VEirevr^F \- ~ = ~ = LIPORNlA PROBLEMS AND METHODS OF LITERARY HISTORY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MODERN FRENCH LITERATURE A GUIDE FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF FRENCH LITERATURE IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY GINN AND COMPANY BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO LONDON ATLANTA DALLAS COLUMBUS SAN FRANCISCO COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY ANDR MORIZE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 641.12 gfte gtbtnatnm GINN AND COMPANY PRO- PRIETORS BOSTON U.S.A. INTRODUCTION A memory and a wish are responsible for this book. The memory is of years, already distant, when the author was privileged to study at the Universite de Paris and the Ecole normale superieure under excellent masters. From these years he has brought away a feeling of special gratitude for the devotion with which these masters strove not only to communicate to their pupils a part of their own learning but also to initiate them into the actual methods of scientific work. He cannot forget the conferences on Saturday after- noons when, grouped about Professor G. Lanson, a few young men were made acquainted with the tools and the practical side of a study still new to them ; or those hours when Lanson generously placed at their disposal the material destined to form the Manuel bibliographique ; or, above all, the moments of personal contact when, with his wealth of erudition, his keen penetration, his strict but kindly criticism, he guided his students, started them on the right road and kept them in it, pointed out the stumblingblocks, and explained the best way to avoid them and to proceed with safety and success. Those were unforgetable lessons, and their memory, to which the author hopes not to prove faithless, will be found in every chapter of this book. The name of G. Lanson will appear several times, but the echo of his thought and of his very words will be heard on every page. Other teachers gave no less invaluable help to their pupils, guiding them personally through the library stacks, showing them the principal bibliographical implements and illustrat- iv PROBLEMS AND METHODS ing their use, thus supplying to the students in a few hours information that, left to their own devices, they could not have picked up in as many years. At other times a student would be asked to report to the professor and his comrades the results of his own researches, and together they would discuss the method, its merits and demerits. Every such oc- casion offered a fresh incentive to all the members of the class : they learned something more important than pedantic details or ingenious critical opinions they learned how to work. It is this memory, combined with the experience of several years of teaching in the United States, that roused in the author the wish to do the same good turn, as far as in him lay, to American students. Indeed, there is always a troublesome transition between the end of undergraduate work and the beginning of graduate work. This difficulty is particularly noticeable when stu- dents reach the point of choosing the subject for a thesis and of attempting their own researches. Their zeal is, to be sure, unbounded, their diligence and conscientiousness are irre- proachable; but it is impossible to deny that obstacles abound. In a word, and quite frankly, our young men do not know definitely enough how to work. They try to patch out this ignorance, for which they are not to blame, by an empiricism that may sometimes succeed, but that guarantees them insufficiently against deception and error. Too often they are seen wandering through the libraries "hunting for information", like a blind man hunting for a house in a strange city. They are satisfied with what they obtain in this way, without knowing that more the really important in- formation exists elsewhere. They come up for even ad- vanced examinations with a bibliographical ignorance that is at times disconcerting. Once the material is accumulated they (Jo not always know how to arrange it with dexterity INTRODUCTION V and skill: they feel like masons set to do an architect's task. Therefore, after months of research and exertion, they run the risk of producing a work, no matter how conscientious, that just misses being the definitive, or at any rate important, contribution intended. Loss of time, uncertainty, waste of energy and effort, at the expense of the final results, such is, if not the usual, it must be confessed the sadly frequent, sight. This book will have realized its purpose if it is able to some extent to remedy this evil and to fill this gap. The subject matter has been given, under the same title, as a course at Harvard University. This course, limited to a small number of pupils, has always been very informal, with conversation and free discussions constantly interrupt- ing an exposition that sought to be clear and vivid rather than literary and eloquent. In arranging the lectures in book form the author has tried to keep the intimate, direct tone, the naturalness and ease, of unconstrained and unpretentious talks. The aim is, first, to give to the novice in literary history a clear idea of the field he is entering to define its character- istics and limits, its relations with the two neighboring prov- inces of literary criticism and history; next, to familiarize him with the indispensable implements and tools ; lastly, to introduce him to the principal problems that may arise and to help him to find the solutions. These problems, after