ANDREW LANG, página 4 de 20

In the perpetual running fight about the Homeric Homer, Mr. Andrew Lang has been for some years a most prominent champion. In his latest return to the fray, " The World of Homer " (Jazzybee Publishing), he lays about him in a very joyous and triumphant mood. His foemen are all those who hold, in some form or other, that " the Iliad is a mosaic produced by a long series of Ionian additions to an Achaean kernel." Against them he maintains that the Iliad is, in the main, the work of a single poet, as is shown by the unity of thought, temper, character and ethos " ; that it is " a work of one brief period, because it bears all the notes of one age, and is absolutely free from the most marked traits of religion, rites, society, and superstition that characterise the preceding Aegean, and the later Dipylon, Ionian, Archaic, and historic periods in Greek life and art" Homer is an Achaean poet, composing for Achaean auditors at a time when "the glow of Aegean (late Minoan, Mycenean) culture still flushed the sky." In support of his contention he writes nearly three hundred pages under such captions as "The Homeric World in War,""Homer and Ionia""Bronze and Iron,""Burial and the Future Life," and "The Great Discrepancies." It goes without saying that the argumentation is serious. Some historians have long been in accord with Mr. Langs principal views, while differing from him about many details ; but from friend and foe alike the book deserves attention. This book is annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.

First and foremost, always and forever, among tales for children come the fairy tales. What were childhood without the fairy tale? That child who has never wandered through the magic gardens of Fairyland is unfortunate indeed. But that child does not exist, for the mind and heart of every child, even all unaided, will make for itself a fairyland out of anything and nothing. But the art of writing fairy tales seems to be another thing that has vanished with the vanished childhood of the race. The best fairy tales are always the old ones, stories that were never really written, but just grew in the telling as they passed down through generations of fireside evenings. They were told or enjoyed by grown men and women in an earlier, more naive age, and they never lose their appeal to the child in us as to the children around us now. As to new fairy stories, well, Mr. Andrew Lang, the untiring editor, who makes it possible to unearth new-old stories every year and dress them out in a new colour of raiment for the Christmas tree, says some very unkind things of them in his latest offering, The Lilac Fairy Book ."The three hundred and sixty-five authors who try to write new fairy tales are very tiresome," he says. "Their fairies try to be funny and fail, or they try to preach and succeed. Real fairies never preach or talk slang-nobody can write a new fairy tale; the thing is impossible." The tenor of Mr. Langs reproach of modern writers of fairy tales is that they attempt to write just for children and therefore fail. Possibly he may be right! But we will forgive him his feeling against the writers who prefer to write rather than to edit, for the sake of the fine new-old stories he has found for us here. It is really astonishing how Mr. Lang goes on unearthing so many new stories-new-old is what we mean- every year. Some of the stories in this new book have come from Ireland, some from the Highlands of Scotland, some from wild Wales.

It has been known for some time that Mr. Lang has added ghosts to his hobbies. In the volume before us, " The Book of Dreams and Ghosts, Mr. Lang offers a large collection of ghost stories old and new, and his opinions on "appearances." As far as we can gather Mr. Langs attitude from these pages, which have much of the vagueness of expression that goes with memoirs of the supernatural, he disbelieves in traditional ghosts, the ghosts that do things-but wishes it were otherwise. Like all persons of poetical or romantic temperament, he would prefer to believe in them. They would make life so much more interesting and exciting.This book is annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.From the contents:The Dog FantiMark Twains StoryThe Pig In The Dining-RoomThe MignonetteThe Lost ChequeThe Ducks EggsThe Lost KeyThe Lost SecuritiesThe Arrears Of TeindThe Two CurmasThe Assyrian PriestThe Knot In The ShutterQueen Marys JewelsThe DeathbedDream Of Mr. Percevals MurderThe RattlesnakeThe Red LampThe Scar In The MoustacheThe Coral SprigsThe Satin SlippersThe Dead ShopmanStory Of The DiplomatistUnder The LampThe Cow With The BellThe Deathbed Of Louis Xiv.The Old Family CoachRiding Home From MessThe Bright ScarThe Vision And The PortraitThe Restraining HandThe Benedictines VoicesThe Man At The LiftThe Wraith Of The CzarinaAn "Astral Body"In Tavistock PlaceThe Wynyard WraithLord Broughams StoryThe Dying MotherThe Vision Of The Bride... and much more ...

