New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-02-25
Il NAV safely be asserted. please than few


Professor Harry Thurston Peck considers the
"Cena Trimalchionis" Of Petronius Arbiter "one OF
the great masterpieces Of comic literature" Also
he values II as representing stage IN the eVoIu-
tion Of realistic fiction. He supports his concur
s,ons by long essay included in Trimalchios DIN
ner" Dodd, Mead & Coz. volume when SHOWS
scholarship from cover in the essay afore-
said in the translation from Petronius ana IN 'he
b,bliosraphica appendix We respect the scholar
ship to the extent OF preferrlng the 'htrouu0
ton to the work which has suggested H. froles-
sor Peck knows his Latin literature very well anu
shows Furthermore close acquaintance WIN an
those things in European letters which he thinks
sre related IN the work OF Petronius But 1t Is
.lender thread which connects the "Cena with
realistic fiction" as know II, and we fa 10 see
that any student of the latter can proht mnch oy
the perusal OF Professor Pecks translation. re-
troniis I'm short. Is not only coarse writer. put
n tedious one and venture 10 say. not quite 80
important on any count as Professor Peek strong
IN his own enthusiasm and in that OF some proceed
ing scholars is fain TO believe His essay IL ex-
tremey interesting but in the end 1t fails to con-
vince The translation is spirited and vivld out
the Professors taste has failed him. his intro
duction Of slang phrases current to-day having an
effect inst opposite 10 that which suppose he
sought Argot is protean thing to-day, an
other tomorrow and both utterly unlike yes
terday's When our translator speaks Of 'chuInps,
of a mans being loaded for bear" or having
equivalents - ma idioms OF Petronius. ."rns OF
sneech utterly incongruous The "Cena" is shabby
enough In all conscience Professor Peck makes
II needlessly common He has. we fear. the fall
ing Of Professor Saintsbury. whom he often recalls
in his literary style. He is clever. enormously
clever but little too face and pungent. The
Illustrations to the book are uneven in quality
and at the best not very Illuminating
To the Famous Scot Series imported by the
nrhO n
Robert Louis Stevenson by Miss Margaret Moyes
Black II gives the barest account Of the nov
eHst's NE. Naturally. book about him was bound
10 appear in this series but 1t would have been
better II the writing Of It had either been given 10
some one possessing fresh material or been post
pcned until all the Stevensonana existent mad
been printed to be boiled down into A brief mono
graph Miss Black is sentimental writer and
hasn't anything Of consequence TO say.
The Macmillan Company publishes two literary
anthologies convenient for school use. From
Chaucer to Arnold: Types OF Literary Art in Prose
and Verse" is edited by Professor Andrew ).
George His selections are Judicious ana are roll
lowed by suitable notes. american Prose edlteo
by Professor G. r. Carpenter. gives selections from
Cotton Mather and Jonathan Edwards to Walt
Whitman and Francis Parkman. The editor pro-
vdes an Introduction Of several pages. and various
other writer's contribute brief notes on the au-
thors illustrated.
The translation Of "Cyrano de Bergerac" G-am-
SON Wolfe & COZ made by Mr.. n. T. Kings
bury for the use of Mr.. Richard Mansfield is well
come in It's pretty binding Of blue and silver The
yrics which put the translator To the severest test
are admirably turned but are not sure that
Mr. Klngsbury has not rendered an even more use
full service TO American readers in his treatment OF
the body of the text. Cyranos fantastcal descrip-
ton Of his journey TO the moon Is put INTO reaAN
captivating form md as every reader Of NJ. Ros-
Ia
Of the most difficult AS well as one OF the most
felicitous il contains. We think Nh kingsbury mas
caught the spirit Of the author besides giving MS
translation the homogeneity of the original
Miss Gertrude Halls translation Of "Cyrano de
Bergerac" Doubleday & Mcclure Company. which
we have already sufficiently discussed has been re-
published I'm an edition de luxe. with frontispece
portrait Of the old French poet, and with illusra-
tions taken from photographs Of NJ. Coquelin and
his representation Of the play. These plates. win
the wide margins and the decorative binding, may
perhaps commend Miss Halls version in some
quarters but we still find It tagging far behind NJ.
Rostand in literary value.
Mr. Edward Robson Taylor has prepared a sec
ond edition OF his "Sonnets Of Jose-Marfa de
Heredia" (San Francisco; William Doxey). He
states that he has revised his translation In more
than one place. but the revision has not secured
for him the charm which he missed at the outset
much but there is more beauty in their music and
in their technical purity. both Of which are beyond
Mr. Taylor's reach We may best illustrate his
deficiencies by printing the poets 'Medaille" and
the transators version:
seigneur de Rimini vicaire ct PodestA.
Son profit 'epervier Wit. saccuse on recule.
Ia lueur d'aran dun fauve crepuscue
Dams Torbe on Matteo de Pasts Iincrusta
Or de- tous les tvrans qu'un peuple detesta.
Nul comte. marquis, duc. prince on principcule'
Qun All nom Ezzelin, Can. Gaeas, Hercule,
Ne fut matre 81 fer que le Malatesia'
celui-c lie melleur &c sigismond PandIolP 2.i,.
Mi sang Ia Rom1gne 81 Ia Marche 81 ie cone
BA 1T temple. At lamour ~ le chanta'
Fl leurs fenmes aussi sont rudes 81 severes
Car sur IL meme bronze o0 SQUIRT 1sota.
Elephant triomphal foue des priTeveres
Rimnfs Lord, Vicar. and Podtsta estate: Withdrawn
In bronze dim glimmering as the gray of dawn,
In orb Matteo de Pasus did create
OF all the tyrants whom people hate.
OF every 1.-THE and of every spawn
Gaeas Hercules. EZZelin, or Can
None the prdeful Malatesta mate
This is one Of the best this Sgisrnond Randolph.
Lay waste ROmagna Marches and the Gut 80,
A temple builds makes love and sings the while
Aud even their women lack refnements' crown.
For on he self-same bronze that lsotta smile
The Elephant trumphal tramps the primrose GOWN
What. We may ask Mr. Taylor. has become Of the
poetry Of his poet? The little volume published by
Lernerre IS Of fine gold from cover TO cover and is
one Of the most precious possessions Of modern
French poetry Mr. Taylor's book is not only
crude-it actually debases NJ Heredias ore. 1t IT,
canddly. presumptuous.
BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
cons PEREZ. ty,iher+ Fuller iorno m 373