But our business is with the talks to students, the Lectures on 'Ballads,' 'The Horatian Model,' 'Seventeenth Century poets,' 'Meredith,' 'Hardy.' There are plenty of fine critical sayings, the discovery that a piece of Campion's is right Horace,' the obiter-dictum that the one who, but for a stroke of madness, would have become our English Horace, was William Cowper'-a saying that shows a perfect understanding both of an English poet and the English nation-the illuminating statement about Donne, None the less I grant you that Donne's ear for the beat of verse is so wayward, its process often so recondite, that the most of his poetry is a struggle rather than a success,' the final aesthetic verity about the accomplishment of that strange spirit.

There are plenty of such things, but what strikes one chiefly about all these lectures is their directness, the way in which they keep to the main issue. To block out, to introduce, to handle without spoiling, this is a very difficult art. These lectures are not lessons to be learnt by the hearer. We are not troubled with the five or fifteen points that have to be made. There is nothing here of tabulation, no uneasiness that one may have forgotten to say this or that for the note-books. On the contrary, these are true introductions before reading. That is the road-now follow it yourself."

Similarly in Shakespeare's Workmanship there is the same disinterestedness of presentation. One knows the temptation, in lecturing on such a well-worn subject, to get it all in, to leave the young reader nothing to do, to make a book of one's own, and not to hand on the book with which one is dealing. Here there are no such sins of the desk: loads of learned lumber are cleared away, and loads of matter by no means lumber are uncaringly put by. How easy are the Introductions to The Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, The Tempest; and how refreshing the question, 'Can we suppose that Hamlet would have been a popular play had it been a mystery, a problem, or anything like the psychological enigma that Coleridge and Goethe and their followers have chosen to make of it? Let us ask ourselves as men.'

A great many things are to be said about Shakespeare, and have been said, but the first thing to be said about him is that he was a dramatist and had to observe, was indeed delighted to observe, and never thought but of observing, the conditions of the drama. It is the first thing that is developed here. Shakespeare's motives were in the first place and necessarily dramatic. The first questions we have to ask are what kind of play is this, and what is this kind of play? The tumbler is shaken and the water unclouds itself.

But we are not concerned, at this late date, to appraise these books in detail. Their essential claim is as examples of a method, and their essential service is that of clearing the air. The broad fact that they have been written will give courage in many quarters for a really fresh approach to literature. They are a break with an academic tradition that was becoming stereotyped and they will be fruitful in their progeny. A. A. JACK.

ABERDEEN.

The Tragedy of Tragedies or The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great With the Annotations of H. Scriblerus Secundus. By Henry Fielding. Edited by JAMES T. HILLHOUSE. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. London: H. Milford. 1918. 8vo. viii+ 223 pp. $3.00.

In spite of its great theatrical reputation-The Tragedy of Tragedies was still being played in a more or less adapted form when Genest ceased his chronicle-it may fairly be doubted whether Fielding's burlesque is worth the attention Mr Hillhouse has paid it. The parodies of tragedy are all a little obvious and often more than a little laboured, faults which lend the satire a heaviness absolutely fatal to this kind of writing. There are, it is true, several clever quips and happy turns, but the whole machinery of pedantic notes and a preface by H. Scriblerus Secundus (a popular device), being almost destitute of humour, before long becomes insufferably wearisome and monotonous. This, of course, has no relation to the stage, where such an actor as Liston could buffoon Grizzle to the top of his bent and set the house a-roar by mere clowning and grimace.

The Tragedy of Tragedies, it must be confessed, does not even compare very favourably with Carey's lively if ultra-extravagant Chrononhotonthologos, and is scarcely to be named in the same breath as Gay's What d'ye Call It? a smart skit on the grandiose School of Melodrama which oscillates between bathos and bombast. But What d'ye Call It? is not in the first rank, hardly perhaps in the second, of our burlesques.

Mr Hillhouse, who has conscientiously verified a large number of quotations from the dramas of Dryden, Lee, John Banks, Young, Thomson, and other poets, in each case provides us with the entire context, but again we question the use of this meticulous research. Fielding has given the passages he parodies in his cumbersome apparatus of jocular notes, and the precise act and scene in which the lines occur are not essential.