This is volume 6, covering the time from Bothwell to James VI.In many volumes of several thousand combined pages the series "The History of Scotland" deals with something less than two millenniums of Scottish history. Every single volume covers a certain period in an attempt to examine the elements and forces which were imperative to the making of the Scottish people, and to record the more important events of that time.

This is volume 7, covering the time from the early 17th Century to the Bishops war.In many volumes of several thousand combined pages the series "The History of Scotland" deals with something less than two millenniums of Scottish history. Every single volume covers a certain period in an attempt to examine the elements and forces which were imperative to the making of the Scottish people, and to record the more important events of that time.

This is volume 8, covering the time from the Scots invasion to the Restoration.In many volumes of several thousand combined pages the series "The History of Scotland" deals with something less than two millenniums of Scottish history. Every single volume covers a certain period in an attempt to examine the elements and forces which were imperative to the making of the Scottish people, and to record the more important events of that time.

Perhaps there are some who will think we as a publisher are overexacting in our demands for childrens literature. Many of Dr. Churchs adaptations have come to us, and we cannot claim that they have added much to our respect for Homer. We always feel that we are backed up when we declare that in this retelling process, the large ruggedness which rightfully belongs to the classic is lost in the mild care we take of the sensitiveness of children. One is immediately drawn to Tales of Troy and Greece. Mr. Lang treats of Ulysses, Mellager, Theseus, Perseus, and puts into his text more substance than is found in the ordinary adaptation or rewritten classic.Contents:Ulysses The Sacker Of CitiesThe Wanderings Of UlyssesThe Fleece Of GoldTheseusPerseusThis book is fully illustrated and annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.

It is well for the fairy-loving public that Mr. Andrew Lang should go bravely on publishing his delightful Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow Fairy Books as if the cry of " too many books " had never been uttered. The juvenile clientele whom he addresses is an ever-increasing one and is as many-colored as Josephs or as Parsifals coat. So skilful a caterer as this keen-eyed Scotchman is not often found: an intellectual gourmand of the first water, long since awarded the cordon bleu in the fine art of fairy-tales, he knows what his public likes-the exacting, appreciative boy-and-girl public whose instinctive cleverness tells them what is good and what is not. His sympathetic nature makes all children congenial to him, and he has remained child enough, despite Homeric disquisitions and scientific fads in folk-lore, to pick out with infallible taste just what they like. " The Yellow Fairy Book" is full of tales from uncouth tongues like Polish, Hungarian, Russian and Red Indian, but also sprinkled with old favorites like Andersens " Tin Soldier " and Grimms "Iron Stone." A glimpse or two from the fanciful French "Cabinet des Fees " is also to be found in this capital collection, which is prefaced by a good-natured but sharp-tongued stricture on the false position of Mr. Laurence Gomme and his rather portentous Folk-Lore Society. This book is fully illustrated and annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.

Andrew Langs selection from the vast treasure chest of the Arabian nights fairy tales contains the following stories:The Story of the Merchant and the GeniusThe Story of the First Old Man and of the HindThe Story of the Second Old Man, and of the Two Black DogsThe Story of the FishermanThe Story of the Greek King and the Physician DoubanThe Story of the Husband and the ParrotThe Story of the Vizir Who Was PunishedThe Story of the Young King of the Black IslesThe Story of the Three Calenders, Sons of Kings, and of Five Ladies of BagdadThe Story of the First Calender, Son of a KingThe Story of the Second Calender, Son of a KingThe Story of the Envious Man and of Him Who Was EnviedThe Story of the Third Calender, Son of a KingThe Seven Voyages of Sindbad the SailorThe Little HunchbackThe Story of the Barbers Fifth BrotherThe Story of the Barbers Sixth BrotherThe Adventures of Prince Camaralzaman and the Princess BadouraNoureddin and the Fair PersianAladdin and the Wonderful LampThe Adventures of Haroun-al-Raschid, Caliph of BagdadThe Story of the Blind Baba-AbdallaThe Story of Sidi-NoumanThe Story of Ali Colia, Merchant of BagdadThe Enchanted HorseThe Story of Two Sisters Who Were Jealous of Their Younger SisterThis book is annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.