all, are not endlessly varied: they fall under a certain number of headings, corresponding to different stages in the creation of a literary work and to its varying fortunes with the public ; for instance, questions of linguistic or grammatical commentary and interpretation, questions of sources or of influence, questions of chronology or of authenticity, of biography or of bibliography, of Ian- vi PROBLEMS AND METHODS guage, style, or versification. The student is never the first person who has had to deal with them: others before him have made the attempt ; others have solved them. Their re- searches, considered particularly from the point of view of method, form a treasure of accumulated experience on which the present volume invites the newcomer to draw as often as he can. Not, be it clearly understood, that he should become the servile imitator of such and such a professor or scholar or indulge in cunning plagiarism of successful methods. No, the question is simply to follow the daily practice of tech- nical or mechanical workshops: the apprentice stands be- side the good workman whose hand and eye have acquired skill and accuracy through years of training. He watches him and asks questions ; he strives to stamp on his memory each phase of the process that transforms crude matter into a finely finished work ; he observes the deft fingers, the care, the delicate, precise movements, that distinguish the experi- enced craftsman from the unpracticed hand. He tries to remember all this when he himself is seated at the bench and working on his own account. This, and nothing else, is expected from the student to watch, observe, under- stand, and learn. "To be useful to students has been my constant thought", writes Lanson in his introduction to the Manuel bibliogra- phique. The author wishes to repeat the formula here, re- stricting it still more: To be useful to graduate students, working on French literature in American and English uni- versities, has been his constant thought. He has had especially in mind two types of young workers : first, those that are just beginning their personal researches ; next, those that, after taking their A.M. or Ph.D. degree, are continuing their careers in schools or colleges far re- INTRODUCTION vii moved from the centres of scientific activity and historical investigation. He hopes to give them encouragement not to abandon personal work, and assistance in its accomplishment. As occasion offered he has not hesitated to enlarge upon facts that are almost self-evident, upon elementary methods and precautions, even upon entirely practical advice; nor, in other places, has he avoided discussing more complicated problems, accessible only to students already far advanced. He has simply borne in mind the extremely diverse and unequal degrees of preparation found in the members of grad- uate courses ; and experience has shown him, moreover, that sometimes it does no harm, even to the best students, to re- call, if not to reveal, certain of these elementary, obvious, but very important points. Why should they not be as wise as M. Jourdain, who, when his master of philosophy asked him, "You know Latin, of course?" answered, "Yes, but go ahead just as if I didn't"? Perhaps the author will be re- proached for going ahead too much as if his readers didn't ! Furthermore, certain demonstrations or discussions have been either developed fully or analyzed minutely, not at all because they were particularly original or interesting in themselves, but because as a rule they were newer to the students. The length of the various chapters corresponds less to the relative importance of the subject matter than to reasons or necessities that might be termed pedagogical. Students must not suppose that they are herewith offered some variety of "Practical Receipt-Book," with the methods of literary history tabulated in rules and formulas, ready to be applied to fresh cases. Such an attempt could not be realized, and in any event would be absurd. They need not expect to be shown in these pages any short cuts for avoiding difficulties and obstacles. What they will find is a sort of atlas of literary history, a collection of maps of the country viii PROBLEMS AND METHODS they plan to explore ; on these are marked its intricacies and resources, and the safe highways from which the pioneers must start their explorations. Lastly, this work will fulfill its author's earnest desire if it helps to develop in our young students, together with a taste for literary research, the attitude of mind that insures success, and that is nothing, after all, but scientific curiosity combined with scientific conscientiousness. A love of pre- cision joined to aspirations toward general ideas ; respect for historical facts, and warm appreciation of beautiful writings ; minuteness in research, and breadth of view; finesse in an- alysis ; strictness in criticism ; penetration in aesthetic judg- ments ; lastly, exacting loyalty toward oneself, toward facts, toward the ideas and the men studied, these are a few of the valuable qualities that, thoroughly understood and thor- oughly carried out, literary studies tend to develop. For the training of students there is no better school. May this book prove an acceptable introduction. It is my pleasant task to extend hearty thanks to those who have been interested in the preparation of these pages : first, to Professor J. D. M. Ford, Chairman of the Depart- ment of Romance Languages at Harvard University, who welcomed and encouraged the idea of the course on which the book is based ; to several of my colleagues and friends who have helped me with their invaluable advice, experience, and suggestions in particular, to Professors Carleton Brown, Ronald S. Crane, and Percy W. Long ; and, finally, to Miss Phyllis Robbins, who, with devotion and patience, has ac- complished the work of transforming into a book for Ameri- can readers these lectures of a French professor. ANDRE MORIZE CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION iii CHAPTER I. OBJECTS AND METHODS OF LITERARY HISTORY i CHAPTER II. IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS : BIBLIOGRAPHY . 