The Washington herald., 1908-02-02

| IuDllttLlOHs IN the HDlic oi EbDA bybhS.
1t is astonishing. even in this era OF in
expensive publications. to note the mod
crate prices at which he issues books
which in the quality Of paper formal,
| typography clear river Of fine black
I type running beautifully through the CEN
ter of the page printing, and all that goes
to make a book thing of joy. compare
more than favorably with the very much
higher-priced publications OF many Of our
I American publishers
For instance. we have just received
from Mr. Grant a new edition Of THE
Plays of MoliereT It is in eight volumes
based on the edition of NM Eugene Des-
pois and Paul Mesnard. and an English
/ translation by A. r. Waller NJ A. editor
Of Beaumont and Fletcher" &c-the
French and English on opposite pages
with fun biographical and critical in
PRODUCTION by Prof Saintsbury. Of Edin-
burgh University. the plays arranged
chT0nologically and edited from the most
authoritative texts. with notes on their
I photography. &c, explanations Of the va
TiOus illusions the translation being free
and idiomatic. beautifully illustrated by
thirty-one charming atchings by Champol-
/ lion, after Louis Leloir
The translation of Moliere in this edi-
ti0n was 6,sGc some seven years ago. It
was in a sufficiently advanced stage in
1852 10 justify the publication of a vol
ume or two, and by 1905 four volumes had
been published. II has only recently been
comnleted. The edition was designed 10
meet the requirements Of those who wish
cd To have an inexpensive but we'll
printed text of Moliere in French. for
those who, not knowing French. wished
TO have rendering that should give
them the letter Cf MOIier- and as much
of the spirit as might be consistent with
the difference Ia language and the fail
ings of the translator
IN English blank verse. Of course. Mo
liere is impossible; ia rhymed couplets his
plays read much like the book Of a
pantomime. Mr.. A. r. Waller 10 whom
the translation was intrusted. came TO the
right conclusion. that the only possible
way 60 render mis- verse comedies into
English was To render them into prose
The result is that in this edition readers
can for the first time really get q sane
and consistent idea Of the beauties Of
Moliere's meaning. And The fact that
the English translation is priAted on op-
posite pages 70 the French original must
be great aid To those students Of the
French language who desire To appreciate
fully the beauties Of the poetic original
Aoliere- who has been called the father
Of French comedy. is almost as interest
ing a personality in literature as Shakes
peare Like Shakespeare. We do not know
the day Of Lis birth. and about his early
youth little is known save that as a pupil
of G8seudi be had for feIow-students
Dyrauo DE- Bergerac and Chapelle He
was designed for the law. and there is
no doubt that his education was above
rather than below that Of the average
man of letters Through tho influence
of his father he was appointed 10 a place
iu the royal household and. il is said. ac-
companied Louis XIII 20 Provence in 1872;
but II was shortly after that he caught
the stage fever and in 1913 gave up his
position and established i'm q tennis court
a theatrical company which called itself
"L'IllUsre Theatre lie was then Jean
Baptiste PoqueIin-Moliere was a stage
name which Doe assumed and which first
appeared in q legal document dated June
N 1914 Ills first theateT was not a sue
cess. and i'm a year or two he was ar
rested for debt and seems 20 have had
pretty hard time
The biographers "extenueted them
selves upon the len years from 1915 10
1G-S- The registre OF La Grange, the
actor twho. according 10 another Shakes
rade during his life and his nrst editor
after his DEATH. does not begin SO early.
but it has some backward entries, and
the preface OF the edition OF 1852, with
divers business entries of various kinds,
preserved after the meth0dicaI habit of
the French supplies dates which some
times require haTmOnizing, sometimes not.
Bordeaux. Nantes Toulouse. Lyons, al
most as headquarters. Montpelier. Rouen.
and many lesser places had The advantage
Of welcoming or the shame Of not vel
coming. the "IllusuiOus Ones" Two
books which belong in "a way 10 IItera-
tuTe the Memoirs OF Daniel de COsnac''
and the "Aveutures BurIesques Of
Charles d'AssouCy," give pretty positive
information. COsnac was of the house
hold Of the Prince de Conte Moliere's
schoofellow, who, after experiences in
the Fronde ranging from popular idolatry
10 Imprisonment at the hands of Anne of
Austria and MaZarin, was. i'm 1858. honor
ably shelved in Languedoc, and he in
duced the prince to patronize Moliere's
company NJ his house of La Grange. at
the neighborinC town Of Pezenas. and at
Montpelier. at both of which places the
estates Of the province met.
A pension for the company and cOnsid-
eTable lump sums as qualifications" were
the result OF COsnaC'S good offices. of
those of Contfs secretary. Sarrasin. q
really considerable man OF letters. and of
the merits of the troupe itself. D'As-
soUcy. who was certainly a picaro and
very probably q scOundrel, but not with
out wits and a certain bonhomme. and
who travelled about France and Italy Civ
ing nondescript musical entertainments,
seems to have met with a very amiable
and Unenvious reception from the COM
pany at Lyons in l655.
It is disputed whether L'Etourdi the
first number" Of NIoliere's recognized
theater. appeared In this year or earlier,
in 1858; there seems 10 be no doubt that
the next and still better one. the Dept
AmoureuX." was produced at Beziers in
1856 Two years later the last provincial
stage or the UlustTiOUs Theatre at ROuen
gave Moliere an opportunity Of uegOtiat-
ing for the protection of the new and
younger Monsieur Louis XIVs broth
er Philippe, who constituted them his
Servants the Dukes House" as short
~ afterward it would have been called in
England. This gave them title no more
burlesque: re-cntry to the capital. now
settled and laying itself out seriously for
pleasure and servitude; patronage which
might mean anything or nothing. but was
az any rate "a spring board in fact, for
the first time what is called an opening.
As means for availing themselves OF
this opening they had fifteen years prac-
-. l. LII