The New York herald., 1922-12-24

"HE most implacable foe OF all things
German is forced to admit that Ger
man scholarship ranks high. 1t is
however, impossible for any one. foe or
friend, entirely to acquit German scholar
ship Of the charge of intolerance. new
case in point is entwined about the names
of Goethe and Shakespeare Five years
ago Georg Brandes published his Wolf
gang Goethe" Eight months ago the Ger
man translation was published In Berlin
II. A>Korff reviews the book in the Frank
fErter Zeitsn0 of October 3. After winding
around through four broad columns, modi-
flying a bit of praise with an adversative
observation, OF the opposite. Korff says in
conclusion: "The European Brandes has in
truth rightly interpreted the European
Goethe and there is such a one. But then
there Is another Goethe, the German
Goethe, and this Goethe neither Brandes
nor any other non German can rightly un-
derstand or appreciate" Yet the Germans
know that they appreciate Shakespeare.
II is an unshakable belief in which they
take titanic pride. They remark, in season
is played once in the United Kingdom he
is played many. many times in Germany.
They boast of their numerous translations
and bulge with delight at their countless
-estigations. Shakespeare. they eXclaim.
Is ours for we understand him
1t is an intoerant attitude. and particu-
larly so since Goethe would have been the
last man to intimate that Shakespeare was
his inferior. And. unfortunately, there is
q remnant of this attitude in Alfred Stei-
nitzers otherwise good book entitled
-Shakespeare's Konigsdramen" (Shake-
spesre's Historical Plays). What Steinitzer
has done is to take the dramas that Shake
speare wrote on the kings Of England
John, the Helrys and RichaTds-and fill
s4S TAN pages with statements showing
the extent to which Shakespeare did or did
not know English history and immOrtalzs
a with accuracy in his iambic pentameters.
This is a good book As piece Of schol-
arship it must take high rank. To write
IL infinite search was necessary: much
polxing about in rare tones and still rarer
manuscripts. which OF themselves are not
interesting. Those who wish TO get the
historical setting in any of Shakespeare's
English historical dramas can get il here.
} the volume contains, moreover. thirty
seven fun page illustrations that are joy
to look upon; five battle maps" that would
re ejoice the heart OF field marshal and
fourteen genealogical tables which cult-
yators Of the Mayflower ideal may study
with reinsurance.
Who can refute the book2 l cannot.
The records are quoted and # is not
merely fair but decent and obligatory to
regard the German transations Of them
as quite accurate. Each one OF these
dozen plays IS taken UP. scene by scene.
and where Shakespeare came within rea-
sonable contiguity to the historical truth
he is given credit for it; and where he was
fanciful and that only. the fact is set
down. not merely without malice but in
tone OF unqualified approval Steinitzer
says in his last paragraph that I'VE can
not help but envy the nation which has
the greatest national epopee known to the
world Shakespeare's historical dramas
constitute a secular bible for the English
people and in this sense he is the greatest
historian that has ever revealed himself
through the medium OF poetry"
And yet. try as we may. il IS hard not
70 see back Of this most useful study
shade OF that intolerance which claims
and prociains superiority. Hard not to