Written to disprove the accusation against Sir Walter Scott-that he helped to compose, and issued as a genuine antique, a ballad, "Auld Maitland." The facts in the case exist in published works and certain manuscript letters, which are here studied.Contents: PrefaceScott And The BalladsAuld MaitlandThe Ballad Of OtterburneScotts Traditional Copy And How He Edited ItThe Mystery Of The Ballad Of Jamie TelferKinmont WillieConclusionsThis book is annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.

There are still unused colors in the spectrum, and Mr. Andrew Langs "The Violet Fairy Book", with its handsome illustrations by Mr. H. J. Ford, has the merits of its predecessors, with some of its own added. Doubtless the stories suitable for inclusion in these volumes are innumerable, but the later books show the tendency to go farther and farther afield. Many of those in this book are from African and Romanian sources, and of much interest and worth.This book is fully illustrated and annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.

Mr. Lang does not claim to have said the lastword in the tragedy of Mary Stuart. She and Marie Antoinette will probably continue to furnish "copy" for ages to come. As long as the "copy is given to us in the manner of this book it will continue to be welcome. Pictures of the dramatis persona; of the Mystery give a brilliant impression of the ethics of the period following the Reformation in Scotland. The examination of much new material and the careful investigation of all documents bearing on the case add historic value to the book. Mr. Lang forms no conclusions; the "Mystery" is not unveiled, but the fascinating Queen stands before us in all the charm of her beauty and misfortune, surrounded by her treacherous and unruly nobles, and on finishing the book we feel that we have sat at the trial by an impartial court of justice, that was never accorded her in her lifetime, and can act as judge and jury for ourselves, resting assured that we have heard all the evidence in the case.This book is illustrated and annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.

With "The Pink Fairy Book" Mr. Lang has exhausted the primary colors without coming to an end of his store of fairytales. This time he has gone further afield, though without finding much that is new. Japan yields a few; and other sources which we do not remember in the earlier books have been drawn upon. Generally, however, it is from the folklore of European nations, and from that most admirable of story-tellers, Hans Christian Andersen, that we get the best things. It is true that, as Mr. Lang remarks, Andersen " wants to point a moral as well as "adorn a tale," whereas the true fairy-story should not have any more intelligible moral than that it is a great virtue to be the youngest son of three, and a still greater to be the youngest of seven. Not the less, however, is it true that, on the whole, these stories are on the side of goodness and kindness. It is difficult to make a choice among these good things. But perhaps, " How the Hermit Helped to Win the Kings Daughter," is as good as any. Among the few outlandish stories, "Wischimataro and the Turtle " may be mentioned.This book is fully illustrated and annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.

This is volume 10, covering the time from Glencoe to the Jacobites.In many volumes of several thousand combined pages the series "The History of Scotland" deals with something less than two millenniums of Scottish history. Every single volume covers a certain period in an attempt to examine the elements and forces which were imperative to the making of the Scottish people, and to record the more important events of that time.

