pendency of imaginative writers that Goethe acknowledges his own obligations to Oliver Goldsmith, whose "Vicar of Wakefield," at a critical moment of mental development, proved, he said, his best education. which he wrote in one week, to defray the | And though there is no literary parallel expenses of his mother's funeral and some in the case, it may not be amiss to mensmall debts which she had left. This tion here - for it exemplifies the interderapidity of composition is remarkable; but we may be certain that the story would not have been written in its present form if, more than twenty years before, Johnson had not translated Father Lobo's "Voyage to Abyssinia," a narrative which made a strong impression upon him. But the most curious fact about "Rasselas " is its similarity in some respects to Voltaire's "Candide," a work composed with a very different purpose. Writing of the two books, Boswell states: "I have heard Johnson say that if they had not been published so closely one after the other that there was not time for imitation, it would have been in vain to deny that the scheme of that which came latest was taken from the other." Look where we will in literature we see how the suggestions afforded by one work form the foundation upon which another is built. A writer, however independent, cannot walk without the help of his fellows. Cowper is a poet who, like his contemporary Crabbe, deserves the highest praise for originality, but Cowper's use of the heroic couplet is based upon that of Churchill, and his blank verse is founded upon the model of Milton. There are few books in the language more original than Charles Lamb's "Essays," and yet it may be confidently said that they would have been written in a different vein had he not been so familiar with the works of Sir Thomas Browne, and with such writers as Fuller, Cowley, and Donne. Cowley himself, by the way, to return for a moment to the seventeenth century, was the father of more than one poet who, without his genius, pursued the eccentric paths on which his Muse delighted to wander; and Cowley is largely indebted to Donne, whom, as Dr. Johnson says, it appears to have been his purpose to emulate. A really great writer conscious of his strength is never afraid to own his obligations. Sir Walter Scott nursed his genius among the Border minstrels, caught the lilt of his verse in the "Lay" from the more exquisite music of Coleridge's "Christabel," and acknowledged that his character of Fenella was suggested by Goethe's Mignon in "Wilhelm Meister." Perhaps enough has been said in illustration of a subject that is well-nigh inexhaustible. There is one lesson to be learnt from it useful alike to critic and to reader-namely, that it is unreasonable to attribute plagiarism to great writers because their works are not wholly unlike the mass of earlier literature. It is far more reasonable to suppose that they should have points of resemblance. Literature, like nature, has a thousand different aspects; but just as in nature, with its infinite variety of charm, the same sky bends over all, and the same earth is under our feet, so poets and men of letters look, though with different eyes indeed, on the same world, and study the same humanity. They must work in accordance with the limitations of which every writer is conscious; and it is not surprising, the soil of the literary field being what it is, that the fruit produced by two independent laborers should be occasionally alike. What, then, it may be asked, is plagiarism? We answer that it is the appropriation of literary property, without the ability to use it. There are scores of versifiers who have in this way appropriated Lord Tennyson's style, or Mr. Browning's, or Mr. Swinburne's, and the result has been a feeble musical echo in the first case, a contempt of metre and grammar in the second, and an overflowing verbiage in the third. The plagiarist is the man who has nothing to say on his own account. The man of genius, on the contrary, when he borrows turns what he touches into gold, and gives a new beauty to what is beautiful already. He is content to use whatever materials he can gain access to, but he stamps upon them the impression of his own genius. And so it is that the poet, looking upon the objects that are common to us all, is able by the light of imagination to "flatter the mountain-tops," and to "gild pale streams with heavenly alchemy." JOHN DENNIS. THE ONLY REMAINING COMPLETE SETS THE LIVING LIVING AGE, AT A LARGE DISCOUNT. The publishers have a small number of Complete Sets of LITTELL'S Living AGE, which they offer at a large reduction from former prices. As the Sets cannot be reprinted, the last opportunity is now offered not only to procure them cheaply, but to procure them at all. The last number of the year 1872 completed the Fourth Series, and the One Hundred and Fifteenth Volume, from the beginning of the publication. The regular price of volumes has been, in numbers, two dollars per volume, or, bound in cloth, three dollars per volume. The publishers now offer the Complete Sets to the close of 1872 (115 volumes), as follows: In numbers, or sheets, ready for binding, at one-half the subscription price, viz. : $1.00 per volume; or, bound in black cloth, gilt lettered backs, at $1.75 per volume. Purchasers of Complete Sets of the First Four Series may at their option, include the whole, or any part, of the Fifth Series, to the end of 1891 (76 volumes), at the same rate. It is hardly necessary to say to those acquainted with the work, that the same amount of such valuable reading cannot otherwise be purchased with three times the money for which it is here offered; and while this reduction in price places Sets within the reach of individuals possessing or forming private libraries, the attention of those interested in State, City, Town, College, or School Libraries is particularly called to this last opportunity of supplying their shelves with a complete work which it is believed no library in the country can (under this offer) afford to be without. When packing boxes are necessary in forwarding Sets, the cost of the boxes will be added to the bill. Address LITTELL & CO., 31 Bedford Street, Boston. E. LITTELL'S LIVING AGE. Extracts from Notices. The Churchman, New York, says: — "This magazine is so well known that it hardly needs at this late day any extended commendation. Each number is in itself a photograph, so to speak, of contemporary foreign literature, all the best articles from the foreign magazines and reviews being republished. Any library possessing a full set of THE LIVING AGE has on its shelves a perfect reproduction of the best English thought for the past forty years and more." The Congregationalist, Boston, says: — "A wise judgment is displayed in the selection of its