_ nut-fhell, 
. 
pK 
652  Retrofpeét of German Literature. —Pocket-books, Este. 
century, it isnot confidered as an indi- 
cation of talents or genius, if a perion 
be able to write epigrams, fongs, &C. 
On the contrary, a young man’s edu- 
cation is thought to have been negleét- 
ed, if he cannot occafionally compofe a 
few ftanzas. The evil, however, 1s not 
fo great, as at firft fight it might ap- 
pear to be: for why fhould not the art 
of veriifying form a part of polite 
education, as well as drawing and 
mufic. Here too the genuine artit will 
as much diftinguifh himfelf from the 
mere dilettanti, as in other liberal arts. 
‘The fimpler the form of the. poem, the 
eafier this diftinstion is perceivabie ; 
genuine poetical ideas fhining with a 
brighter luftre, and the dull concep- 
tions of poetaiters being more difgutt. 
ingly exhibited in all their naked 
deformity. Senfible of this, fome 
fhallow-brained writers, who wifhed to 
pafs for poets, drew forth from the li- 
terary lumber-room all the difficult 
and quaint modes of poetic compofi- 
tion, and {trange combinations of rimes, 
and puffed them off upon the public as 
things of ineftimable value... A num- 
ber of youngiters tried the pretty play 
things; and, overjoyed to find it fo 
ealy, inundated the bookfeliers fhops 
with their fing-fong trath. Thefe no- 
velties at firit attracted attention : 
but it was foon difcovered, that after 
all the pains taken to crack the hard 
there was nothing but emp- 
tinefs within. Wotwithftanding, then, 
all the late pains-taking of the herd of 
would-be poets, the public did not re- 
ward them by its applaufe, which is 
again beftowed only on the older poets, 
ot eftablifhed reputation; and on thofe 
who are emuloufly treading in their 
foot-fteps :—-—Schiller, Jacobi, Vofs, 
Tiedge, Pfeiiel,, Matthifon, Halem, 
Grambers—and the two poeteffes, Fr. 
Brun, aad Amalia von Imboff, have, 
in particular, during the laft year, fa- 
voured their countrymen with many 
excelient lyric productions, which are, 
however, difperfed in a variety of pe- 
riodical publications and pocket-books. 
POCKET-BOOKsS, &c. 
The number of Pocket-books and 
Almanacks, with. which Germany is 
over-tun, is inconceivable. As the 
Circulating Libraries: hinder the fale 
of books, though they fpread an au- 
thor’s reputation, many, even of the 
firft-rate writers, find it a good fpecu- 
lation to publifh their lighter produc- 
tions in pocket-books, which, as New= 
Year’s Gifts, are {ure of a fale. 
In Germany, the old-fafhioned cuf- 
tom ftill prevails among parents and 
children, and the members of the fame 
family, of making prefents at Chrit- 
mas. /\ Joverwould be unpardonable, 
who neglected to prefent fome trifle to 
his miftrefs on her birth- -day; and it 1s 
expected that one thould know the 
birth-day of a friend, in order to pay 
him a like compliment. What prefent, 
on fuch occafions, could be more . 
proper than a pocket-book: andy, 
hence, the poet, the wit, the fportfman, 
gardener, traveller, foldier, and puntter, 
&c. has each a pocket-book dedicated to 
his ufe. Among this immenfe number of 
pocket-books, “there are good, oad, and 
indifferent. Few of them, indeed: can 
expect to out-live the year. They 
are generally embellithed with elegant 
engravings, and printed in the neatett 
manner, though frequently the types 
are too {mall for the eyes; and, too 
often, the merit of the boak- Hine 
exceeds that of the author... Let us 
pafs over the principal pocket- bocks in 
review. 
‘* The Lady’s Calendar,” publifhed 
by Cotta, at Tubingen, is ornamented 
with fix prints, which form a feries of 
toilette {cenes: ard are calculated to 
fhew, that the de{potifm and caprice 
of fafhion is confined neither to time or 
place, century or climate. Here a 
matron of ancient Athens is fuotiticting 
to the Graces, in hopes of making a 
conquelt of her hufband. 
handkerchief froma rival. Madamela 
Prefidente of the Oid Court is here | 
“receiving the homage of abbés and 
petits- maitres: there a-Republican 
Merveilleufe is furrounded by crops, 
elegans, and muicadins. A Moral Tale, 
by Huber: the inexhauftible variety 
which Pfeffel has difplayed in a Col- 
lection of Epigrams and Fables: and, 
above all, a Poem by Schiller, enfure 
_to this Calendar an exiftence beyond 
the year. 
«s L’Almanac des Dames,’ which 
was received laft year with fuch appro- 
bation, contains fome of the moft ele- 
gant productions of the neweft French 
literature; and, in point of neatnefs, 
is not lefs indebted to the artift than 
its predeceffor. 
~  ThePoeticalPocket- -book,”*publithed 
by Frohlich, at Berlin, 1s enriched with 
defigns from ae a celebrated 
Novel, 
There a 
‘modern Sultana is afpiring to win the 
