Our Own Set Part 25

"Among the poets who never overstep the limits of probability and yet aspire to realize the ideal, in whose works we breathe a purer air, who have power to enthral and exalt the reader's soul, to stimulate and enrich his mind, we must number the Netherlander Vosmaer.

"The Novel 'Amazon,' which attracted great and just attention in the author's fatherland, has been translated into our tongue at my special request. In Vosmaer we find no appalling incident, no monstrous or morbid psychology, neither is the worst side of human nature portrayed in glaring colors. The reader is afforded ample opportunity of delighting himself with delicate pictures of the inner life and spiritual conflicts of healthy-minded men and women. In this book a profound student of ancient as well as modern art conducts us from Paestum to Naples, thence to Rome, making us partic.i.p.ators in the highest and greatest the Eternal City can offer to the soul of man.

"Vosmaer is a poet by the grace of G.o.d, as he has proved by poems both grave and gay; by his translation of the Iliad into Dutch hexameters, and by his lovely epos 'Nanno,' His numerous essays on aesthetics, and more especially his famous 'Life of Rembrandt,' have secured him an honorable place among the art-historians of our day. As Deputy Recorder of the High Court of Justice he has, during the best years of his life (he was born March 20, 1826), enjoyed extensive opportunities of acquiring a thorough insight into the social life of the present, and the labyrinths of the human soul. That 'The Amazon,' perhaps the maturest work of this author, should--like Vosmaer's other writings--be totally unknown outside Holland, is owing solely to the circ.u.mstance that most of his works are written in his mother-tongue, and are therefore accessible only to a very small circle of readers.

"It is a painful thing for a poet to have to write in a language restricted to a small area; and it is the bounden duty of the lover of literature to bring what is excellent in the literature of other lands within the reach of his own countrymen. Among these excellent works Vosmaer's 'Amazon' must unquestionably be reckoned. It introduces us to those whom we cannot fail to consider an acquisition to our circle of acquaintances. It permits us to be present at conversations which--and not least when they provoke dissent--stimulate our minds to reflection.

No one who listens to them can depart without having gained something; for Vosmaer's novel is rich in subtle observations and shrewd remarks, in profound thoughts and beautifully-conceived situations." _Extract from Georg Ebers' Preface to the German Edition_.

FRIDOLIN'S MYSTICAL MARRIAGE.--A Study of an Original, founded on Reminiscences of a Friend, by Adolf Wilbrandt, from the German by Clara Bell. One vol. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts.

"One of the most entertaining of the recent translations of German fiction is 'Fridolin's Mystical Marriage,' by Adolf Wilbrandt. The author calls it 'a study of an original, founded on reminiscences of a friend,' and one may easily believe that the whimsical, fascinating, brilliant heir must have been drawn more largely from life than fancy.

He is a professor of art, who remains single up to his fortieth year because he is, he explains to a friend 'secretly married.' 'When you consider all the men of your acquaintance,' he says, 'does it strike you that every man is thoroughly manly and every woman thoroughly womanly? Or, on the contrary, do you not find singular deviations and exceptions to the normal type? If we place all the men on earth in a series, sorting them by the shades of difference in their natural dispositions, from the North Pole, so to speak, of stalwart manliness to the South Pole of perfect womanhood, and if you then cast a piercing glance into their souls, you would perceive ... beings with masculine intellect and womanly feelings, or womanly gifts and masculine character.' The idea is very cleverly worked out that in these divided souls marriage is possible only between the two natures, and that whenever one of the unfortunates given this mixed nature, cannot contract an outward alliance. How the events of the story overthrow this ingenious theory need not be told here, but the reader will find entertainment in discovery for himself."--_Courier, Boston_.

"A quaint, dry and highly diverting humor pervades the book, and the characters are sketched with great force and are admirably contrasted.

The unceasing animation of the narrative, the crispness of the conversations, and the constant movement of the plot hold the interest of the reader in pleasant attention throughout. It provides very bright and unfatiguing reading for a dull summer day."--_Gazette, Boston_.

"The scenes which are colored by the art atmosphere of the studio of Fridolin, a professor of art and the princ.i.p.al character, are full of pure humor, through the action and situations that the theory brings about. But no point anywhere for effective humor is neglected. It runs through the story, or comedy, from beginning to end, appearing in every available spot. And the characterization is evenly strong. It is an uncommonly clever work in its line, and will be deliciously enjoyed by the best readers." _Globe, Boston_.