But if we are to be exact we might point out that Noodle's 'Go then to Hell,' when the Bailiff's follower is killed (Act II, Scene 2, p. 108), is surely a closer parody of Zara's cry 'Get thee to hell and seek him there!' (The Mourning Bride, Act v), than of the lines Mr Hillhouse cites from Mariamne and The Indian Emperor. On p. 147 there is a misprint; Dryden and Lee's Oedipus was produced in 1679 (4to, 1679), not 1769. Again, in the Bibliography, care should have been taken that in all instances the first editions were used, save indeed there happened to be some particular reason to the contrary. But we find The Albion Queens, Dublin, 1732 (); Lee, Sophonisba, 1681, instead of 1676; Mithridates, 1693, quoted as the Second Edition, which was in fact 1685; Young's The Revenge, 1764, instead of 1721. If a late edition was employed a note to this effect should invariably have been appended. This has not been done in every case, and confusion is apt to arise.

It may not be impertinent to mention that John Banks is a far better writer that Mr Hillhouse seems disposed to allow. Without ever

attaining to any great eminence, he had none the less a certain sense of dramatic effect and command of pathos which enabled his scenes to keep the stage for many a long year. Although Steele all too harshly pronounced that in The Unhappy Favourite there is not one good line,' he was bound to add that it is withal 'a play which was never seen without drawing tears from some part of the audience.'

LONDON.

MONTAGUE SUMMERS.

P. E. GUARNERIO, Fonologia Romanza. Milan: U. Hoepli. 1918. 8vo. xxiv +642 pp. 12 L. 50.

This is unquestionably one of the most valuable volumes that have yet appeared in the excellent Manuali Hoepli. There is, indeed, no recent book that attempts to cover precisely the same ground. Treading in the steps of Graziadio Isaia Ascoli (il Galileo della glottologia italiana'), and following his methods and fundamental principles, Prof. Guarnerio has composed a general picture of romance glottology from the phonetic standpoint, naturally centring his study upon Italian and its dialects, but with the other neo-latin languages falling into their places. Special attention is paid to the Ladine dialects, which recent events have made more than ever significant for Italy; the author treating them and the dialects of Sardinia as belonging to the great Italian linguistic dominion while in many respects ranking as two languages apart. It will be remembered that neither was included in Bertoni's recent Italia dialettale in the same series. After three preliminary chapters on the comparative history of the neo-latin languages, the phonetic alphabet, and phonetic phenomena, occupying 88 pages, the main subject is treated in three comprehensive parts under the headings 'Vocalismo tonico,' 'Vocalismo atono,' 'Consonantismo.' There is unfortunately no index, a serious lack in a work of this kind. The author's treatment is singularly lucid. Although the book is primarily intended for students, the general reader will find it an admirable introduction to the whole study of romance philology and romance phonetics. Especially in the preliminaries, what seems to many a highly technical and difficult subject becomes one of human as well as literary interest. The possession of such a text-book should prove of great value in the Italian departments of our British universities. Ernesto Monaci, many years ago, assigned to Romance Philology the high function of 'reviving the sentiment of that historic unity that once linked all the Latin peoples in brotherhood,' and the relations between the neo-latin languages have acquired a fresh significance at the present day. A vivid note of actuality is struck in the dedication of this volume to the memory of Ascoli; for it is dated August 9, 1916, the day of the first victorious entry of the Italian soldiers into Gorizia, giorno indistruttibile nella storia della sua città natale.' EDMUND G. GARDNER.

LONDON.

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

September-November, 1919.

GENERAL.

British Academy, Proceedings of the, 1913-1914 and 1915-1916.
H. Milford. Each 40s.

London, COLLIN, C., Det geniale Menneske. 3. Opl. Christiania, Gyldendal. 11 kr. 50. DAVIDS, W., Verslag van een onderzoek betreffende de betrekkingen tuschen de Nederlandsche en de Spaansche letterkunde in de 16.-18. eeuw. The Hague, M. Nijhoff.

GÜNTERT, H., Kalypso: Bedeutungsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen auf dem
Gebiete der indogermanischen Sprachen. Halle, Niemeyer. 21 M. 60.
LATT, A., Les relations intellectuelles entre la Grande-Bretagne et la Suisse
(Bibl. Universelle, Oct., Nov.).

POUND, L., The Ballad and the Drama (Publ. M. L. A. Amer., xxxiv, 3,
Sept.).

PRITCHARD, F. H., Studies in Literature: an Aid to Literary Appreciation and Composition. London, G. G. Harrap. 2s. 6d.

WHITMORE, C. E., The Nature of Tragedy (Publ. M. L. A. Amer., xxxiv, 3,
Sept.).

ROMANCE LANGUAGES.

PAULI, I., Enfant,' 'Garçon,' 'Fille' dans les langues romanes, étudiés particulièrement dans les dialectes gallo-romans et italiens. Lund, P. Lindstedt.

Italian.

CIAN, V., Il primo centenario del romanzo storico italiano, 1816-24. II.
S. Santarosa (Nuova Antologia, Nov. 1).

