_Minna_, the novel translated into English by C. L. Nielsen (London, 1913), has Dresden for its background. There are songs from Wagner and music by Chopin and Beethoven, interspersed with the tale of Minna and her tragic life, after her _mariage de convenance_. In a note, dated Dresden, August, 1912, the author confesses, “I have often felt a homesick feeling for the Danish _sund_.” He adds that he has been reading Thomas Moore’s _Irish Melodies_, bequeathed to him by his deceased friend, Harald Fenger. This love story, in manuscript form, was entrusted to Gjellerup before Fenger died in London, after he had lost “Minna” and developed a fatal illness of the chest. With these memories before him, he narrates this romance of the hero who comes into the country, near the Elbe and, crossing the ferry, meets a pretty governess and Lisbeth, whose chief distinction was that of wearing a veil, “at a time when veils are out of fashion.” The character of Minna is revealed largely through letters with emotional tones. There are disillusionments as well as emotional joys in this tale, justifying the motto chosen from Moore’s line, “To live with them is far less sweet than to remember them.” The Nobel honor to Gjellerup was appreciated much in Germany because his influence upon art and literature had been strong, especially in Dresden. He interpreted, to Danish readers, certain factors in German life and philosophy. While his Danish compatriots recognize his scholarly work, his literary insight, and subtle wit, they do not rank him as a genius nor essentially as a Danish writer. Some leaders in that country would have much preferred to be represented, among Nobel prize winners, by a versatile, world-honored writer like Georg Brandes, or a playwright like Bergström (before his death in 1914) or a poet like Drachmann (before his death in 1908) or a writer of localized scenes but broad vision like J. V. Jensen. There are elements of poetic insight and analytical skill in the romances by Gjellerup; and translation into English will increase appreciation of his literary influence. CARL SPITTELER The prize of 1919 has been awarded: Spitteler, Carl, Switzerland, born 1845; died 1925; “having especially in mind his mighty epic _Olympischen Frühling_.”[119]