I Poetry and Painting Compared. (From the preface to the "Laocoön." Translated by E. C. Beasley and Helen Zimmern) II Of Suffering Held in Restraint. (From Chapter I of the "Laocoön." Translated by Beasley and Zimmern) JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE--(Born in 1749, died in 1832.) I On First Reading Shakespeare. (From "Wilhelm Meister." Translated by Thomas Carlyle) II The Coronation of Joseph II. (From Book XII of the "Autobiography." Translated by John Oxenford) FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER--(Born in 1759, died in 1808.) I The Battle of Lutzen. (From the "History of the Thirty Years' War." Translated by A. J. W. Morrison) II Philip II and the Netherlands. (From the introduction to the "History of the Revolt of the Netherlands." Translated by Morrison) WILHELM VON SCHLEGEL--(Born in 1767, died in 1845.) Shakespeare's "Macbeth." (From the "Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature." Translated by John Black, revised by A. J. W. Morrison) ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT--(Born in 1769, died in 1859.) An Essay on Man. (From his "General Review of Natural Phenomena." in Volume I of "Cosmos." Translated by E. C. Otto and W. S. Dallas) HEINRICH HEINE--(Born in 1799, died in 1856.) Reminiscences of Napoleon. (From Chapters VII, VIII and IX of "Travel Pictures." Translated by Francis Storr) ITALY 1254-1803 MARCO POLO--(Born in 1254, died in 1324.) A Description of Japan. (From the "Travels.") DANTE ALIGHIERI--(Born in 1265, died in 1321.) I That Long Descent Makes No Man Noble. (From Book IV, Chapter XIV of "The Banquet." Translated by Katharine Hillard) II Of Beatrice and Her Death. (From "The New Life." Translated by Charles Eliot Norton) FRANCESCO PETRARCH--(Born in 1304, died in 1374.) Of Good and Evil Fortune. (From the "Treatise on the Remedies of Good and Bad Fortune.") GIOVANNI BOCCACIO--(Born probably in 1313, died in 1375.) The Patient Griselda. (From the "Decameron.") NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI--(Born in 1469, died in 1527.) Ought Princes to Keep Their Promises? (From Chapter XVIII of "The Prince.") BENVENUTO CELLINI--(Born in 1500, died in 1571.) The Casting of His "Perseus and Medusa." (From the "Autobiography." Translated by William Roscoe) GIORGIO VASARI--(Born in 1511, died in 1574.) Of Raphael and His Early Death. (From "The Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors and Architects." Translated by Mrs. Jonathan Foster) CASANOVA DE SEINGALT--(Born in 1725, died probably in 1803.) His Interview with Frederick the Great. (From the "Memoirs.") OTHER COUNTRIES 1465-1909 DESIDERIUS ERASMUS--(Born in 1465, died in 1536.) Specimens of His Wit and Wisdom. (From various books) MIGUEL DE CERVANTES--(Born in 1547, died in 1616.) I The Beginnings of Don Quixote's Career. (From "Don Quixote." Translated by John Jarvis) II Of How Don Quixote Died. (From "Don Quixote." Translated by John Jarvis) HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN--(Born in 1805, died in 1875.)