13 Some works of general bibliography, 13. Bibliography of modern French literature, 16. Academic dissertations, 25. Large catalogues of libraries, 26. Bibliography of subjects involving the literary relations of France with other countries, 28. History of the French language, 29. Periodical literature, 30. Encyclopaedias and large dictionaries, 33. Some practical advice, 34. CHAPTER III. THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION .... 37 Requirements of a good edition, 38. Different stages in the prepara- tion of an edition, 38. Critical work for establishing and cleaning up the text, 39. Choice of a text as foundation of a critical edition, 47. Establishment and arrangement of the critical apparatus, 56. Repro- duction of the text : questions of orthography and punctuation, 58. Linguistic and grammatical commentary, 62. Literary commentary, 63. Practical details of printing, 65. Examples of editions to study, 66. CHAPTER IV. ESTABLISHING A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY . 70 Definition and object, 70. Critical bibliography of an author, 71. Ex- amples to study, 76. Critical bibliography of a question of literary history, 80. CHAPTER V. INVESTIGATION AND INTERPRETATION OF SOURCES 82 Definition of a source, 82. Importance of the study of sources, 84. Temptations and possible errors, 87. Various types of sources, 96. Direct sources, 96. Documentary sources, 101. Sources of detail, 104. Composite sources, 107. Oral and indefinite sources, 113. Sources of inspiration, 118. Graphic and plastic sources, 124. Principal fields for the investigation of sources, 127. CHAPTER VI. CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY . . .132 Importance of chronology, 132. Problems of chronology in literary history, 135. To fix the date of a work, 136. To fix the dates of the various parts of a work, 143. x PROBLEMS AND METHODS PAGE CHAPTER VII. PROBLEMS OF AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRI- BUTION 157 The authenticity of the Paradoxe sur le comedien, 158. Problems of attribution solved through bibliographical evidence, 170. Opuscules and Factums of Pascal, 172. Problem of the attribution of the Dis- cours de la servitude volontaire, 176. Methods in questions of authen- ticity and attribution, 189. CHAPTER VIII. QUESTIONS OF VERSIFICATION 194 Bibliography of French versification, 196. Plan and methods of the study of versification, 198. Lines considered separately, 200. Syllabic structure, 200. Rhythmical structure, 200. Harmonic structure, 204. Groups of lines, 206. Esthetic commentary, 209. CHAPTER IX. TREATMENT OF BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL IN THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE 210 Importance of biographical precision in literary history, 210. Col- lection of the documents, 215. Treatment of documents; essential points of literary biography, 217. CHAPTER X. QUESTIONS OF SUCCESS AND OF INFLUENCE 225 Distinction between success and influence, 226. Definition of in- fluence, 228. How may an influence present itself? 230. Active in- fluences, 233. Retarded or arrested influences, 237. Mechanism and mode of action of literary influences, 243. Simplification, elimination, choice, 244. The image that each epoch or each milieu forms of a work, 247. Tracing and measuring literary influences, 250. Possible errors and necessary precautions, 259. CHAPTER XI. THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE IN CONNEC- TION WITH THE HISTORY OF IDEAS AND OF MANNERS 263 Questions in which literature and history cannot be considered iso- lated from each other, 264. Difficulties and precautions, 268. Rela- tions between the literary work and its environment, 272. Influence of the work on the milieu, 278. Methods of handling the facts, 282. Importance of individual elements, 285. Remarks on method, 287. CHAPTER XII. PREPARATION AND REDACTION OF A THESIS 289 Choice of a subject, 289. Approach and preparation, 291. Work of organization : determination of problems, 294. Form and expres- sion, 297. CONCLUSION 300 INDEX 30S PROBLEMS AND METHODS OF LITERARY HISTORY CHAPTER I OBJECTS AND METHODS OF LITERARY HISTORY To justify the existence and the methods of literary his- tory is entirely superfluous nowadays, and it is no less super- fluous to dwell upon the differences and likenesses between it and literary criticism. Our common sense tells us, if we do away with prejudices and futile scholarly discussions, that literary history, working in its own field, is trying neither to replace nor to oppose literary criticism. Literary history thinks that it can help literary criticism ; can clear a path for it ; can lighten its task of understanding, judging, and classi- fying literary works and the great movements of human thought. It offers its services as a devoted auxiliary, modest and self-effacing. It has no imperialistic designs: it covers enough territory already to have no need to encroach on that of a neighbor. It prepares