriaci," both 

 by Antonio Giulio Barrili. Here we have his- 

 torical poetry or the real combined with the 

 ideal, and the same union is seen in several 

 other romances lately issued. Vittorio Berse- 

 zio displays it in " Corruttela," with all its true 

 portraiture of modern life ; Cesare Donati in 

 "Flora Marzia;" and K. Stuart (by birth a 

 Scotchman) in his "Marchesa di Santa Pia." 

 Cesare Molineri also, in his " Dramini nelle Al- 

 pi," and Salvatore Farina in his charming story, 

 " Prima che Nascesse," have both shown skill 

 in uniting with poetic treatment the realities of 

 modern society. And with pleasure I would 

 add that several Italian ladies have lately suc- 

 ceeded well or promised fairly in the same style 

 of writing. Cordula (nom de plume of the 

 Countess Maria della Eocca, of Turin) ; Emma 

 (nom de plume of Signora Feretti, of Milan) ; 

 Sofia (a young lady of Milan) ; Sara (Signora 

 Tardy ?) ; Una Donna (Signora Piatti, of Flor- 

 ence) ; Fides (the Countess Fantoni, of Flor- 

 ence) ; the Marchesa Colombi (Signora Torelli- 

 Vollier) ; Neera (a lady whose true name I do 

 not know) ; Maria Repetti ; Grazia Pierantoni- 

 Mancini ; Ludovico de Rosa (Signora Luisa Sa- 

 redo) ; Luigia Codemo here are a dozen gifted 

 women who have lately shown us that they 

 possess both soul and intellect. 



The publisher Treves, of Milan, whose books 

 and journals have, perhaps, above all others, 

 aided in spreading widely a wholesome popu- 

 lar literature, has issued lately the second vol- 

 ume of " Constantinople," by De Amicis a 

 book that describes scenes on the Bosporus, 

 and is more than a charming guide ; for it is, 

 indeed, like a gallery of splendid paintings. 

 Another work of the same class is a lately pub- 

 lished book on Florence, in which Yorick (the 

 pseudonym of the advocate Pietro Ferrigni) 

 leads us through the Tuscan capital and its 

 neighborhood. His style is excellent Tuscan ; 

 his observations are at once humorous, correct, 

 and judicious, and his descriptions are simply 

 lifelike. 



Barbera has issued lately " La Storia della 

 Poesia Popolare Italiana," by Ermolao Rubi- 

 eri. The materials already collected for this 

 work were abundant. All these collections 

 have been studied by M. Rubieri ; he has an- 

 alyzed their contents, has compared each with 

 the others, has noticed their general character- 

 istics and their special differences, and the re- 

 sult is that he has given us an excellent and 

 compendious book. In the form of a rapid 

 introductory sketch he tells the story of Italian 

 poetry in mediaeval times, and connects with 

 this historical notices of our several provinces. 

 Throughout he shows himself at once a con- 

 scientious writer and a true patriot, whose 

 main desire is to improve the condition of the 

 people. 



Le Monnier, who has issued " Macchiavelli " 

 and the book of Signora Mario, has given as 

 also " Torquato Tasso," in two volumes, by Dr. 



Pier Leopoldo Cecchi. The author has well 

 studied his subject the man and the poet, 

 viewed in relation to the culture of his times. 

 It is to be hoped that a second edition may be 

 called for, as the book is in substance sound, 

 and shows us especially that Tasso, with all 

 his faults, was a man better than the times in 

 which he had the misfortune to live. Signer 

 Leone Ottolenghi, a young professor in the Ly- 

 ceum of Casale, has produced a good biography 

 of a philosopher and philologer, Luigi Ornato 

 a modern Italian Socrates, who won the admi- 

 ration of such men as Victor Cousin, Gioberti, 

 and Manzoni. In a volume lately issued by 

 Treves, of Milan, the author, Signer Bonghi, 

 gives us a collection of his own important pa- 

 pers (previously published in a dispersed way) 

 on "Pius IX. and his Successor." This book 

 may be placed beside another, " Lo Stato e la 

 Chiesa," by Marco Minghetti. The latter is 

 published by Hoepli, of Milan, and sheds clear 

 light upon the ecclesiastical question of the 

 times in Italy. The same firm gives us " I Po- 

 poli dell' Antico Oriente," an erudite and at 

 the same time an agreeable book. The histo- 

 rian, Cesare Cantu, has completed a new edi- 

 tion of his "Storia degli Italiani," to which he 

 adds a new and important dissertation, entitled 

 " Le Vicende del Parlari d' Italia." 



There remains to be noticed a remarkable 

 book that I have not been able to classify well 

 with any hitherto named. It is written by 

 Prof. Pietro Siciliani, and bears the title, " Fi- 

 losofia Zoologica del Secolo XIX." Compared 

 with its scientific aim, the form is odd enough, 

 and even grotesque. It consits of a series of 

 conversations in which almost all the most 

 eminent philosophers or scientific men of our 

 time are the dramatis persona. They gossip 

 here in a vivacious style de omnibus rfbvs, and 

 among their sayings not a few are idle and out 

 of place, while others are dignified assertions 

 of scientific principles. Reduced to a third 

 part of its bulk the book would have been 

 solid, though probably not conducive to the 

 writer's popularity. 



RUSSIA. To ordinary eyes the year 1877 

 seems in no way remarkable so far as literary 

 activity is concerned. We are so engrossed 

 with current military and political events, that 

 we have little time or inclination to think of 

 science or art. As a compensation for this, wo 

 ought to have a rich harvest of works relating 

 to the Slav races and the Eastern Question ; 

 but in reality we have little or nothing of the 

 kind certainly nothing destined to have moro 

 than a very short-lived reputation. 



Time was, and not so very long ago, when 

 the Russians delighted in poetry, and many 

 middle-aged men among them can still repeat 

 from memory whole pages of Pushkin and Ler- 

 montof. But since the beginning of the present 

 reign the public taste has completely changed. 

 "Questions" of every conceivable kind so- 

 cial, political, scientific, philosophical, and eco- 

 nomicso monopolize public attention that the 



