The San Francisco call., 1908-04-05
''The Sanity of Art"
IN Rernard Shaw

By Bernard Shaw. author of Plays Pleasant
and Unpleasant sJonn Bulls other Island
and Major Barhara" etc. Published by
Benjamin r. Tucker. New York.
Although a most unpretentious little
volume, the fact that its author is Ber-
nard Shaw makes sure the fact that 1t
will not be overlooked. About three
years ago Shaw wrote a review of Max
Nordau's Degeneration at the request
of Benjamin r. Tucker of New York
for his publication. Liberty. an an
archistic journal 'eXpounding the doc
trine that in equal liberty is to be
found the most satisfactory solution of
social questions. and that majority rule
or democracy. equally with monarchical
rule, is a denial of equal liberty, This
review, sort of essay, has never been
included in any edition of Shaw's
works, though its publisher considers
it his most important contribution to
the periodical press. There is no doubt
that in its original form 1t was one of
cism ever written, and now, with many
additions and much revision, it is a
valuable addition to Shaw's works.
1t will be qualification to Shaw's
admirers to know that he has written
for this book one of his characteristic
prefaces, which, though as usual full of
Shaw, is as clever as anything he has
enough, Shaw in this preface makes
plea for journalism, not really a plea
nothing from Shaw's pen could be a
plea-he simply makes q statement as
a fact so sanely stated that his most
captious critics may easily agree with
him. A part Of what he says of jour
nalism may we'll be quoted
Journalism is the highest form of
literature; for all the highest literature
fc Tho 3ar try1n a. fr,c ot
producing the platitudes which are not
for an age, but for all time has his
reward in being unfeadable in all ages,
while Plato and Aristophanes trying to
knock some sense into the Athens OF
their day, Shakespeare peopling that
same Athens with Elizabethan mechan-
les and Warwickshire hunts, Ibsen pho
tographing the local doctors and ves-
trymen of a Norwegian parish, Carpac-
clio painting the life of Saint Ursula
exactly as If she were lady living in
the next street to him, are still alive
and at home everywhere among the
dust and ashes OF thousands of
academic, punctilious, archaeoiogical1y
correct men of letters and art who
spent their lives haughtily avoiding the
Journalists vulgar obsession with the
ephemeral"
Mr. Shaw after reading "Degenera-
tion.' with its two hundred and sixty
thousand mortal words. saying the same
thing over and over again." found ut
the end that all he had cuIIed from that
tremendous work is that Nordau's mes
sage to the world is: That all our
Enthusiastically modern works of art
are symptoms of disease In the artists.
and that these diseased artists are
themselves symptoms of the nervous
exhaustion of the race by overwork."
Shaw then. in a number of little es-
says, takes up the various forms Of art,
painting, music and literature. under
the titles of "Impressionism," wagner
ism" and "Ibsenism," also a little So
cialistic talk, why Law is Indispen-
sabie"-which is so good 1t should be
printed alone-and calls these four ar
ticles sort of preamble to the real
discussion of Nordaus book. This dis
cussion is brief, perhaps 1900 words.