the material for the critic but puts no restrictions on the way he should use it. If he has faith in impressionistic criticism, if he believes that the literary critic should surrender himself to the emotion produced by the book he is studying and then should express this emotion with precision and delicacy, he is free to do so. Literary history asks him only to base his personal reaction on facts that have been historically verified, to define his position clearly, and, when communicating a purely personal reaction 2 PROBLEMS AND METHODS to the public, not to believe or to make others believe that he is giving any added information about the work or its writer. "Impressionism", says Lanson, "is the only method that puts us in touch with beauty. Let us, then, use it for this purpose, frankly, but let us limit it to this, rigorously. To distinguish knowing from feeling, what we may know from what we should feel; to avoid feeling when we can know, and thinking that we know when we feel : to this, it seems to me, the scientific method of literary history can be reduced." 1 If, on the contrary, the critic believes that he should ex- plain and judge a work in the name of some preexistent system, whether aesthetic, philosophic, or scientific; if he holds, with Boileau and the other dogmatic or authoritarian critics, that the criterion of excellence is conformity to some ideal or tradition ; if he prefers, like Taine or Brunetiere, to appropriate from science methods of classifying, explaining, or analyzing, to transfer to the field of literary criticism either the determinism of the physical sciences or the theory of biological evolution, here again literary history denies neither the legitimacy of such points of view nor the interest of the results obtained. Let me repeat that it leaves each one free to use as he sees fit the facts that it puts at his dis- posal, but that it insists upon the necessity of his asking for the material, which it is ready to supply with every obtain- able guarantee of historical accuracy. Now, laying aside all pedantic phraseology, the facts are these: those who have faith in literary history ask merely that the critic, before constructing systems, before praising or blaming, worshiping or scoffing, be sure that he knows exactly what he is talking about. They ask that before criticizing he be sure to criticize established facts, indisputable chronology, correct texts, ex- l Revue de VUniversiti de Bruxelles, December, 1909. OBJECTS AND METHODS 3 act biographies ; in short, as a watchword they would gladly adopt the old Latin proverb, modified for their use : " Primum scire, deinde philosophari." 1 This craving for knowledge is, truly speaking, the only scientific part of their efforts. There is no scientific method in literary history in the sense that there is no method, how- ever well adapted to a given science, that literary history can transplant and apply to its own researches. The illusion that this is possible is responsible for much poor and childish work : statistics and charts, evolution of species, and quanti- tative analysis are processes, methods, and hypotheses ex- cellent in their place, but their place is not in literary history. For its purposes the scientific method is reduced to scientific conscientiousness and spirit to the determination to leave nothing to guesswork, and, without stifling subjective impres- sions, to keep them entirely apart from substantiated facts. Practically, what does this programme consist in ? Its aim is to surround literary works with all the information needed to make them thoroughly understood. In detail the process is as follows : 1. To seize as completely and accurately as possible the meaning of the work words and ideas, historical, philo- sophical, and artistic value. 2. To distinguish in each work between the part that originates with the writer and that in which imitations, remi- niscences, traditions, can be detected. 1 See Lanson, De la methode dans les sciences, Vol. II, p. 223 : " We wish that, before judging Bossuet or Voltaire in the name of a doctrine or of a religion, there would be an effort to make his acquaintance, with no thought except to collect the greatest possible mass of authentic information, and to estab- lish the greatest possible number of verified references. Our ideal is to con- struct a Bossuet and a Voltaire that neither Catholics nor Anticlericals can refute, with personalities that both will acknowledge to be true, and that both will then decorate with any sentimental characteristics they please." 4 PROBLEMS AND METHODS 3. To discover and analyze continually the interaction between literature and the multiple elements intellectual or economic, political or moral, artistic or social that form its environment. In a word, the work of literary history is what has been aptly defined as "an attempt to comprehend historically and critically". 