The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-12-11

made no sort of appeal. Whatever the
opinion We have formed regarding has
personality from this s"lf-revealing worH.
there can bn no quest on a. To the Nl'ln
display Of force with which h., has con
trved To InSpIr. a compost ion that carries
the reader away into the realm oi fancy
Wherein the hero himself il not merely
the central figure. hut approprlite' the
entire stage, all other persons III what
ever quality and merit being bat puppets
set up or swept asd. is they assist or
oppose the development ri TN" hero
Greer. To read these pages with com
plctest satisfaction on" Tho1ld AVOID
all temptation To pause Tor Thought or
reason; and our sense Of true enjoyment
increases IN proportion "a We suppress
all desire to verify 10y date or probability
the facts related. One should approach
| Cellini. al least for the first time. 49, one
would a heroic chronicle ~ a medieval
romance; those for example Of tn" Seven
Champions of Christendom: OF Amadls
de Gaul. or Don QuiIote: OF Cyrano de
Bcrgerac. or even Baron Munchausen.
But in the end we are presently bound
10 come down to earth. TO remember that
Cellni was something very much more
than Il gloriiied paladin or a triumphant
7
cal attributes. woven together 10y laps" If
tim. and oft repeated oral legend. lie was
indeed very we'll defined historical per-
sonality. More than that. he was Il crafts
man OF remarkable individual gifts. SO
that when we recall our wandering mag
nations We find ours elves transported ~
ono" TO battlefield whereon criticism.
| historical and aesthetic. hotly rage.
Brilliant critics. such az VI plmier. cavil /.
and pick at tho historical placements
with which Celinis history abounds.
| q especially as regards the events ri his lie .
in Paris: while scholars Of equal lillity.
like NJ. Eugene Flon. after pointing out
how large a number 81 Cellini a., eriIon-
thus contested may in fact be after all
nearer tho truth than At first Ugh APP
pears. proceed carefully and with much
| acumen 10 demolish III" .videuc" upon
which a very large proportion OF IN" gold
smiths work Of the Sixteenth CcII my Pre-
served in various collections ell over the
world mas been 80 reCkle-sly attributed l."
this famous craftsman.
Although Mr.. Roscoe ,uuUtInG Signor
Giusepp. MnIini. upon whose then re-
Gently published edition Of III" Vita" he
Processes TO hGNe made his latest reSI>Ionl
describes with some PARTICULARLY the con
d,tiOn oi the manuscript Of tn" autobiog
raphy and alludrs to its redi-coy"ry 10y
Signor poirot. he gives no account uf its
history between the time. -oIn"~ here IN
tn. seventeenth century when It wa IN
the hands of the CavalcantI family. and
its reaprearanc. In the book1hop nf Geo
chino del Seminario at the beginning oi tn"
nineteenth century.
Tn" details of this omission may II"
briefly summed up Is follows Tn" manu-
script begun in 1858 and written partially
IN Cellins own hand and partly IN that Of
his youthful amanu"n-IS. I'll" son Of M,ch"i"
di Goro N"-tri-, was submitted ~ h" fol
lowing year To the historian B"n"d"tio
yarchi. one OF III" authors Ino-t lniiiuat"
friends. to- tn" purro~" Of r.yl-loI and
advlC" That abb" crit" very quickly
appreciated tn" fact that the fore" and
hrillianCe of tn" work itself far nutwei gh"d
all questions 81 -tyl" or grammar. and
that 20 attempt TO correct 1t or ~"t II in
anything like conventional form would
not only b- n superhuman task IN itself
but would renov" from th. original its
most salient and delightful Characters
tics NarUhl Therefore. returned the auto
biography To Cellini with merely a few
marGina! notes Of comparatively minor ,
importance" Tn. writer then added fur ,
ther memoirs up to l5'c. wh"n. almost IN .
tn" middl. Of 4 sentence. IN" manuscript
abrupt Ceas. To whom C.lInl then
entrusted IL t. unknown. nor. strange to-
relate. docs any mention Oi ~ orcur III
the very "laborat" inventory of his prop
erty books or papers .nclud.dI made AZ
his death III 1871 No trace Of It's inter ,
mediate HISTORY can w. discovered a. tha ,
inscription that 1t s,ill bears tolls Us u
formed one of tn" most jealousy guarded
treasures Of IN" tavaicanti family at some
reriod IN the seventeenth century
Lorenzo Maria Cavalca-tl makes special
alluson To the almost selfish Importance
that his fat her attached to the safe custody
81 this precious manuscript, We know thai
somewhere about 1891 he present d il 20
h" learned Francesca Red who quoted
from 1t and employed II ~ preparing
the la-t volume Of ia" fourth edition of !
tn" "NocabularIo della CrIsc.i- ,Flur"uc,. .
1870. From R"dl the manuscript seems - ,
have passed INTO the hands OF the Jesuit ,
fathers IN Florence. and from them o their 4
brothers Of III" Srolopian Confratcrnlty, /
whence II vanished, removed n - sup ,
posed. among "a quantity Of vast. paper :
from their library and sold u happily re-
Appeared about 1875 ~ IN. VOL known !
ny great good luck it was -.-.n and secured ,
Ivy SiCuor Lug PO.rct. ON his death IN :
1872 IT passed under his will to Inc Bib
loteca Mcdiceo- Lsur.nIIana IN Florence.
where II now rests. safe. lot IL hop.
from further vIcI-situdc- But though IN
material form It rests IN that famous '
shrin" IT leaning. no building or Cu.n,rv
can cnniin. tn" dnuntIe-S and hIus,crina..
"I:hal fascinating spirit. C"ilini h"lnnCs :,
To all tn. world. /,
When We como 10 the d -ctI-.lon oT col O.
lini's claim to stand among IN" great
masters Of Italian plastic art IN tn" six :
teenth century We find ourselves con =
frontcd hy grave difficulties In ia" first
plac" italian iI-t. had itself already
passed its zenith and it, d"cl.n. had
begun to set III There were. moreover
many god-miths working al that pnrind "