Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/391

377 LITERATURE.] H U N G A 11 Y 377 1 uage 7- 1 3). purely linguistic works the best known are his Ortographia es Pro- sodia (Komarom, 1800) ; and the Kisdcd Sz6tdr (Kassa, 1784 and 1792) or &quot;Small Lexicon&quot; of rare Hungarian words. As a philo logist Baroti was far surpassed by Revai, whose linguistic labours have already been alluded to (see above, LANGUAGE) ; but as a poet he may be considered superior to Rajnis, translator of Virgil s Bucolics and Gcorgics, and author of the Magyar Helikonra vczeto kalauz (Guide to the Magyar Helicon, 1781). The &quot;classical&quot; school reached its highest state of culture under Virag, whose poetical works, consisting chiefly of Horatian odes and epistles, on account of the perfection of their style, obtained for him the name of the &quot; Magyar Horace.&quot; The Puctai Munkai (Poetical Works) of Virag were published at Pest in 1799, and again in 1822. Of his prose works the most important k the Magyar Szdzadok or &quot; Prag matic History of Hungary &quot; (Buda, 1808 and 1816). Valyi-Nagy, the first Magyar translator of Homer, belongs rather to the &quot;popu lar &quot; than the &quot; classical &quot; school. His translation of the Iliad appeared at Sarospatak in 1821. The establishment of the &quot;national&quot; or &quot;popular&quot; school is attributable chiefly to Andrew Dugonies, though his earliest works, Troja veszcdclme (1774) and Ulysses (1780), indicate a classical bias. His national romances, however, and especially Etelka (Pozsony, 1787) and Az arany jyer- eczek(Pest and Pozsony, 1790), attracted public attention, and were soon adapted for the stage. The most valuable of his productions is his collection of &quot; Hungarian Proverbs and Famous Sayings,&quot; which appeared in 1820 at Szeged, under the title of Magyar pel- dabcszedek is jdes monddsok. The most noteworthy follower of Dugonies was Adam Horvath, author of the epic poems Hunnidsz (Gyor, 1787) and Rudolphidsz (Vienna, 1817). Joseph Gvadanyi s tripartite ovkFalusi notdrius (Village Notary), published between 1790 and 1796, as also his Ront6 Pal es gr. Benyowszky tortenetcik (Adventures of Paul Ronto and Count Benyowski), are humorous and readable, but careless in style. As writers of didactic poetry may be mentioned John Endrody, Caspar Gb bb l, Joseph Takacs, and Barbara Molnar, the earliest distinguished Magyar poetess. Of a more general character, and combining the merits of the above schools, are the works of the authors who constituted the so- called &quot; Debreczen Class, &quot;which boasts the names of the naturalist and philologist John Fbldi, compiler of a considerable part of the Debreczeni magyar grammatica Michael Fazekas, author of Ludas Mtttyi (Vienna, 1817), an epic poem, in 4 cantos ; and Joseph Kovacs. Other precursors of the modern school were the poet and philologist Francis Vcrseghy, whose works extend to nearly forty volumes ; the gifted didactic prose writer, Joseph Karman ; the metrical rhymster, Gideon Raday ; the lyric poets, Szentjobi Szabo, John Bacsanyi, and the short-lived Gabriel Dayka, whose posthum ous &quot;Verses&quot; were published in 1813 by Kazinczy. Still more celebrated were Michael Csokonai and Alexander Kisfaludy. The former is one of the most original and genial of poets, his style somewhat resembling that of Petb ri. The best edition of Csokonai s works was published by Toldy (Pest, 1844). The first volume of Alexander Kisfaludy s Himfy, a series of short lyrics of a descriptive and reflective nature, appeared at Buda in 1801, under the title of Kesergtj szerelein (Unhappy Love), and was received with such applause as but few books have ever met with ; nor was the success of the second volume Boldog szcrelcm (Happy Love), which appeared in 1807, inferior. The Regek, or &quot;Tales of the Past,&quot; were published at Buda from 1807 to 1808, and still further increased Kisfaludy s fame ; but in his dramatic works he