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

! In the case Of that rebrliiOus spirt, giorl-
| lied goldsmith. lmmoralist. ducllist and
| versatile artist R.n"enuto tellini the
result ~ positively enthrallins BEAUTIFUL
as * tn" -Prrsrus" a: the loggia IN lts
decadent style VINO would "Nchang" the
Vita of its creator for its ornamental
s.lfP extraordinary vitality of C"ilini :
! autobiography places it in company with
thos. OF 81. AusIIStin" and Casanova. to
mention two wildly dispgrIte tempcra
msnts. H"nc" Il n"w translation Of IN"
p"rennlally attractive Cellini merits more
than passing mention. Tie new version
il by Robert II. Hobart Gust, VI. 4. OAon..
author Of III" Pavement Masters OF
Siana,- and Giovanni Antonio Ba22l"
The Macmillan Company II is uncN.
purgated. illustrated. IN two stout hand
some volumes thar spin out Ia IT," tam"
Of S?3 pages. and besides the usual Ind",
il provid ii with a useful photography Of
I"llini literature. nv Sidney J \. Church
Ill and list of tcllini works.
Mr. Gus, remarks that u was with some
misgivings after the fine scholarship and
language displayed 10y tho lat. John Ad-
dingron SymondS in his well known trans
lation Of Eenvenuto Ccliinis autobiog-
N'E'lt"F Win ti' Hl'h'
essay IN the same field by Miss Annie Mac
doncp, that any less accomplished hand
should approach another version. Never
theless. IL has ,e-ned desirable that
new and uneA pursated translation should
be- given Of this brilliant and world re-
nowned classic. and in is preparation
The text OF Professor Ora.io Racci. as
that most generally accepted by liza liam
students. has been selected hy The
present translator and carefully fol-
lowed he Italian text issued since
the publication Of the third edition
OF MIR. Symonds'S fascinating work in
cludss n most careful collection OF the
various existing manuscripts and is pro-
vided with u scholarly preface and .x-
cellent notes. aboInding with illustrative
references Side ny sid. with il another
Italian text edited Ivy Signori Arturo .Iahn
Rusconi and Naleri. which appeared IN
1901 in connection with tho Cellini cen
tsnary celebrations has been also eVten-
sively drawn upon for additional illus
trations. A more ambitious work than
that of Professor BaCCi IL includes all Il
Celilni treaIis"s and many Of his mis-
C"llaneous writings and though not IIite
so Intentionally scholarly. IL furnished
with additional end NOR" deliberately
detailed notes, being furthermore pro-
fu-elv illustrated III" present TRANSLATE
has failed TO DISCOVER upon what principle
his various predecessors nave divided Ip
their texts into sections or Chapf"rs Pro
lessor Bacci alon" appears To hav" pre-
-erved the method at tho original n,anl!-
script by avoiding all divisions and kv
running his narratIv" straight on without
other breaks than III" paraGrG phs shown
in the original man'I-CriD'
For English rcId""s l. mas been n"Cos-
sary. however. to b-"ak up tn" t"Nt into
chapters If some kind. and tho translator
has therefor" adopted The prin, ipl. of the
Italian version Of SIGnori Ruscoui and
Nalcri. which appears TO him 90 10 on ~.
whole III" best Will. h." has retained the
paraG-aphing Of the original C.llini's
extraordinary Inaccuracies IN spelling
hav" NOR" than ono" proved = matter Of
serious p"rDl.SIty. but the translator has
"nd"avor-d to keep alIv" RI" spin; If IN.
composition by following the varieties Of
spelling 10 som. extent. though. To avoid
confusion. well known names appcar IN
tho notes IN their modern and generally
acc.pted form
thos" to whom IN" original ~ u sealed
hook upon whom rh. d"Iicat. infections
du" to III" mistakes in grammar ar" lost
TO whom III" loss savory portions 81 tn.
narrativ" must ever remain merely ooars..
or disagra"ablc stories. and not what they
in point of fact really are. Tanl.-r..u" or
HoglrthIar touches completing the. r.nl-
ism Of tn" ~. ol" To omit rhcs" touches
history. especially Of he history of ne.
~ Nt"''nth century. Bat ono IL bound 80
confess that u Is not So easy To- rruro,u.,
them without appearing to Civ" them an
undI" prnmin"nc" ls regards the rest Of
ri" WORK. to balance modern modes of ,
thought so "a to los these passages pass
along as part % IN" w1ol" and not ohtrld.
as isolated pictures Meyer
th"l"ss. NJ Gus docs, so II seems TO US ;
prot"s' unnecessarily III a footnotc ON
page 1888. second volume. when II" writes
of N" tat"rina Micci"rl afaIr: TIL" who'll.
"pispd" - UNPLEASANT 'nough 10 render
into English a. II -. Then WHY iranslat.
c"lliTi At all il not in his gross.ast nudity.
However. il must h" acknowledged that
tho translator has faithfully stuck to the
original t"It
In supplying u large number of notes
la tins edit on the translator h.- though,
II better To omit the lnseriio ION of lives in !
brief ~ such well known historical char
acters as Raphael, Michelang"lo and !
leonardo a., NnCI. and ~ CIV. instead (
for the Use Of tho student references 10 :
tho works of m" best authorities dealing !
With IN" history Of those giants For tho |
most part also he has avoided the petty
fictnns and merely frivolous -torIes g, r.
rent IN the world 81 would 10 conno.s
s"urshp Of IN" last century. a. trivial a. .
irrelevant In fact. the revised notes 4
may be sad to he based upon those IN
Guided IN tn" tvs" Italian editions Of tn.
s. Vita. referred IN above supplemented
by some additions taken from Symonds
and from som. certain other more mod
ern sources
The principal object Of the translator
has been. IN the first Instance. io replace
The long accepted English texi Of Thomas
Roscoe and 10 bring forward 10y way Of
annexation a. much illustrative material