Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/829

Rh duction, however, comprehends but few thoughts, opinions, or criticisms on books, consisting chiefly of short stories, and containing numerous allusions to a violent quarrel he had with the French Academy, of which he was a member, concerning his Dictionnaire Universel de la Langue Franfaise. The Ckevrceana (2 vols. 8vo, 1700), so called from M. Chevreau, exhibits more research than most works of a similar description, and is probably more accurate, as it differs from the Ana proper, of which the works described above are instances, in having been published during the life of the author, and revised by himself. Among other interesting articles, it contains a learned and ingenious commentary on the works of Malherbe, to whom the French language and poetry were greatly indebted for their per fection. Parrhasiana (Amst., 2 vols. 8vo, 1699-1701) is the work of Jean le Clerc, a professor of Amsterdam, who bestowed this appellation on his miscellaneous productions with the view of discussing various topics of philosophy and politics with more freedom than he could have em ployed under Ms own name. This work is not of the light and unconnected description of most of the Ana which have been above enumerated, as it contains much learned philological disquisition, and a long dissertation on poetry and eloquence. In the first volume there is a list of his published works, and a bitter reply to all who had censured them. ,.; ; The Huetiana contains the detached thoughts and criti cisms of Huet, bishop of Avranches, which he himself committed to writing when he was far advanced in life. Huet was born in 1630, and in 1712 he was attacked by a malady which impaired his memory, and rendered him incapable of the sustained attention necessary for the com pletion of a long or laborious work. In this situation he employed himself in putting his detached observations on paper. These were published by the Abbe&quot; d Olivet the year after his death (1722), under the name of Huetiana, a work which is not, like some other Ana, a succession of lion mots or anecdotes, but forms a series of thoughts and criticisms on various topics of morals, philosophy, and literature. One of the most instructive discussions to a scholar, in this collection, is that on the Latinisation of names and surnames. His critical judgments on Mon taigne, Rochefoucauld, and Tacitus are valuable. But were there no other literary memorials of the bishop of Avranches, he certainly would not derive high reputation from the Huetiana. It was not, indeed, to be expected from the circumstances in which the articles were com posed, that they should always display that correct judg ment which distinguishes many of the other works of this learned writer. The Casauboniana presents us with the miscellaneous observations, chiefly philological, of the celebrated Isaac Casaubon. During the course of a long life that eminent commentator was in the daily practice of committing to paper anything remarkable which he heard in conversa tion with his friends, especially if it bore on the studies in which he was engaged. He also made annotations from day to day on the works he read, with which he connected his judgments concerning the authors and their writings. This compilation, which was styled Ephemerides, together with his Adversaria, and materials amassed for a refutation of the Ecclesiastical Annals of Baronius, were bequeathed by his son Meric Casaubon to the Bodleian library at Oxford. These were shown to Christopher Wolfius during a visit which he paid to that university; and having been transcribed by him, were published in 1710 under the title of Casauboniana. This collection consists of opinions con cerning various eminent writers, illustrations of passages 785 of Scripture, and philological observations and animadver sions on the first thirty-four years of the Annals of Baron ius. The materials and information which it contains are probably more accurate than is usually the case in works of the same description, as they were not reported by others, but were committed to writing by Casaubon himself while the works on which he commented remained fresh in his recollection. Besides the above a great many works, under the title of Ana, appeared in France about the same period. Thus, the opinions and conversation of Charpentier, Colomesius, and St Evremond were recorded in the Carpenter iana, Colomesiana, and St Evremoniana ; and those of Segrais in the Segraisiana, a collection formed by a person stationed behind the tapestry in a house where Segrais was accustomed to visit, of which Voltaire declared, &quot; que de tous les Ana c est celui qui merite le plus d etre mis au. rang des mensonges imprimis, et surtout des mensonges insipides.&quot; The Ana, indeed, from the popularity which they now enjoyed, were compiled in such numbers and with so little care that they became almost proverbial for inaccuracy. About the middle of the 18th century, too, they were sometimes made the vehicles of revolutionary and heretical opinions. Thus the evil naturally began to cure itself, and by a reaction the French A.na sunk in public esteem as much below their intrinsic value as they had formerly been exalted above it. Of the examples England has produced of this species of composition, perhaps the most interesting is the Wal- poliana, a transcript of the literary conversation of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford. That multifarious author spent a great portion of his time in conversation, and, possess ing opportunities of information enjoyed by few, was dis tinguished for his resources of anecdote, wit, and judicious remark. It was suggested to him that he ought to form a collection of anecdotes and observations, but this he declined, furnishing, however, the editor of the Walpoliana with many anecdotes in his own handwriting. After his death several specimens of this miscellany were published in the Monthly Magazine; and being afterwards enlarged by the recollections of the editor and the communications of others, were published in two volumes under the title of Walpoliana. Most other works which in this country have been published under the name of Ana, as Baconiana, Atterturyana, &c., are rather extracts from the writings and correspondence of eminent men than memorials of their conversation. There are some works which, though they do not bear the title, belong more strictly to the class of Ana than many of the collections which are known under that appella tion. Such are the Melanges d Histoire et de Litt&rature, published under the name of Vigneul Marville, though the work of a Benedictine, D Argonne; and the Locorum Com- munium Collectanea, ex Lectionifais Philippi Melanchthonis, a work of considerable reputation on account of its theological learning, and the information it communicates concerning the early state of the Reformed Church. But of those productions which belong to the class, though they do not bear the name, of Ana, the most celebrated are the Colloquia Mensalia of Luther and Selden s Table- Talk. The former, which comprehends the conversation of Luther with Ms friends and coadjutors in the great work of the Reformation, was first published in 1566. Captain Bell, who translated it into English in the time of the Commonwealth, informs us that, an edict having been pro mulgated commanding the works of Luther to be destroyed, it was for some time supposed that all the copies of the Colloquia Mensalia had been burned; but in 1626, on the foundation of a house being removed, a printed copy was found lyiaig in a deep hole, and wrapped up in a linen I. 99