This book is annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.The book: The recent revival of interest in the Maid of Orleans has resulted in the production of a considerable amount of romantic fiction, of which the most important example is Mr. Langs " A Monk of Fife." The subject is one almost ideally suited to Mr. Langs hand, appealing, as it does, to his deepest interests and intellectual sympathies - how warmly the noble poem in his latest volume of verse may witness. The romance before us pretends to be a translation of a French manuscript in the Ratisbons Scots College. Whether this pretence be wholly a bit of mystification we are not concerned to inquire; for all practical purposes "A Monk of Fife" is an original work of Mr. Langs imagination, although it follows historical fact more closely than such fiction is wont to do. As to the style of the book, it may be described, in Mr. Langs own words, as "not imitating, in manner, the almost contemporary English of the Paston Letters, or the somewhat earlier English style of the Regent Bedford, but merely attempting to give a moderately old air to his (Mr. Langs) version of a French - which, genuine or imitative, is certainly, in character and spelling, antique." The story is told in the first person, and is essentially the narrative of a young Scotsman, fleeing from his own country in consequence of a brawl, and finding service with the French at such a time as to be concerned in the siege of Orleans, and to become closely associated with the fortunes of the Maid. The narrative is at times labored, as the result of a wish to omit no historical fact of importance, but is for the most part highly readable, giving a vivid impression of the stirring life of early fifteenth-century France.

The aim of this book is to prove that the Homeric Epics, as wholes, and apart from passages gravely suspected in antiquity, present a perfectly harmonious picture of the entire life and civilisation of one single age. The faint variations in the design are not greater than such as mark every moment of culture, for in all there is some movement; in all, cases are modified by circumstances. If our contention be true, it will follow that the poems themselves, as wholes, are the product of a single age, not a mosaic of the work of several changeful centuries.This book is annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer. Contents:PrefaceChapter I - The Homeric AgeChapter Ii - Hypotheses As To The Growth Of The EpicsChapter Iii - Hypotheses Of Epic CompositionChapter Iv - Loose Feudalism: The Over-Lord In "Iliad," Books I. And Ii.Chapter V - Agamemnon In The Later "Iliad"Chapter Vi - Archaeology Of The "Iliad". Burial And CremationChapter Vii - Homeric ArmourChapter Viii - The BreastplateChapter Ix - Bronze And IronChapter X - The Homeric HouseChapter Xi - Notes Of Change In The "Odyssey"Chapter Xii - Linguistic Proofs Of Various DatesChapter Xiii - The "Doloneia"Chapter Xiv- The Interpolations Of NestorChapter Xv - The Comparative Study Of Early EpicsChapter Xvi - Homer And The French Mediaeval EpicsChapter Xvii - Conclusion

The Fairy Book Series is further enriched by the addition of this latest volume, which is quite as gorgeous as the preceding ones-though the author might well be supposed to have exhausted his supply of colors and fairy tales. Mr. Lang, after traveling the world over to collect stories, asks why the stories of the remotest people resemble each other. Fortunately, he answers the question himself."Of course, in the immeasurable past, they have been carried about by conquering races, and learned by conquering races from vanquished peoples. Slaves carried far from home brought their stories with them into captivity. Wanderers, travelers, shipwrecked men, merchants, and wives stolen from alien tribes have diffused the stories; gipsies and Jews have peddled them about, Roman soldiers of many different races, moved here and there about the Empire, have trafficked in them. From the remotest days men have been wanderers, and wherever they went their stories accompanied them.""The Story of the Hero Makowa" begins in the good old way, "once upon a time" and the temptation to follow the hero Is irresistible even though he seeks a deep black pool where the crocodiles lived. He makes giants shrink, and claps them into a bag which he carries easily because he Increases in size and strength with every encouuter with an enemy. Perhaps the author intends to point a moral and he certainly adorns the tale with incredible deeds of adventure."Ian, The Soldiers Son" has a wonderful career in his search for the daughters of Grianaig. Magic transformation takes place on every page. Thus, a brown-haired youth is changed into a raven, and back again to his own self; and a beautiful maiden whom the wicked enchanter had turned Into a horse is released from the spell through the courage of the soldiers son.