1 This attempt to comprehend presupposes a large number of questions to study and problems to solve. The researches of literary history, like the laboratory experiments of psy- chology or of biology, have their own technique practical methods of study and solution that prevent our going astray and wasting time and energy. No one should try to guess or to improvise these methods: it is far wiser to learn from those who have built them up and applied them with success. These questions or problems may be classed under the following headings : i. Questions of bibliography. What are the implements and tools of the good worker? How can the student find his way among the thousands of books, printed documents, and manuscripts that are available ? Where will he turn for the heterogeneous information he requires? What will pre- vent his delving for months into a subject, only to learn too late that it has been excellently handled in some article that he did not know how to find? How can he avoid hunt- ing for two or three hours for a fact that he could have verified in five minutes had he known where to go? Only those who have been thrown on their own resources before the thousands of cards in a catalogue, or in the labyrinth 1 G. Cohen, "Une Chaire nouvelle de langue et de litterature franchises a 1'Universite d'Amsterdam," Revue Internationale de I'enseignement, October 15, 1912. The article deserves to be read in full. OBJECTS AND METHODS 5 of a large library, will fully understand the need of some practical apprenticeship. Besides, it is not entirely a question of being able to ex- tricate oneself: other people have to be extricated also. To compile clear, complete, handy bibliographies of the im- portant writers and subjects is one of the most urgent tasks for literary history. How, then, should this work be organ- ized and carried out? 2. Questions of criticism of the text. In taking up the study of some book the first step is to examine the text. Is it correct and trustworthy? Or has it been transmitted to us with faults, omissions, interpolations, inadvertences of all sorts? In the latter case it must undergo a ' cleaning up', like that to which the ancient Greek or Latin authors are subjected. This is the preliminary work in preparing an accurate edition. How is it to be accomplished ? 3. Questions of interpretation and of explanation. A text may be authentic and correct and yet be quite obscure, or decipherable only with difficulty. Read attentively and con- scientiously any page of some famous writer ; no matter how intelligent and cultivated you may be, there will be many things that at first sight leave a vague or incorrect impres- sion, or none at all. "To understand that you do not under- stand" is the beginning of wisdom. Open Rabelais, Moliere, Voltaire, Dante or Goethe, Milton or Cervantes; if you really know how to ' read ', you will find many problems and stumblingblocks on every page. Words may be obscure, either because they belong to a special or technical vocabu- lary or because their meanings have changed since the book was written. Perhaps grammar and syntax puzzle you ; they may differ from current use or from the general use at that time. Then there are many allusions references to con- temporary life, to the life of the author, to his reading, 6 PROBLEMS AND METHODS to some fact of historical or local significance. All these allusions must be traced, analyzed, explained. In short, a commentary must be written, a grammatical, linguistic, ex- planatory, literary commentary of the text a piece of work that, both in preparing and executing, needs great learning, perspicacity, and tact. This, after the establish- ment of a correct and critical text, is the second phase of editing. 4. Questions of versification. Whether in writing the com- mentary for a new edition, whether in literary criticism, whether as the object of a special, separate study, versifica- tion raises many difficulties. These difficulties, grave as they are for a Frenchman, are particularly formidable for a for- eigner. To analyze and appreciate the rhythm, the harmony, and the artistic worth of a poem presupposes a mass of precise technical information and a long training of the ear. What, then, are the points to study? How is the commen- tary to be arranged ? Where are the indispensable technical facts to be found? What definitions should be adopted? Finally, how shall the delicate skill be acquired that enables us to speak of French verse not as dry statisticians but as responsive, discriminating judges ? 5. Preparation of a critical edition. Another urgent task for literary history is to furnish scholars as well as the gen- eral public with good editions of modern writers. This work also is exacting and complicated: the choice of the edition whose text shall be reprinted ; the use to be made of manu- scripts ; the reproduction of the spelling and punctuation of the original editions; the establishment and arrangement of the critical apparatus and the various commentaries; the material details of the book these are only a few of the problems that an editor must face. How can he succeed in such an enterprise? OBJECTS AND METHODS 7 6. Questions of date and of chronology. In literary criti- cism of whatever school there is no more frequent source of error than ignorance or uncertainty of chronology. The date printed on the title-page of a book is often not the exact date of publication; still oftener the date of publication is not the date of composition. Moreover, in many cases, in order to decide a question of influence or of imitation, not only the year of publication must be determined but the month, the week, the day. A precise knowledge of these chrono- logical data is needed in order to give the work its true place in the author's life and in the literary development of his time. On the other hand, many masterpieces, such as Mon- taigne's Essais, Voltaire's Dictionnaire philosophique, the Confessions of Rousseau, Les Contemplations of Hugo, have grown progressively, have been completed and enriched at intervals. To criticize them without first of all making sure of the date of composition of each of the parts would be to invite serious mistakes. With these fragmentary or auto- biographical works fresh problems arise, calling for special methods. 