New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-12-31
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
THE TALES OF TWO TRAVELLERS.

Illustrated. Octave. PIP. viii. $50. Charles Serb
ners Sons.
JOHN MAUNDEvILE. KT. Being His Noy,
age and Travel. Which Trea;eth OF the Way 10
Islands and i' Countries Edit and profasey n
Illustrated by Arthur l.ayard, with Preface ,9 oy
John Cameron Grant. octave. PIP NAN' ~
Macmillan a. Co.
Students jealous for the honor OF history. who
never think Of Jean Froissart save as the
chronicler OF certain actual happenings. may
not feel that book about him and book con-
tainlng the narrative Of Sir John Maundevile
necessarily go together The volumes do not.
indeed. stand side by side. of necessity. But II
we allow any weight TO the spirit animatins
both Frenchman and Englshman. we must ad-
init a peculiar fitness in the association of the
one with the other in brief glance at one
phase OF medieval literature. In that liter
AZURE, for the reader who respects erudition but
prefers a sympathetic human view Of human
achievements. Froissart and Vaudeville are In
separable. We use the modern form OF the
English authors name rather than that 10
which Mr. Layard has adhered In his new
edition Of THE Marvellous Adventures; but In
making this concession to usage and TO the
photographed gods We do not lose sight OF the
immortal travellers immortal qualnness lie
may be called Vaudeville. since his posterity
has decided that this is best for him. but TO the
imagina ton he is still the same Sir John Maunde-
vile KIT, who talks on delightfully."- through
some Of the mos, bewitching of the most archa-
&c manuscripts In the world OF Froissart SINH
larry II is impossible for Nine. Darmesteter to
say anything profound. so critical so scien-
tifc, that he comes nearer our sense of actual
ity instead Of our imaginative sense Of what is
romantic and elusive. Froissart and Vaudeville
both. though CLOSED by thousand editors
remain two great romancers, two essentially po-
etic figures in the literature Of their time. Both
lived and worked in the fourteenth century. but
both belong TO the present age through their
superiority 10 the mere facts of any set space
Of years.
Nine. DarYnesteter has provided within her
two dozen brief chapters an excellent survey
of her hero and his work. She tells us who
Froissart was how he wrote his masterpiece,
and to some extent. she revives that sketch or
a busy curious little Frenchman which every
lover of the Chronicles" has pieced out from
his various authorities, and has kept In mind
as equivalent TO a biography. II must always
remain sketch. The evidence is not at hand
for q fuller portrait and. lacking this COM
p,ete biography, one turns willingly 10 just
such a compact little memoir as Nine. Darine-
steter has written. 1t will I'LL the place, IN the
present clear translation of those voluminous
French writers who have themselves oeen OF
service TO our author. 1t is less important, now
ever we repeat. for il 10 ill the place OF such
contributions TO the literature of Froissart as
have been made by Viemain. Nisard buchoh
and Others than 1t is for il 10 repeat, FOR exam
pie the vivid and winning appeal OF Salhte-
Beuve That genial critic warmed to MS theme
when he wrote of Froissart and the two eau
series du Lundi." published in October 1885,
are TO this day the most eloquent estimates ex-
tant of the famous chronicler. 1t is pleasant 10
see that Nine. Darmesteter is in sympathy WIN
her predecessor on the point which seems to us
most essential In consideration OF Frolssart.
She sees in that parsonage a man Of warm
Imagination man whose heart was stirred by
nothing so swiftly as by the sound of trumpet
a writer whose taste for literature was streaked
through and through with the passion for chiv-
airy which would be expected of soldier born
and bred. This side of Froissart's nature is adj
mirably handled in Nine. Darmesteter's MARIA
tive. and 1t is in her conception of the author
as a man that she will prove most useful to stu
denis For II is the man in Frossart TO whom
we owe most IL Is to the man that We owe the
hcartiness OF feeling the spontaneity Of style
which distinguish the Chronicles The same
N might be said Of most writer's OF conse-
auence but the words have special sig-
= nincance when applied TO Froissart. With him
there is always certain raciness, a certain
quality Of personal enjoyment. which puts all
literary questions out of sight and makes the
Chronicles" seem. for all their historical char
"Chroncles" seem. for all their historical char
ncter soliloquy in extenso. narrative in
which the first thing to be realized is the i'm
bulsive utterance of the central figure. Fro!s-
sart remains outside the action and at the same
time gives an impression of picturesque gest-
ures. of swift natural speech which could only
come from one who had himself witnessed the
events described shared in them 10 the bitter
end. Sante-Beuve. from whom 1t is difficult to
60 very far in dealing with Froissart, has re-
,narkably Just observation on this point. "Frois-
sart." he says "a certain egards, nest quun
contour, mais contour a la plus haute puts
sance s'appliquant de preference aux fats
d'armes ct aux episodes epiques. un contour
E,eve rhistorien." The passage covers the
whole genius OF Frossart. 'Un contour eleve
rhistorien," teller of tales raised to
the rank Of an historan-there is Froissart
depicted in a phrase. and the phrase Is one as
expressive as ii is apt
Frossart giving in his epical narrative, lie
Milan general CONNIE dams une relation moderne
ct chadue duel singulier CONNIE dams un COM
bat de IIliade" is, nevertheless. for all his at
tributes Of clear vision and exact statement
pre-eminently a lyric writer man for whom
even the keenest realities soar upward on poetic
wings into sphere where reality takes on
newer charm. We do not mean by this to re-
verse the observation of Sainte-Beuve and to
portray Froissart as rising from fact to fancy
from the region OF history 10 that Of poetic
yagueness. 1t is rather that as he is raised
from the rank Of the story-teller to that of the
historian ne is also raised from material to
an imaginative sense Of things. Compare him.
In snite OF the seeming difficulties with Gibbon.