was not equally successful. Journalistic literature in the native language begins with the Magyar Hirmondd (Harbinger) started by Matthias Rath at Pozsony in 1780. Among the magazines the most important was the Magyar Muzcum, established at Kassa (Kaschau) in 1788 by Baroti, Kazinczy, and Bacsanyi. The Orpheus (1790) was the special work of Kazinczy, and the Urania (1794) of Karman and of Pajor. Closely connected with the preceding period is that of the &quot; Revival of the Language&quot; (1807-1830), with which the name of Francis Kazinczy is especially associated. To him it was left to perfect that work: of restoration begun by Baroti and amplified by Revai. Poetry and belles lettres still continued to occupy the chief place in the native literature, but under Kazinczy and his immediate followers Berzsenyi, Kolcsey, Fay, and others, a correctness of style and excellence of taste hitherto unknown soon became apparent. Kazinczy, in his efforts to accommodate the national language to the demands of an improved civilization, availed himself of the treasures of European literature, but thereby incurred the opposition of those who were prejudiced by a too biased feeling of nationality. The opinions of his enemies were ventilated in a lampoon styled Mondolat. His bellelettristic works, or Szep Iateratura(Peat, 1814-16), extend to 9 vols., consisting in great part of translations. His Ercdcti Mukdi (Original Works), in 5 vols., appeared at Pest in 1836-45, under the joint editorship of Bajza and Toldy. Daniel Berzsenyi, whose odes are among the finest in the Hungarian language, was the correspond ent of Kazinczy, and like him a victim of the attacks of the Mondolat. But the fervent patriotism, elevated style, and glowing diction of Berzsenyi soon caused him to be recognized as a truly national bard. A too frequent allusion to Greek mythological names is a defect sometimes observable in his writings. His collective works were published at Buda by Dbbrentei in 1842. Those of John Kis, the friend of Berzsenyi, cover a wide range of subjects, and comprise, besides original poetry, many translations from the Greek, Latin, French, German, and English, among which last may be mentioned renderings from Blair, Pope, and Thomson, and notably his trans lation, published at Vienna in 1791, of Lowth s &quot;Choice of Hercules. &quot; The style of Kis is unaffected and easy. As a sonnet writer none stands higher than Paul Szemere, known also for his rendering of Kbrner s drama Zrinyi (1818), and his contributions to the Elet es Litcratura (Life and Literature). The articles of Francis Kolcsey in the same periodical are among the finest speci mens of Hungarian sesthetical criticism. The lyric poems of Kolcsey can hardly be surpassed, whilst his orations, and markedly the EmUk bcszed Kazinczy fclett (Commemorative Speech on Kazinczy), exhibit not only his own powers, but the singular excellence of the Magyar language as an oratorical medium. Andrew Fay, sometimes styled the &quot;Hungarian jEsop,&quot; was an industrious writer in almost every branch of literature during both this and the following period, but is now chiefly remembered for his Ercdcti Mesek (Original Fables). The dramatic works of Charles Kisfaludy, brother of Alexander, won him enthusiastic recognition as a regenerator of the drama. His plays, moreover, bear a distinctive national character, the subjects of most of them referring to the golden era of the country. His genuine simplicity as a lyrical writer is shown by the fact that several of his shorter pieces have passed into popular song. As the earliest Magyarizer of Servian folk-song, Michael Vitkovics did valuable service. Not without interest to Englishmen is the name of Gabriel Dbbrentei, the translator of Shakespeare s &quot;Macbeth,&quot; represented at Pozsony in 1825, and of Sterne s &quot;Letters from Yorick to Eliza,&quot; Yorick es Eliza Icvclci (Pest, 1828). But his chief merit in the eyes of his fellow-countrymen were his editorship of