PEER GYNT: A Dramatic Poem. BY HENRIK IBSEN.
TRANSLATED BY WILLIAM AND CHARLES ARCHER.
_This Translation, though unrhymed, preserves throughout the various
rhythms of the original._
“In _Brand_ the hero is an embodied protest against the poverty
of spirit and half-heartedness that Ibsen rebelled against in his
countrymen. In _Peer Gynt_ the hero is himself the embodiment of that
spirit. In _Brand_ the fundamental antithesis, upon which, as its
central theme, the drama is constructed, is the contrast between the
spirit of compromise on the one hand, and the motto ‘everything or
nothing’ on the other. And _Peer Gynt_ is the very incarnation of a
compromising dread of decisive committal to any one course. In _Brand_
the problem of self-realisation and the relation of the individual
to his surroundings is obscurely struggling for recognition, and in
_Peer Gynt_ it becomes the formal theme upon which all the fantastic
variations of the drama are built up. In both plays alike the problems
of heredity and the influence of early surroundings are more than
touched upon; and both alike culminate in the doctrine that the only
redeeming power on earth or in heaven is the power of love.”--Mr. P. H.
WICKSTEED.
London: WALTER SCOTT, LIMITED, 24 Warwick Lane.
_Foolscap 8vo, Cloth, Price 3s. 6d._
THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL (Or “REVIZÓR.”)
A RUSSIAN COMEDY.
BY NIKOLAI VASILIYEVICH GOGOL.
Translated from the original Russian, with Introduction and Notes, by
A. A. SYKES, B.A., Trinity College, Cambridge.
Though one of the most brilliant and characteristic of Gogol’s works,
and well-known on the Continent, the present is the first translation
of his _Revizór_, or Inspector-General, which has appeared in English.
A satire on Russian administrative functionaries, the _Revizór_ is a
comedy marked by continuous gaiety and invention, full of “situation,”
each development of the story accentuating the satire and emphasising
the characterisation, the whole play being instinct with life and
interest. Every here and there occurs the note of caprice, of
naïveté, of unexpected fancy, characteristically Russian. The present
translation will be found to be admirably fluent, idiomatic, and
effective.
London: WALTER SCOTT, LIMITED, 24 Warwick Lane.
IBSEN’S FAMOUS PROSE DRAMAS.
EDITED BY WILLIAM ARCHER.
Complete in Five Vols. Crown 8vo, Cloth, Price ³⁄₆ each. Set of Five
Vols., in Case, ¹⁷⁄₆; in Half Morocco, in Case, ³²⁄₆.
“_We seem at last to be shown men and women as they are; and at first
it is more than we can endure.... All Ibsen’s characters speak and act
as if they were hypnotised, and under their creator’s imperious demand
to reveal themselves. There never was such a mirror held up to nature
before: it is too terrible.... Yet we must return to Ibsen, with his
remorseless surgery, his remorseless electric-light, until we, too,
have grown strong and learned to face the naked--if necessary, the
flayed and bleeding--reality._”--SPEAKER (London).
VOL. I. “A DOLL’S HOUSE,” “THE LEAGUE OF YOUTH,” and “THE PILLARS OF
SOCIETY.” With Portrait of the Author, and Biographical Introduction by
WILLIAM ARCHER.
VOL. II. “GHOSTS,” “AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE,” and “THE WILD DUCK.” With
an Introductory Note.
VOL. III. “LADY INGER OF ÖSTRÅT,” “THE VIKINGS AT HELGELAND,” “THE
PRETENDERS.” With an Introductory Note and Portrait of Ibsen.
VOL. IV. “EMPEROR AND GALILEAN.” With an Introductory Note by WILLIAM
ARCHER.
VOL. V. “ROSMERSHOLM,” “THE LADY FROM THE SEA,” “HEDDA GABLER.”
Translated by WILLIAM ARCHER. With an Introductory Note.
The sequence of the plays _in each volume_ is chronological; the
complete set of volumes comprising the dramas thus presents them in
chronological order.
“The art of prose translation does not perhaps enjoy a very high
literary status in England, but we have no hesitation in numbering
the present version of Ibsen, so far as it has gone (Vols. I.
and II.), among the very best achievements, in that kind, of our
generation.”--_Academy._
“We have seldom, if ever, met with a translation so absolutely
idiomatic.”--_Glasgow Herald._
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THE MUSIC OF THE POETS: A MUSICIANS’ BIRTHDAY BOOK.
EDITED BY ELEONORE D’ESTERRE KEELING.
THIS is a unique Birthday Book. Against each date are given the names
of musicians whose birthday it is, together with a verse-quotation
appropriate to the character of their different compositions
or performances. A special feature of the book consists in the
reproduction in fac-simile of autographs, and autographic music, of
living composers. Three sonnets by Mr. Theodore Watts, on the “Fausts”
of Berlioz, Schumann, and Gounod, have been written specially for this
volume. It is illustrated with designs of various musical instruments,
etc.; autographs of Rubenstein, Dvorâk, Greig, Mackenzie, Villiers
Stanford, etc., etc.
London: WALTER SCOTT, LTD., 24 Warwick Lane.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Scaramuccio and Pierrot represent species of buffoons of the early
theatre.--ED.
[2] This was a thrust at Göttingen, which town Heine here couples with
six others, notorious as the local scenes in comic literature.
[3] The name of a gigantic cask of wine of 1624, one of the special
sights of the Bremen Rathskeller. It is tapped only on great occasions,
and in 1870 the town of Bremen sent a number of bottles of this wine to
the Emperor William and Prince Bismarck at Versailles, as a valuable
gift of honour.--ED.
[4] The Devil is the speaker.
[5] Even at the present day persons conspicuously marked in a student’s
fray are not allowed to enter the theological profession, unless there
is a fair prospect that the scar may be hidden under a prospective
beard.
[6] The Duke was a pronounced woman-hater, and objected most vehemently
to the contraction of marriages by persons in any way connected with
his little court. The Konrektor intended to profit by this interview
as a means of influencing the Duke in favour of a young runner who had
been imprisoned for the crime of making love.
[7] Reuter and his companions were at this time political prisoners at
the fort of Dömitz, in Mecklenburg, his sentence of death having been
converted into one of thirty years’ imprisonment.
[8] In a previous number of the _Salon_ Lindau had published a keenly
satirical article on Professor Minckwitz’s writings, culminating in
a parody on his style, entitled, “The Death of a Youthful Hero,” and
purporting to be an extract from the professor’s epic poem.
[9] A modern German Literature written by Professor Minckwitz.
[10] Vulgar for Nichto, nothing.
[11] _Carcer_, a place of imprisonment common to German gymnasiums and
universities.
[12] A small town near Berlin.
Corrections
p. 40
FRAU MONGENROTH.
FRAU MORGENROTH.
p. 165
toward Neu-Bradenburg,
toward Neu-Brandenburg,
p. 168
“_Oh, thou monster!_” said Langwickel
“_Oh, thou monster!_” said Langnickel
p. 246
Barbara walked slowly away to make up the beds in the _refenetle_.
Barbara walked slowly away to make up the beds in the _rafenetle_.
p. 318
It is unnecessay to say anything
It is unnecessary to say anything
p. 373
could scarcely he regarded
could scarcely be regarded