Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/195

 ii s. vi. AUG. 24, i9i2.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

159

on Hooks.

History of English Literature from ' Beowulf ' to Sioinburne. By Andrew Lang. (Longmans & Co.)

WHILE we shall always have a special regard for this book as being the last to be written by Andrew Lang, we shall never take it down from our shelves without a feeling of pain as we recall how irksome the task must have been to him. A side-light in his preface reveals this : " The writer, indeed, would willingly have omitted not a few of the minor authors in pure literature, and devoted his space only to the masters." In that case we should have had a series of brilliant essays, with a corresponding gain to ou"r literature ; but Lang was not to be diverted from the purpose of the work, and, as the result, we have a brief history of our literature condensed into a volume of under seven hundred pages. It is needless to say that the work has been conscien- tiously done, and doubtless the author's object will be accomplished that is, " to arouse a living interest, if it may be, in the books of the past, and to induce the reader to turn to them himself." Mr. Lang laments the unhappy fact " that the works of a majority of the earlier authors are scarcely accessible, except in the publications of learned societies or in very limited editions ; but from Chaucer onwards the Globe editions are open to all ; and the great Cambridge ' History of English Literature ' is invaluable as a guide to the Bibliography."

While the book has in places too much of the personality of Lang to render it an unbiased text- book, yet its very faults will endear the work to his admirers, and to bookmen generally.

Extremely interesting are the introductory pages devoted to Anglo-Saxon literature, and the author evidently enjoyed writing them. He points out that, as the " early Anglo - Saxons did not employ rhyme, the peculiar cadence, with alliteration, of their verse cannot easily be reproduced, and there is much difference of opinion as to the prosody or scansion of Anglo-Saxon verse " ; and he advises the reader to remember that " their poets did not write for us, but for men of their own time, whose tastes and ways of thinking and living were in many respects very different from ours." This suggests that if we seek pleasure in the poetry of 500800 or of a somewhat later time we must " put our- selves as far as we can in the place of the hearers for whom it was composed." Twenty pages are allotted to Chaucer, " the earliest English poet who is still read for human pleasure."

The chapter on early Scottish literature is all too short. Of these poets the author remarks " that while, in initiative and in models, they owe almost all to England, their long and despe- rate war with that country gives them a martial fire and spirit to which the English poetry of the time furnishes HO rival. Laurence Minot does not stir the blood."

Under Shakespeare but short space is given to ' Hamlet,' of which " it is vain to speak briefly, and more than enough of speaking at large has been done by a myriad of commen- tators. .. .Shakespeare has left to the world a

marvel of subtle and penetrative thought, of tenderness, of humour ; to the critics, a wrangle- over psychological problems."

Lang defends the conduct of Bacon in making advances to James VI. of Scotland, and considers them to have been " judicious, and praiseworthy,, and even necessary " ; but he does not think that " the industry of his biographer Mr. Spedding: has wholly redeemed the character of Bacon, whose personality does not endear him to man- kind, and was hot on a level with his genius." In connexion with the defence of Bacon. Hepworth Dixon's ' Personal History of Lord Bacon " might have been mentioned.

Of Milton, Lang says : "In one sense he might be styled ' self-taught,' for while he was so deeply read, his verse was no echo, nor ever can be re-echoed. It is foolish but natural to appraise the relative greatness of great poets, but Shake- speare apart, it is to the lonely Milton that the world has always awarded the crown of England's greatest."

While Lang praises Cowper, the tone in some parts of the four pages devoted to him is too flippant for our liking ; but he says of ' The Castaway ' that it was " penned by no ' maniac's hand,' " and in reference to Cowper's letters that they " are reckoned among the best in our language, and their delightful wit and gaiety fortunately assure us that there was much happi- ness in a life so blameless."

One naturally turns to see what a Scotsman has to say of Scott. Among the novels, Lang considers that ' The Betrothed ' is " less appre- ciated than it ought to be " ; but ' Kenilworth ' is. styled " a most audaciously anachronistic tale." Of Scott's " galloping ' light horseman ' style of verse " he writes : " He made the dead past live again ; he repeopled with their dreams the roofless- towers of the Borders, the Highland caves and bothies, the deserted palaces and castles, whose last native king was then dying, a priest, in Bome^ His verses, read aloud to Wellington's men in Spain, inspirited them in the charge, as they awoke among all men what had long been slumber- ing, the love of poetry."

Those who use the work as a classbook will find the chronological arrangement excellent, and the whole is made easy of reference. There is a list of authors with dates, and the pages on which they are mentioned are given. An index of their works closes the volume.

We would suggest that future editions should contain a portrait of Mr. Lang.

BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES. AUGUST.

MR. L. C. BRAUN sends us his Catalogue No. 80, which contains nearly 800 items, having among them many of considerable interest which are not beyond the reach of people of moderate means. We noticed a copy of Fontana's ' Templum Vaticanum,' illustrated with 76 large plates, the text in Latin and Italian, Rome, 1694, II. 15s. ; a copy of Pierre de Lancre's ' Tableau de 1'Inconstance des mauvais Anges et Demons, ou il est amplement traicte' des Sorciers et de la Sorcelerie,' Paris, 1612, 21. 5s. ; the ' Life of William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle,' written by Margaret his wife, first edition, 1667, 21. Ws. ;: and Langbaine's ' An Account of English Dra- matic Poets ,' Oxford, 1691, 21. We may