The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-03-16
NEW BOOKS.

! JOSEPH II AND HIS COURT, by Mrs. Muhlbach. Nc
York, D. Appleton l. Co. Charleston, John Russell.
This new authoress of historical romance
whose true name, it is said, is Mrs. CLARA MUND
has met with remarkable success. She was fir
introduced to the American public, during til
late war, by Mrs. CHANDRoN, Of Mobile, who tram
lated the above work for Messls. GoETzEL & Co
publishers, of that city. The book, comm
amongst us when there were whole armies Of reat
ing men thirsty for any kind Of intellectual pabr
lura, when the supply was extremely scanty, an
only to be had at long and irregular intervals me
with very cordial reception; and, it is said, ha
led to the introduction since then ct the othe
works of this authoress. The Messrs. APPLETo
have undertaken the sponsorship, and have al
| ready issued several Of her best books. sFREDE
! RICK the Great and His Court" the first of thei
series, TRANSLATED by Mrs. CHAPMAN CoLEMA'
and her daughters), is avery creditable perform
ance; but we cannot endorse the extrayagant en-
! comium bestowed upon it by many of on
contemporaries, who forthwith styled the au
thoress the German WALTER SCOTT. The bes
historical romance, perhaps, yet produced In Ger
many is HAUrr's L,chtenstein, written, we believe
before tho author had attained his Esd year
SpNDLER's Je,o, however, if it holds minor plac'
| as work Of genius, in our opi1ion, rivals any o
scoTT's master pieces in br.!iancy and faseina
ton, These, and others we could name, have
stood the test of time. They have passed through
innumerable editions, and still hold their owl
among the classic works of German fiction. The
MUHLBACH novels, in our opinion, are merely o.
ephemeral interest. The authoress wisely select
ed for her themes subjects which are just now Of
the greatest interest, and shed considerable light
on tho history and politics Of the day. The late
wars and great changes now in progress in the
Austrian monarchy give fresh and contemporary
interest to the story Of JOSEPH II and the recent
war i'm Germany lends charm to every thing re-
ating to Frederick Of Prussia, the founder, We
may say, of the Prussian State. he certainly gave
it it's first impulse to continental power and gran.
deur, and his name is indissolubly connected with
all that relates to Prussian glory and greatness.
Anything, therefore, relating to him and the great
men of his day, will be eagerly devoured, especial.
ly if presented in readable form and this, we are
bound to say, Mrs. sMr5L8AcH has succeeded in do
ing, with an exhibition of no little skill. She is
well versed in the history of that period, a con-
s,1mmate artist in drawing character pictures ;
and idealizes everything and everybody that falls
under her pen. We do not, however, think that
she possesses much dramatic faculty. Tnsre is
also an entire absence in oil her books, Of any
thing approaching in the renotest degree to what
is known among novel readers as s'plot." There
is moreover TOO much Of the sentimental, now by
general consent, as most emphatically by the YER
dict of good taste banished from the more re-
spectnble works Of prose fiction.
The Merchant Of Berlin, admirably translated
by Dr.. AMoRY COFFIN, of Aiken, 8. c., has also
been well received by the press of the country. It
is sad in tone, and not of character long to sur
vive the period of it's publication.
Be,nthal, said to be by the same authoress, =
whether or not We are unable to say,-is unmitga-
ted trash, not worth the time spent in it's perusal
Berlin and Sans Souci, recently published, we
have not yet read, but we understand itis sequel
to ssFrederick and his Court" although indepen-
dent in itself. The Messrs. APPLETON promise us
some half dozen more in the course Of the next
few months.
The work now before us, Joseph H., is the most
voluminors, and by many is considered the best
in our opinion, inferior to her Frederick and HIS
Court. The book, of right, should not be called o
historical novel, but rather collection Of anec-
dntns Tho -IAie,---ca and .Iesxrz
II The volume, which contains nearly three hun
dred and fifty closely printed double-columned
octave pages, covers the important period Of AUS
trian history between the accession Of KAuNrTz to
tho position Of Prime Minister, in 1754, and the
death of JOSEPH H., in 1890 It mingles romance
with actual events but is hardly more unfaithful to
fact than the mass Of so-caled histories, written
to support some preconoeived theory in politics
or morals. Pursuing the same plan as the
authors OF the schonberg Gotta and Mary Powell
series Of narratives, the writer has ransacked the
of the courtiers and dependents Of the
Empress MARu THERESA and her son JOSEPH, the
letters Of such gossiping chroniclers as WRAxA1I,
and the heavy but reliable volumes Of COKE and
other historians. Their statements she has woven
together with slender thread Of fiction, but we
find few events distorted or strained to meet the
demands Of dramatic. effect NorW this needed.
The skill and success with which Prince KAuNrz
labored to overcome the hereditary hate Of tho
house of Austria for that Of Bourbon, and to
cement an alliance political and matrimonial; the
frightful ravages Of small pox in tho imperial
tho sad and romantic fate Of JosEpHs
wives and sisters; his well-meant, but often alb
surd, reforms; the union Of brilliant talent with
childish weakness, which mado KAUNITz at once
the admiration and the butt of all Europe, are in
themselves themes Of greater interest than the
imagination could supply.
The book is, in 81 ort, rather q contribution to
history than to fiction. It's perusal will not super
code tho necessity Of reading soberer historical
treatises, but wo venture to say that better idea
Austrian politics and manners in the eighteenth
century can be derived from it than from merely
reading the annals and hostories Of the same
period.
Madame CHANDRoN's translation has earned the
commcndation of a|l the critics Of the country.
Her work, all agree in saying, has beon much
better performed than is usually the case; and in
this connection We may be pardoned for calling
attention to valuable series OF school books pre-
pared by this same lady. The accomplished au.
thoress of ST. Elmo, in private letter to the edi-
tor Of TIE News, some months ago, wrote Of Mrs
CHANDRoN and hor books as follows
During the past four years, TINS accomplished
and elegant author, Mrs. A. DeV. Chandron, o1
Mobile, has Iabored assiduousy, faithfully and
with signal success to supply necessity long pa.
tent to thoughtful observers, viz !: suitable text
books for Southern schools. The complicated ano
defective reading books with which New England
has flooded the country, suggested the proprietJ
of adopting more simple, and yet comprehensive
method Of teaching elocution, and in the happy
accomplishment OF her design, Mrs. uhandron has
certainly rendered the South her debtor. While
the system is equally admirable in it's simplicity
and careful elaboration, searching requistion ie
instituted in the domain Of Southern orthoepy, ant
numerous inaccuracies and even A5racanisnas, pc
culiar to our cction,-rcndered popular and polite
demncd and ostracized Tho judiciously selected
articles from standard English, French and Ger
man works, prove the aesthetic culture the exalted
ethical canons and refined taste of the gifted au
thor and the original contributions are charac
terized by the easy, graceful pure and elegant die
tion which has given to tho translator Of Josepl
the H., an extended and most enviable reputa