COCHIN, H., Les 'Epistolae metricae' de Pétrarque (Giorn. stor., lxxiv, 1— 2). COTTERILL, H. B., Italy from Dante to Tasso, 1300-1600. London, G. G. Harrap. 258.

DANTIS ALAGHERII, De Monarchia libri III. Rec. L. Bertalot, Friedrichsdorf. 2 M. DANTIS ALAGHERII, De Vulgari Eloquentia libri II. Rec. L. Bertalot, Friedrichsdorf. 1 M. 80.

FRESCO, V., Intenzioni e intuizioni di artiste nella critica di F. De Sanctis (Giorn. stor., lxxiv, 1—2).

OKEY, T., Italian Studies: their Place in Modern Education. An Inaugural Address. Cambridge, Univ. Press.

28.

ZABUGHIN, V., Una fonte ignota dell'Hypnerotomachia Polophili' (Giorn. stor., lxxiv, 1-2).

ZACCAGNINI, G., Cino da Pistoia: studio biografico. Pistoia, Pagnini.

Spanish.

ALARCOS, E., Datos para una biografía de G. Correas (Bol. Acad. Esp.,
Oct.).

ALEMANY, J., De la derivación y composición de las palabras en la lengua
castellana (cont.) (Bol. Acad. Esp., Oct.).

ALONSO CORTÉS, N., Manuel Palacio, II, III (Rev. Castellana, 34, 35).

BAIG BAÑOS, A., Sobre el 'Persiles y Sigismunda,' I, II (Rev. Castellana, 33, 35).

BENAVENTE, J., Teatro, XXVI. Madrid, Hernando.

CASTILLO, R. DEL, Estudios lexicográficos. Nahuatismos y Barbarismos.
México.

CEJADOR Y FRAUCA, J., Historia de la lengua y literatura castellana comprendidos
los autores hispano-americanos. II, 11. Madrid, Rev. de Archivos.

COTARELO, E., ¿ Quién fué el autor del 'Diálogo de la lengua'? I (Bol. Acad.
i
Esp., Oct.).

CURET, F. DE P., El arte dramático en el resurgir de Cataluña. Barcelona,
Ed. Minerva. 3 pes.

DÍAZ DE ESCOVAR, N., Anales de la escena española, II, III (Rev. Castellana,
33, 35).

FORD, J. D. M., Main Currents of Spanish Literature. New York, H. Holt. GIVANEL I MAS, J., Catáleg de la Col-leció Cervántica formada per D. Isidro Bonsoms i Sicart i cedida per ell a la Biblioteca de Catalunya, II (1801– 1879). Barcelona, Inst. d'Estudis Catalans.

MITJANA, R., Comentarios y apostillas al 'Cancionero poético y musical del
siglo XVII,' recogido por Claudio de la Sablonara y publ. por D. Jesús
Aroca (Rev. de Fil. Esp., vi, 3).

PALACIO VALDÉS, A., Obras completas, XIX.
Poema de mio Cid y otros monumentos

Madrid, Impr. Helénica.
de la primitiva poesía española.
Editados según los textos más recientes y autorizados. Madrid,
Saturnino Calleja.

RENNERT, H. A., y A. CASTRO, Vida de Lope de Vega. Madrid, Hernando. REYES, A., Cuestiones gongorinas: Pellicer en las cartas de sus contemporáneos (Rev. de Fil. Esp., vi, 3).·

RODRÍGUEZ MARÍN, F., Nuevos datos biográficos: Nicolás de Monardes (Bol. Acad. Esp., Oct.).

SCHEVILL, R., Cervantes. New York, Duffield & Co.

SCHEVILL, R., Menéndez y Pelayo y el estudio de la cultura española en los Estados Unidos. Conferencia. Santander, Talleres.

VEGA CARPIO, L. F., Fuente ovejuna.

French.

Madrid, Calpe.

(a) General (incl. Linguistic).

Comedia. Ed. revisada por A. Castro.

CLÉDAT, L., Quelques emplois de verbes français (Rev. Phil. franç., xxxi, 1). JOZIET, L., Précis illustré de la littérature française des origines au 20e siècle. Paris, A. Colin. 8 fr.

LOTE, G., L'Alexandrin d'après la phonétique expérimentale. Paris, Crès. 75 fr. (b) Old French, Anglo-Norman.

Aucassin et Nicolete, ed. by F. W. Bourdillon. Manchester, Univ. Press. 48. 6d BRUCE, J. D., Mordrain, Corbenic, and the Vulgate Grail Romances (Mod. Lang. Notes, Nov.).