CLYTIA.--A Romance of the Sixteenth Century, by George Taylor, from the German by Mary J. Safford, in one vol. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts.

"If report may be trusted 'George Taylor,' though writing in German, is an Englishman by race, and not merely by the a.s.sumption of a pseudonym.

The statement is countenanced by the general physiognomy of his novels, which manifest the artistic qualities in which German fiction, when extending beyond the limits of a short story, is usually deficient.

'Antinous' was a remarkable book; 'Clytia' displays the same talent, and is, for obvious reasons, much better adapted for general circulation. Notwithstanding its cla.s.sical t.i.tle, it is a romance of the post-Lutheran Reformation in the second half of the sixteenth century. The scene is laid in the Palatinate; the hero, Paul Laurenzano, is, like John Inglesant, the pupil, but, unlike John Inglesant, the proselyte and emissary, of the Jesuits, who send him to do mischief in the disguise of a Protestant clergyman. He becomes confessor to a sisterhood of reformed nuns, as yet imperfectly detached from the old religion, and forms the purpose of reconverting them.

During the process, however, he falls in love with one of their number, the beautiful Clytia, the original, Mr. Taylor will have it, of the lovely bust in whose genuineness he will not let us believe. Clytia, as is but reasonable, is a match for Loyola; the man in Laurenzano overpowers the priest, and, after much agitation of various kinds, the story concludes with his marriage. It is an excellent novel from every point of view, and, like 'Antinous' gives evidence of superior culture and thoughtfulness."--_The London Sat.u.r.day Review_.

_William S, Gottsberger, Publisher, New York_.

TRAFALGAR.--A Tale, by B. Perez Galdos, from the Spanish by Clara Bell, in one vol. Paper, 50 cents. Cloth, 90 cents.

"This is the third story by Galdos in this series, and it is not inferior to those which have preceded it, although it differs from them in many particulars, as it does from most European stories with which we are acquainted, its interest rather depending upon the action with which it deals than upon the actors therein. To subordinate men to events is a new practice in art, and if Galdos had not succeeded we should have said that success therein was impossible. He has succeeded doubly, first as a historian, and then as a novelist, for while the main interest of his story centres in the great sea-fight which it depicts--the greatest in which the might of England has figured since her destruction of the Grand Armada--there is no lack of interest in the characters of his story, who are sharply individualized, and painted in strong colors. Don Alonso and his wife Dona Francisca--a simple-minded but heroic old sea-captain, and a sharp-minded, shrewish lady, with a tongue of her own, fairly stand out on the canvas. Never before have the danger and the doom of battle been handled with such force as in this spirited and picturesque tale. It is thoroughly characteristic of the writer and of his nationality."--_The Mail and Express, New York_.

_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York_.

A GRAVEYARD FLOWER.--By Wilhelmine von Hillern, from the German by Clara Bell, in one vol., Paper, 40 cts. Cloth, 75 cts.

"The pathos of this story is of a type too delicate to be depressing.

The tale is almost a poem, so fine is its imagery, so far removed from the commonplace. The character of Marie is merely suggested, and yet she has a most distinct and penetrating individuality. It is a fine piece of work to place, without parade or apparent intention, at the feet of this ideal woman, three loves so widely different from each other. There is clever conception in the impulse that makes Marie turn from the selfish, tempestuous love of the Count, and the generous, holy pa.s.sion of Anselmo, to the narrower but nearer love of Walther, who had perhaps fewer possibilities in his nature than either of the other two.

The quality of the story is something we can only describe by one word--spirituelle. It has in it strong suggestions of genius coupled with a rare poetic feeling, which comes perhaps more frequently from Germany than from anywhere else. The death of Marie and the sculpture of her image by Anselmo, is a pa.s.sage of great power. The tragic end of the book does not come with the gloom of an unforeseen calamity; it leaves with it merely a feeling of tender sadness, for it is only the fulfilment of our daily expectations. It is in fact the only end which the tone of the story would render fitting or natural."--_G.o.deys Lady's Book_.

_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York_.

PRUSIAS.--A Romance of Ancient Rome under the Republic, by Ernst Eckstein, from the German by Clara Bell. Authorized edition. In two vols. Paper, $1.00. Cloth, $1.75.

"The date of 'Prusias' is the latter half of the first century B. C.