the Kolozsvar Erdelyi Muzeum (1814-18, vol. x. ), and his laborious compilation of the Rcgi Magyar NyclvemUkek (Memorials of the Magyar Language), which works are among the most important contributions to the literary history of the nation. An historical poem of a somewhat philosophical nature was produced in 1814 by Andreas Horvath. under the title of Zircz cmUkezcte (Reminiscence of ,Zircz) ; but his Arpdd, in 12 books, finished in 1830, and published at Pest in the following year, is a great national epic. Among other poets of this period were Alois Szentmiklossy, George Gaal, Emil Buczy, Joseph Szasz, Ladislaus Toth, and Joseph Katona, author of the much- extolled historical drama Bank Ban. 1 Izidore Guzmics, the trans lator of Theocritus into Magyar hexan eters, is chiefly noted for his prose writings on ecclesiastical and philosophical subjects. As authors of special works on philosophy, we find Samuel Kbteles, John Imre, Joseph Ruszek, Daniel Ercsei, and Paul Sarvari ; as a theologian and Hebraist John Somossy ; as an historian and philo logist Stephen Horvath, who endeavoured to trace the Magyar descent from the earliest historic times ; as writers on jurisprudence Alexander Kbvy and Paul Szlemenics. (For an account of the his torian George Fejer, the laborious compiler of the Codex Diplomati- cus, see FEJR, vol. ix. pp. 64, 65.) The establishment of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences 2 (17th Academy November 1830) marks the commencement of a new period, in period the first eighteen years of which gigantic exertions were made as (corn- regards the literary and intellectual life of the nation. The Ian- mencing gunge, nursed by the academy, developed rapidly, and showed its 1830). capacity for giving expression to almost every form of scientific knowledge. 3 By offering rewards for the best original dramatic productions, the academy provided that the national theatre should not suffer from a lack of classical dramas. During the earlier part of its existence the Hungarian academy devoted itself mainly to the scientific development of the language and philological research. Since its reorganization in 1869 the academy has, however, paid equal attention to the various departments of history, archaeology, national economy, and the physical sciences. The encouragement of polite literature was more especially the object of the Kisfaludy Society, founded in 1S36. 4 1 The subject is similar to that of Giillpnrzer s tragedy, Ein treuer Diener seines Herrn. 2 it was founded in 182&quot;. throncrh the generosity of Count Szc chcnyi, who de voted his whole ineome for one year (60.000 florins) to the purpose. It was soon supported by contributions from nil quarters except from the Government. 3 Among the earlier publications of the academy were the Tudom&nylar (Treasury of Sciences, 1834-44), with its supplement Literatura the Kuljiiltli jdtfkfzin (Foreign Theatres); the Miigi/ar ntielv rcn&amp;lt;lszi&amp;gt;re (System of the Hun garian language, 184(5; 2d ed., 1847); various dictionaries of scientific, mathe matical, philosophical, and legal terms; nn Hungarian-German dictionary (1835- 38); and a Glossary of Provincialisms (1S38). The Xagy-Szoldr (Great Dictionary), begun by O.uc/.or and FogHrasi in 1845. was not issued till 1862-74. Among the regular organs of the academy are the &quot;Transactions&quot; (fiom 1840), in some (JO VoK, and the &quot;Annuals.&quot; &amp;lt; Among its earlier productions were the Xen.zeti tonyvtar (Xational Library), published 1843-47. and continued in 1852 under the title L jubb Xeimeti konyvt&r, a repository of works by celebrated authors; the Kiilfolili Regenytdr (Treasury of Foreign Komancrs), consisting of translations; and some valuable collections of proverbs, folk-songs, traditions, and fables. Of the many later publications of the Kisfaludy society tin; most important as regards English literature is the Shakfprre Mindcn ifunldi (Complete Works of Shakespeare), in 19 vols. (1864-78) yn 43