Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-14
BOOK REVIEWS.
HENRIK IBSEN. BY

HENRIK IBsEN. BY Edmund Gosse.
Illustrated. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons Washington: Bren-
tanos.
distinct interest attaches to the pub
LEGATION of this volume by Edmund Gosse.
He has a right to speak with authority.
because through his translation thirty-six
years ago of some of Ibsen's early metri-
cal writings he was the means of intro
ducing the Norwegian to the British pub
lie. In spite of Mr.. Gosse's generous dis
claimer of authority in Ibsen criticism in
favor of Mr.. Archer. to whom he gives
the whole credit for whatever knowledge
of the Norwegian's genius may exist
among English readers. the admirable
critical work done by Gosse in this re-
spect must not be overlooked. He is.
moreover peculiarly fitted, by reason of
his knowledge Of the technique of the
drama. to act as critic of one whose tech
nical skill is now generally acknowledged.
in addition to these qualifications Mr..
Gosse's style is SO clear. so clever and
so humorous that he gives whatever sub
ject he is treating a charm derived from
the personal equation.
The reader will not be disappointed of
his expectations. The aim has been to
bring together. on general plan, what
has been recorded of 1bsen's adventures
as an author The plan, then, is governed
by the chronological order in which lb-
sens works appeared. MIR. Gosse sug-
gests that the book can be best read in
connection with the complete set OF
1bsen's works which has recently been
published. 1t may be said, how
ever. that it is quite possible to enjoy
the book and find 1t profitable without
such reference. There can be no doubt
that the best way in which to approach
1bsen study is to trace the development
of his genius-that genius which, unafded,
brought him from a position in which he
was generally attacked and execrated at
home and abroad to the vantage ground
Of universal recognition and of almost
worship which finally Iewarded him in
Norway. No adequate knowledge can be
obtained which does not take into account
the effect upon him of both the incidents
of his own life and of contemporary
phases of life by which he was influenced
and on which. in turn. he had the greatest
influence. Ibsen wrote primarily for his
own people and of them. AS bitter against
them as he was at one stage, his anger.
his conceptions of life were inevitably
founded upon observations of national
characteristics and expressed in terms
which preSuppose a knowledge of them.
Therefore he is best studied in connec-
ticn with contemporary Norwegian life.
Mr. Gosses analysis of Ibsen's work
is illuminating He shows that each
production, from 'Cataline" to When
We Dead Awake" had a logical rela-
ton to the authors philosophy of life
The final chapters. Personal Character
is1ics' and intellectual characteristics,
are full of interesting suggestions. "Hav-
ing accustomed ourselves. says MT
Gosse, Ito regard Ibsen as a disturbing
and revolutionary force, which met with
the utmost resistance at the outset and
was generally accepted before the close
of his career. We may try to define what
the nature of his revolt was. and what
it was. precisely, that he attacked 1t
is in this attempt at definition that the
author reveals his own estimate of the
author. The presentation of 1bsens
personality, gathered as 1t is from many
sources and viewed from all possible
standpoints, is one of the most valuable
features of the book.
TRAvERs; a Story of the San Fran
cisco Earthquake. By Sarah Dean.
With Illustrations In color by W.
Herbert Dunton. New York: Fred
erick A. Stokes Company.
The author should be congratulated on
the use she has made of the recent San
Francisco calamity. All of the manifold
Impressions, diffused through newspapers,
magazines, personal narrative, have been
perpetuated-with something added-in
this story. The author was herself a suf
ferer in that week of destruction; but the
reader does not need that assurance to
feel the reality with which the scenes are
described. On the eve of the earthquake
the heroine is on the eve of marriage to
a man whom she considers worthy, the
hero is on the eve of the commission of
a crime, a robbery. With the awful phys
ical upheaval comes a moral upheaval as
well. AT the conclusion men anu women
are shown in strangely reversed charac-
tiers. the honorable man has been proved
hi of ha
and the girl has passed from girlhood
into a position whence she is able TO esti-
mate things at their worth. 1t is the old
story of the fire that burns up the dross
and allows the gold to be revealed, of the
elemental need that brings new masters
to the front. The revelation of the Incl
dents that have made Travers what he
is are we'll managed. The action is apid
in the extreme, the characters are strong
and convincing, there is human appeal.
BOIGNE. 1s2O-1S3O. Edited from
the Original MS By NJ. Charles
Nicoullaud. III. With Portrait. New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Washington: Woodward & Lothrop.
The publication of the third and last
volume of these remarkable memoirs
makes evident how great, from every
standpoint, is their significance. The
Comtesse de Boigne. herself of vivid
ana Willy personality, possessed unriNdi-
ed social opportunities during a complex
and critical era of French history.
Descended from the old noblesse she
perienced the rigors of the life of the
emigrees. Her fathers position in the
diplomatic service gave her acquaintance
with the English great world of the lat
ter part of the reign of George III, as
we'll as of Italy, during curiously unat-
tractive period of her existence The
picture of English life, seen through the
eyes of a keen and cultured Frenchwom-
an. gives the student of history-or C:
manners and morals-a decided sensation.
II was during the English residence that
the CONT esse became intimate with the
exiled Duke of Orleans and his family.
for whom she always had the most
sincere admiration and affection. The
present volume gives a wonderfully vivid
picture of a comparatively little known
epoch in the French national life. The
study of Louis XVIII of Charles Y. the
last of the Bourbon kings. and his queer
court. of the personalities of the Dauphin
and Dauphine and of the family which
the revolution Of July, 1890 brought TO
the throne under the title of Louis