A hundred years ago, in 1855, the first translations from Turgenev’s _Sportsman’s Sketches_ appeared in French and British periodicals, and since that time his works have continued to gain an ever increasing acclaim in the Western world. Henry James, one of his fervent admirers, was not exaggerating when he wrote in 1874 that the Russian was “the first novelist of the day,” and Howells confessed a few years later that he had formed for Turgenev “one of the profoundest literary passions” of his life. At the beginning of the present century Arnold Bennett, asked to name the twelve best novels of world literature, included six of Turgenev’s in his honor list. Flaubert and Galsworthy, Conrad and Maupassant paid high tribute to Turgenev and ranked him with Fielding, Thackeray, and Balzac. Turgenev was the first Russian writer to conquer large audiences outside his native land. He actually introduced Russian literature to Europe and America which, through him, discovered and admired the originality of Russian genius. The impact of his own work, moreover, was enhanced by his personal influence. For almost three decades Turgenev, who spent more time abroad than at home, was recognized as the ambassador of Russian letters in Europe. Friend of most outstanding representatives of European art and thought, he was a familiar figure in Western capitals, and the honorary degree awarded to him by the University of Oxford was but a small part of the homage paid to him by his devotees. Yet despite his unique position and his wide following in almost every land, Turgenev’s fortunes declined sharply in the twentieth century, when many reservations were formulated about his work and person. Some of these qualifications revived old discussions and repeated arguments known already in Turgenev’s lifetime; some of them, however, were of more recent origin and expressed doubts peculiar to our century.