Rome is waging her tedious war with Mithridates. There are also risings in Spain, and the home army is badly depleted. Prusias comes to Capua as a learned Armenian, the tutor of a n.o.ble pupil in one of the aristocratic households. Each member of this circle is distinct. Some of the most splendid traits of human nature develop among these grand statesmen and their dignified wives, mothers, and daughters. The ideal Roman maiden is Psyche; but she has a trace of Greek blood and of the native gentleness. Of a more interesting type is Fannia, who might, minus her slaves and stola, pa.s.s for a modern and saucy New York beauty. Her wit, spirit, selfishness, and impulsive magnanimity might easily have been a nineteenth-century evolution. In the family to which Prusias comes are two sons, one of military leanings, the other a student. Into the ear of the latter Prusias whispers the real purpose of his coming to Italy. He is an Armenian and in league with Mithridates for the reduction of Roman rule. The unity which the Senate has tried to extend to the freshly-conquered provinces of Italy is a thing of slow growth. Prusias by his strategy and helped by Mithridates's gold, hopes to organize slaves and disaffected provincials into a force which will oblige weakened Rome to make terms, one of which shall be complete emanc.i.p.ation and equality of every man before the law. His harangues are in lofty strain, and, save that he never takes the coa.r.s.e, belligerent tone of our contemporaries, these speeches might have been made by one of our own Abolitionists. The one point that Prusias never forgets is personal dignity and a regal consideration for his friends. But after all, this son of the G.o.ds is befooled by a woman, a sinuous and transcendently ambitious Roman belle, the second wife of the dull and trustful prefect of Capua; for this tiny woman had all men in her net whom she found it useful to have there.

"The daughter of the prefect--hard, homely-featured, and hating the supple stepmother with an unspeakable hate, tearing her beauty at last like a tigress and so causing her death--is a repulsive but very strong figure. The two brothers who range themselves on opposite sides in the servile war make another unforgettable picture; and the beautiful slave Brenna, who follows her n.o.ble lover into camp, is a spark of light against the lurid background. The servile movement is combined with the bold plans of the Thracian Spartacus. He is a good figure and perpetually surprises us with his keen foresight and disciplinary power.

"The book is stirring, realistic in the even German way, and full of the fibre and breath of its century." _Boston Ev'g Transcript_.

QUINTUS CLAUDIUS.--A Romance of Imperial Rome, by Ernst Eckstein, from the German by Clara Bell, in two vols. Paper, $1.00. Cloth, $1.75.

"We owe to Eckstein the brilliant romance of 'Quintus Claudius,' which Clara Bell has done well to translate for us, for it is worthy of place beside the Emperor of Ebers and the Aspasia of Hamerling. It is a story of Rome in the reign of Domitian, and the most noted characters of the time figure in its pages, which are a series of picturesque descriptions of Roman life and manners in the imperial city, and in those luxurious retreats at Baiae and elsewhere to which the wealthy Romans used to retreat from the heats of summer. It is full of stirring scenes in the streets, in the palaces, in the temples, and in the amphitheatre, and the actors therein represent every phase of Roman character, from the treacherous and cowardly Domitian and the vile Domitia down to the secret gatherings of the new sect and their exit from life in the blood-soaked sands of the arena, where they were torn in pieces by the beasts of the desert. The life and the manners of all cla.s.ses at this period were never painted with a bolder pencil than by Eckstein in this masterly romance, which displays as much scholars.h.i.+p as invention."--_Mail and Express, N. Y_.

"These neat volumes contain a story first published in German. It is written in that style which Ebers has cultivated so successfully. The place is Rome; the time, that of Domitian at the end of the first century. The very careful study of historical data, is evident from the notes at the foot of nearly every page. The author attempted the difficult task of presenting in a single story the whole life of Rome, the intrigues of that day which compa.s.sed the overthrow of Domitian, and the deep fervor and terrible trials of the Christians in the last of the general persecutions. The court, the army, the amphitheatre, the catacombs, the evil and the good of Roman manhood and womanhood--all are here. And the work is done with power and success. It is a book for every Christian and for every student, a book of lasting value, bringing more than one nation under obligation to its author."--_New Jerusalem Magazine, Boston, Ma.s.s_.

"_A new Romance of Ancient Times!_ The success of Ernst Eckstein's new novel, 'Quintus Claudius,' which recently appeared in Vienna, may fairly be called phenomenal, critics and the public unite in praising the work."--_Grazer Morgenpost_.

"'Quintus Claudius' is a finished work of art, capable of bearing any a.n.a.lysis, a literary production teeming with instruction and interest, full of plastic forms, and rich in the most dramatic changes of mood."--_Pester Lloyd_.

_William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York_.