HISTORICAL MEMOIR OF JOAN OF ARC, THE MAID OF ORLEANS.
Compiled from Authentic Sources. Boston: Patrick Donahoe. 1864
Our attention was first drawn to this work by a notice of it in that
sprightly paper, the _Round Table_. The writer of the notice therein
says: 'I am at a loss where to award its authorship, since it comes
anonymously, but from internal evidence it seems to be a translation
from the German, and to have been rendered likewise into French. It
seems also to have been written before the official publication of the
documentary evidence given on Joan's trial, which was committed to the
press for the first time in 1847, and which within ten years thereafter
was the occasion of an address to the present Emperor of the French,
accompanied by elaborate historical notes, praying him to take the
preliminary steps to secure the canonization of the Maid. It is always
to be regretted that a book is put forth, like the present, without any
vouchers for its authenticity, especially when the knowledge of its
origin dimly presents itself to the reader upon perusal.' We can imagine
no possible reason for the suppression of the name of the careful and
conscientious author of the work under consideration. Such suppressions
and literary piracies expose the writers and translators of America to
suspicion and censure. Have we any right to defraud an author of his
just fame, or to use his works to fill our own pockets, without at least
giving the name of the man to whose labors we stand indebted for our
whole tissue? We think our publishers should frown upon all such
attempts, bearing as they do upon the just claims of foreign authors.
The work in question is a translation from the German of Guido Görres,
the son of the great Görres, author of 'The History of Mysticism.' So
far as we have examined it, it gives the original without abridgment
until the thirtieth chapter, when, in the most interesting part of the
whole life, condensation and omissions begin. The ten last chapters of
the original are crowded into three. We have thirty-three chapters in
the translation, and forty in the original. Many of the most
characteristic, exciting, and intensely interesting passages of the
wonderful trial are excluded.
This work was first translated into English by Martha Walker Cook, and
was given to the public without abridgment in 1859, in the pages of the
_Freeman's Journal_, published in New York. The title page ran thus:
'Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans. An Authentic Life from
Contemporaneous Chronicles. From the German of Guido Görres. By Mrs.
Martha Walker Cook.' Mrs. Cook's translation has never appeared in book
form. The rendering of the work in question differs in many important
points from that given by Mrs. Cook. The life in the original is one of
exceeding interest. The standpoint of its author is a Catholic one, he
being a firm believer in the divinity of the mission of the maiden. Her
career was full of marvels, every step marked by the wildest romance
united to the strangest truths. Chained and exposed to the fury and
brutality of the English soldiery, defenceless and alone, she yet knew
how to preserve her virgin sanctity; the hero of the battle field, the
deliverer of her country from the rule of the foreigner, she shed not
human blood; deserted by her friends, she never ceased to pray for them;
bewildered, betrayed, tried and condemned by the clergy of her own
church, her firm faith never wavered. Her answers to the subtle
metaphysical questions propounded to her by her judges on purpose to
entrap her during her painful trial, are models of simplicity,
innocence, and faith, mingled with keen intellect and intuitive
perception of their bearing upon her fate. Maligned and persecuted by
the English, deserted by the French, forgotten by the king she saved
and crowned, betrayed and condemned by the ecclesiastics of the church
she honored--she perished in the flames with the name of the Saviour she
worshipped upon her pure, young lips. Her fame brightens with the
increasing light of our own century, and her canonization is now loudly
demanded from the Church. She has been celebrated in the most opposite
domains of human intelligence, by historians, romancers, theologians,
jurisconsults, philosophers, writers on tactics, politicians,
genealogists, heralds, preachers, orators, epic, tragic, and lyric
poets, magnetizers, demonologists, students of magic, rhapsodists,
biographers, journalists, and critics, and yet we have never met with a
single writer who appeared to comprehend her aright, or who was able to
do justice to the marvellous simplicity, truth, modesty, and force of
her character. A French author has drawn up a list of four hundred works
dedicated to her history, but as yet this uncultured girl of nineteen
has puzzled all her delineators!
THE NATIONAL ALMANAC AND ANNUAL RECORD FOR THE YEAR 1864.
Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 628 & 630 Chestnut street. For sale
by J. Bradburn, 49 Walker street, New York.
The value of this compilation as a book of reference can scarcely be
overestimated. Almost every question likely to be asked about officers,
offices, governments, finances, elections, education, armies, navies,
commerce, navigation, or public affairs, at home or abroad, is answered
herein. There are 600 pages of compactly and clearly printed matter, and
it is marvellous how much has been included in them through a judicious
system of condensation. Stores of information relating to the volunteers
furnished by the several States to the United States army; names, dates,
figures in detail of all the regimental organizations from all the
States and Territories; valuable records of the events of the war,
presented in a twofold form, first by tracing the operations of each of
the great armies, and then by noting the events in chronological
order--are given in these pages, where millions of figures and names
occur, with wonderful accuracy. Particulars of every vessel, with name,
armament, tonnage, &c., and details of the internal revenue system, are
placed before us. We cannot offer even an outline of the contents of
this volume, because the details are so multifarious that we could
compress their index into no reasonable space. A copy of this book
should be in the hands of every reader, thinker, and business man in the
country. It is indeed a 'little library,' a 'photograph of the world'
for the last two years of its rapid course.
MY CAVE LIFE IN VICKSBURG, WITH LETTERS OF TRIAL AND
TRAVEL. By a Lady. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 443 and 445
Broadway.
We are a magnanimous people, and we doubt not this simple record of a
woman's sufferings and terror will be read with interest, although she
is the wife of a Confederate officer. It gives us, indeed, the only
picture we have as yet seen of the interior of Vicksburg during its
ever-memorable siege; the only sketch of the hopes and fears of its
inhabitants. Its dedication is as follows: 'To one who, though absent,
is ever present, this little waif is tenderly and affectionately
dedicated.'
NEIGHBOR JACKWOOD. By J. T. Trowbridge. Boston: J. E.
Tilton & Company. For sale by D. Appleton & Co., New York.
A novel from Mr. Trowbridge, the author of 'Cudjo's Cave,' will always
command attention. He gives us no wayside episodes, rambling details, or
useless explanations. He seizes his story at the outset, and sustains
its interest to the close. His action is rapid, and every step is a
direct one to the final _dénouement_. He holds his reins with a firm
hand, and big incidents never swerve from an air-line track. His books
are characteristically American, and he uses the events and characters
of the hour with ability. Poor Charlotte, the heroine, is well drawn,
and her tale is one appealing to all human sympathies, yet, perhaps in
consequence of old and persistent prejudices, we cannot say we like this
work as well as 'Cudjo's Cave.' Many of our readers may like it better.
Grandmother Rigglesty is inimitable, and should be studied by all the
peevish, selfish, and exacting old women in the land.
* * * * *
In consequence of the space occupied by our Index, the remaining notices
of new books are unavoidably postponed until the issue of the ensuing
number.--ED. CON.