Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol IV. No. XX. January, 1852.Various
History
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol IV. No. XX. January, 1852.
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
One of the principal literary men of Spain, Don Juan Hartzenbusch,
assisted by the publisher, Senor Rivadencyra, has commenced a reprint of
the works of her most distinguished authors, from the earliest ages to
the present time. This reprint is entitled "Biblioteca de Autores
Espanoles," and it is a more difficult undertaking than things of the
kind in western and northern Europe. For as very many of the works of
the principal authors never having been printed at all, the compiler has
to hunt after them in libraries, in convents, and in out-of-the-way
places; while others, having been negligently printed, or "improved" by
friends, or disfigured by enemies, have to be revised line by line. Some
idea of the importance of this gentleman's labors maybe formed from the
fact, that he has brought to light not fewer than _fourteen_ comedies of
Calderon de la Barca, which previous editors were unable to discover.
The total number of Calderon's pieces the world now possesses is
therefore 122; and there is every reason to believe that they are all he
wrote, with the exception of two or three, which there is not the
slightest hope of recovering. In addition to this, M. Hartzenbusch has
carefully corrected the text from the original manuscripts in the
Theatre del Principe, or authentic copies deposited elsewhere; and he
has added notes, which throw great light on the most obscure passages.
Moreover, he has given a chronological table of the order in which
Calderon produced his plays. But what, perhaps, is the most curious
thing of all is, that he demonstrates that "le grand Corneille" of
France actually borrowed, not plots alone, but whole passages from
Calderon. His play of _Heraclius_, for instance, has evidently been
taken from Calderon's comedy called _En esta vida todo es verdad y todo
mentira_. Some of the passages are literal translations.
* * * * *
Daily, about noon, writes the _Weser Zeitung_, the loungers "Under the
Linden" at Berlin, are startled by the extraordinary appearance of a
tall, lanky woman, whose thin limbs are wrapped up in a long black robe
or coarse cloth. An old crumpled bonnet covers her head, which,
continually moving, turns restlessly in all directions. Her hollow
cheeks are flushed with a morbid coppery glow; one of her eyes is
immovable, for it is of glass, but her other eye shines with a feverish
brilliancy, and a strange and almost awful smile hovers constantly about
her thin lips. This woman moves with an unsteady, quick step, and
whenever her black mantilla is flung back by the violence of her
movements, a small rope of hair, with a crucifix at the end, is plainly
seen to bind her waist. This black, ungainly woman is the quondam
authoress, Countess IDA HAHN-HAHN, who has turned a Catholic, and is now
preparing for a pilgrimage to Rome, to crave the Pope's absolution for
her literary trespasses.
* * * * *
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