contents, which are varied and entertaining while also solid and permanently useful. Among all its rivals it pursues its way tranquilly and successfully. We do not know where to look for its equal in its own line." The Presbyterian Banner, Pittsburgh, says: — "Its immense proportions-four large volumes every year-do not constitute its chief merit: for were these volumes trash, the more there were the worse it would be. But the contents of THE LIVING AGE are culled with rare taste and excellent judgment from the vast and rich field of European periodical literature. It is thus, for readers of limited leisure or purse, the most convenient and available means of possessing themselves of the very best results of current criticism, philosophy, science, and Ilterature. Nor is the selection of its articles onesided, but with impartial justice the various phases of modern thought are presented as set forth by their most distinguished exponents. The foremost writers of the time in every department are represented on Its pages." The Christian at Work, New York, says it is "The best of all the works of its kind. It represents in the fullest sense the high-water mark of the best literature of the times. It is the cream of all that Is good. Embracing as it does the choicest literature of the magazines and reviews of the day, culled with a discrimination and judgment that is most remarkable, it is one of the most interesting and valuable publications of the times. It is a complete library in itself. We cannot note a single point where improvement could be made; and yet it does seem to grow better, richer, and more valuable with every issue. With this publication alone, a man ought to be able to keep well abreast of the literary current of the times." The New-York Observer says: "It would be difficult to select a choicer library than that which is found in the volumes of THE LIV ING AGE." The Christian Intelligencer, New York, says: It is indispensable to busy men and women who wish to know the course and achievements of the literature of Great Britain." Zion's Herald, Boston, says: — "It becomes more and more necessary, as well as valuable, as the field of periodical literature broadens.. It has no peer." The Watchman, Boston, says: The New-York Tribune says: "Its pages teem with the choicest literature of the day, selected with wide knowledge and admirable tact, and furnishing a complete introduction to the best thoughts of the best writers whose impress is deeply stamped upon the characteristics of the age. No reader who makes himself familiar with its contents can lack the means of a sound literary culture." The Times, Philadelphia, says: "In no other form can so much thoroughly good reading be got for so little money; in no other form can so much instruction and entertainment be got in so small a space." The Philadelphia Inquirer says: "When one is confined to the choice of but one magazine out of the brilliant array which the demands of the time have called into existence, it is indeed an injustice to one's self not to make selection of Littell's LIVING AGE, wherein is condensed what is most valuable of the best of them." The North American, Philadelphia, says: "It affords the best, the cheapest, and most convenient means of keeping abreast with the progress of thought in all its phases." Every Evening, Wilmington, Del., says: — "Each number of THE LIVING AGE proves how truly the thought of the age finds its keenest expression and latest development in periodicals. Not to keep up with them is to be outside the intellectual world." The Courier, Lowell, Mass., says: "If one wishes to keep abreast of the intellectual march of mankind, he not only should, but must, The San Francisco Chronicle says:read regularly THE LIVING AGE." "Coming weekly, it has a great advantage over the monthly magazines and reviews in giving the freshest and best of foreign essays, reviews, tales, and sketches of travel and adventure." The Albany Argus says: "It is edited with great skill and care, and its weekly appearance gives it certain advantages over its monthly rivals." The Cincinnati Gazette says it is "As much in the forefront of ecleotic publications as at its start forty years ago." The Montreal Gazette says it is "Remarkably cheap for the quality and amount of reading furnished." The Indianapolis Journal says it "Grows better as the years roll on." The Boston Journal says: - "To turn over these richly laden pages is to expose one's self to a perpetual temptation to pause and read some suggestive or striking essay, sketch, or poem. Excellent discrimination is shown in the selections, -for in this, as in all editing, the crucial test is the knowing what not to print, and the result is that the reader of THE LIVING AGE has the best of the foreign literature wisely sifted and brought before him in a very convenient shape." The Commonwealth, Boston, says: "Whatever is not known and published by the editors of THE LIVING AGE is not worth knowing." The Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa', says: - "We can only repeat what we have already said, that THE LIVING AGE leads all other publications of its kind, not only in years, but in merit.. Biography. fiction, science, criticism, history, poetry, travels, whatever men are interested in, all are found here. and it is truly a panoramic exhibition of the Living Age. It furnishes more for the money it costs than any other periodical within our knowledge." The Southern Churchman, Richmond, says: "If we could get but one magazine, we would get say a word in praise of THE LIVING AGE; but it is this." The Christian Advocate, New York, says: "It has no rival. And if but one magazine can be read, this should certainly be the choice.' The Boston Traveller says: "It absolutely seems a work of supererogation to really so good a thing in its way that we cannot withhold our word of commendation. We have been fa "It deserves its age, and the affection which it has miliar with its pages for nearly fifty years; and earned." The Observer, St. Louis, Mo., says: "It is certainly the most valuable weekly published." The Living Church, Chicago, says: "It is simply invaluable, bringing to us as it does, week by week, the very cream of all the current literature of the day." ADDRESS though its earlier contents were variegated and most excellent, better is the end of this thing than the beginning."" The Commercial Advertiser. Detroit, says it is The cheapest magazine for the amount of matter published in the United States." The Courier-Journal, Louisville, says it is Published Weekly at $8.00 a year, free of postage. LITTELL & CO., 31 Bedford Street, Boston. |
0 Recensies Reviews worden niet geverifieerd, maar Google checkt wel op nepcontent en verwijdert zulke content als die wordt gevonden. Review schrijven |