Page:What is art - 1899.djvu/11

 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE THE fundamental thought expressed in this book leads inevitably to conclusions so new, so unex- pected, and so contrary to what is usually maintained in literary and artistic circles, that although it is clearly and emphatically expressed (and this I hope has not been lost in translation), most readers who wish to pos- sess themselves of it will have to read the work care- fully, and to digest it slowly.

Especially the introductory Chapters II., III., IV., and V., need careful perusal by any who, having adopted one or other of the current theories on beauty and art, may find it difficult to abandon a preconceived view, and to clear their minds for a fair appreciation of what is new to them.

The first four chapters raise the problem, and tell us briefly what has been said by previous writers. Chap- ter III. gives (in highly condensed form) the substance of the teaching of some sixty philosophers on this sub- ject, and since many of them were extremely confused, the chapter cannot, in the nature of things, be easy reading.

I should like to remark, in passing, that though Tol- stot in this chapter (presumably for convenience of veri- fication) refers chiefly to the compilations of Schasler, Kralik, and Knight, he has gone behind these authori- ties to the primary sources. To give a single instance : in the paragraph on Darwin, the foot-note refers us to Knight, but the remark that the origin of the art of music may be traced back to the call of the males to the females in the animal world will be found in Dar- win, but will not be found in Knight.

In Chapter V. we come to Tolstoi's definition of art,