The preface of the book gives credit to Mrs.Lang for these beautful stories which she did out of old romances, the editing being the work of Andrew Lang. Which ever one may deserve the "lions share" of the authorship we welcome this charming collection of tales which are worthy the author from whom we have been accustomed, for many years, to expect the most beautiful of modern fairy tales. There is no danger of being forced to take the editors advice: if we do not like one story to try another. From the moment we fell under the spell of William and the Werwolf there was not a doubt in our minds that every one of these classic romances must be read in regular order from beginning to end. A book of such rare literary merit, so exquisitely bound and illustrated is a valuable addition to young peoples libraries.This book is fully illustrated and annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.Contents: PrefaceHow William Of Palermo Was Carried Off By The WerwolfThe Disenchantment Of The WerwolfThe Slaying Of Hallgerdas HusbandsThe Death Of GunnarNjals BurningThe Lady Of SolaceUna And The LionHow The Red Cross Knight Slew The DragonAmys And AmyleThe Tale Of The CidThe Knight Of The Sorrowful CountenanceThe Adventure Of The Two Armies Who Turned Out To Be Flocks Of SheepThe Adventure Of The Bobbing LightsThe Helmet Of MambrinoHow Don Quixote Was Enchanted While Guarding The CastleDon Quixotes Home-ComingThe Meeting Of Huon And Oberon, King Of The FairiesHow Oberon Saved HuonHavelok And GoldboroughCupid And PsycheSir Bevis The StrongOgier The DaneHow The Ass Became A Man AgainGuy Of WarwickHow Bradamante Conquered The WizardThe Ring Of BradamanteThe Fulfilling Of The ProphecyThe Knight Of The SunHow The Knight Of The Sun Rescued His Father

This work of the well-known historian and man-of-letters, Mr. Andrew Lang, is not a biography at all; it is a controversial pamphlet of large size, the thesis of which is a quotation from The Diurnal under the date of Knoxs death: John Knox, minister, deceased, who had, as was alleged, the most part of the blame of all the sorrows of Scotland since the slaughter of the late Cardinal. From the beginning to the end of his book, Mr. Lang employs all the resources of his literary art, irony, denunciation, special pleading, to discredit the great Reformer. He attributes to him the principles of a Macchiavelli, and a prudence that led him to shun dangers to himself however ready he might be to denounce others who showed like prudence. He accuses Knox of numberless misstatements in his History, extending even to the perversion of the facts of history to justify his acts and those of his party. On nearly every page is a fling at Knox, the following being an example: Knox, as to the doctrine of " killing no murder," was a man of his time. But Knox, in telling the story of a murder which he approves, unhappily displays a glee unbecoming a reformer of the Church of Him who blamed St. Peter for his recourse to the sword. The very essence of Christianity is cast to the winds when Knox utters his laughter over the murders or misfortunes of his opponents, yielding " to the strong propensity which he felt to indulge his vein of humour." Other good men rejoiced in the murder of an enemy, but Knox chuckled. This is not fair play, though it be sharp writing. It is to be admitted that Mr. Lang carries us with him in many of his attacks upon the consistency and spirit of the Reformer, but he himself chuckles overmuch, and allows far too little for the spirit of the time that shapes the character and thought of even its leaders and heroes.

Whatever Mr. Andrew Lang writes he writes well. There is nish and polish to his work, the desiderata in all species of labor, but more especially in literature. His latest book, The Disentanglers, tends further to strengthen this generality.The plot of the book may best be given in the words of its originators, two young and impecunious gentlemen of London, as unfolded in the rst chapter, appropriately entitled The Great Idea; " Family rows about marriages. . . . The problem for the family, for hundreds of families, is to get the undesirable marriage o without the usual row. Very few people really like a row. . . . They want a pacic solution-marriage on, no remonstrances. . . . We are going to do it by a scientic and thoroughly organized system of disengaging or disentangling. We enlist a lot of girls and fellows like ourselves, beautiful, attractive, young, or not so young, well connected, intellectual, athletic, but all broke. . We send them out on demand, carefully selecting our agents to meet the circumstances in every case."The plot, as thus roughly sketched, presents almost unlimited poten-tialities, which Mr. Lang has fully utilized in the eleven stories thatfollow.This book is illustrated and annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer.