New-York tribune., 1922-05-21


issues, from it's shop on the
Boulevard Malesherbes, beautiful books
at moderate prices. La Sirene has
made speciality Of handsomely printed
classics illustrated by contemporary
prints; in this series have already
appeared two volumes Of Rabelais, the
Testaments Of Villon, and Voltaire's
"Candide." The curiously carved wood
cuts and finely etched copper engrav
ings add immeasurably to the pleas
ure of reading an old text.
La Sirene will publish shortly the
first volume of its projected ten-volume
edition Of the picturesque Memories dc
Jacques Casanova, Chevalier de Sein-
gait" The work will be completed with
in two years. 1t will be illustrated
with engravings Of its DAY, drawn from
many sources. The subscription price
Of the whole is fixed at 800 francs.
1t is time we had defnitive edition
of Casanova. AS is we'll known, the
manuscript is in the possession of the
Leipzig publisher Brockhaus, who re-
fused for many years to publish 1t
integrally. Thus far the French
editio princeps is the one published
in the time Of the good King Louis
Philippe, in a time when la pudeur
publique differed somewhat from that
of to-day. What is, however, more
aggravating is that there is frequent
disparity between the texts now pub
lished. The Brockhaus, the Paulin, the
Tournachon, the GARNER, the Rozez
and the Flammarion editions are re-
plete with divergent readings.
Pending the publication of the Brock
haus manuscript by La Sirene we have
a new and interesting study by Mr..
Joseph LIE Gras under the aluring
title "L'extravagante personnalite de
Jacques Casanova" This is not work
of criticism or exegesis. Mr.. lie Gras
does not quarrel with Casanova about
the authenticity Of his amorous adven-
lures, nor does he examine our texts
with a photographers eye He takes
the man Casanova as depicted in his
memoirs and gives us an analytical
study Of him in three sections.
The first is entitled development
and different aspects of his person
ality" and is brief story Of his life.
We are shown Casanova in the sue
cessive roles Of abbe, officer, lawyer,
parasite, man of letters, fnancier,
manufacturer, police spy and the other
varied trades to which he turned his
hand and his wit. He finished his life
in melancholy fashion as librarian to
a great lord in Bohemia, where he had
if nothing more, the leisure to write
his memoirs and the rare fortune to
perpetuate his name.
In the second part Of the book we
read of his Psychological physiog-
nomy" His qualities are displayed: {:
kind, courteous, generous, devoted to
his friends, jealous, tender, witty, in
telligent-a superior intelligence--ob-
servant, curious, perspicacious, imag-
inative-a singularly realistic imagina-
tion-active, enterprising and prompt
to decide as to execute. His gifts are
many, his failings few but we'll defined.
He is the personihcation of vanity and
pride, and these make him poseur and
braggart; he is egotistical to the
marrow Of his bones. But he was also
independent and adventurous. And, in
the eighteenth century sense Of the
word, he was philosopher.
The final portion of the book is de-
voted to the 1.-TWO principal forms of
Casanovian activity: love and travel.
Mr.. lie GRASS book is not always as
absorbing as may be expected. 1t is
solidly constructed, we'll ordered, and
rises occasionally to the level of a
philosophical study of history. Thus
(and with justice) Mr.. La Gras, identi-
flying Casanova with his time, presents
him as the living synthesis of that Pc
riod of social decomposition when loud
assurance and well-turned leg brought
success. The book is an excellent pre-
face to the Memories"