7. Questions of authenticity and of attribution. If it is indispensable to establish a correct text, it is equally indis- pensable, in certain instances, to assure ourselves that the work is genuine, that it really belongs to the author to whom it is universally attributed. Doubtless, for most of the great modern works the question need never be raised. There are, however, many exceptions in the case of posthumous works, of correspondence, of libels published more or less clandes- tinely, or of collections into which pieces of suspected origin have insinuated themselves in which the tares have been mixed with the wheat. By what methods should questions of this type be studied and answered ? 8 PROBLEMS AND METHODS 8. Questions of sources and of origins. "Almost every- thing is imitation", writes Voltaire. "With books it is the same as with the fire on our hearths; we go to beg a light from our neighbors, we build a fire in our houses, and it be- longs to all alike." Even if not "everything" is imitation, there is no doubt that every book stands partly for the crea- tive thought of the writer, partly for his reading and docu- mentary work. Sometimes he unconsciously fills it with vague reminiscences, half-forgotten reading, obscure sugges- tions ; sometimes he intentionally borrows and imitates, even openly steals and plagiarizes, adding to his own structure stones that he may 'perhaps have freshly chipped but that he has not cut from the block. A search for all these ele- ments is essential in determining the originality of a writer, his working methods, his literary inheritance and parentage. How should we carry out this investigation of sources and interpret the results? 9. Questions of the formation and the transformation of a work. As a general rule a book does not at the outset assume a definite and unchangeable form : it is the visible end of a long series of preparations and efforts and the beginning of another series of transformations. Between the moment when the first inspiration, the first projects, shape themselves in the author's mind and the day when, in his old age, he publishes the last edition of his book, there is a succession of intermediary stages, which reflect faithfully the changes in his taste, thought, and feelings. We must, then, find and study the outlines, rough drafts, fragments, and copies; we must follow the text through its various impressions, from the princeps to the definitive edition, collating, comparing, classifying the readings, corrections, additions, and suppres- sions, in order to trace the evolution of the author's ideas OBJECTS AND METHODS 9 and art. The results of this work will find a place in some critical edition, or in a general study of the formation of a writer or the genesis of a work ; they will be worth exactly what the method used to obtain them is worth. 10. Questions of biography. Nearly every question that has been mentioned exemplifies the close connection between a writer's life and his work. This connection will, of course, be studied with greater exactness and profit the more com- pletely the life of the author is known. How, then, is it possible to write what Sainte-Beuve calls "a well-composed biography " ? Where are the documents to be found ? How should they be turned to account? What special points should be brought out? In the life of every famous writer are there not certain questions and certain incidents that bear more directly than others on his work: geographic or ethnic origins; education and formation; first literary in- fluences ; periods of crisis and their causes ; stages of evolu- tion; relations with various contemporary social groups? Lastly, are there any models of literary biography, both his- torically unassailable and arranged with intelligence, clear- ness, and skill? 11. Questions of success and of influence. The life of a literary work really begins only on the day when, like Vigny's "bouteille a la mer", it is thrown into the great tide of human thought. Literary history should follow its des- tinies, its success, its influence. A work, though received in triumph, may disappear, leaving no trace; another, hardly noticed on its publication, may, as the years and centuries go by, exert an ever-widening power. What are the reasons for these vicissitudes? If it is* true that, as the Latin poet says, "habent sua fata libelli", how should the fata and their caprices be studied ? The history of the influence of literary io PROBLEMS AND METHODS works is a splendid field for study, still nearly unexplored, in which several pioneers have already built monuments as landmarks and guides. 12. Relations of the history of literature with the history of ideas and of civilization. Finally, literary history looks farther than to the establishing of explanatory commentary, the naming of sources, and the tracing of influences. Often its horizon is enlarged to include the connection between the literary work and the general history of ideas and of civiliza- tion. In what degree is literature the ' expression of so- ciety'? In what degree is society shaped and modified by literature ? What part does a book play in preparing great political crises or slow social evolution ? Here are innumer- able problems of vital interest, toward which in the last twenty-five years the work of many scholars has been di- rected young scholars interested not only in philological study and psychological analysis but in the moral and social problems of history. Such are the principal fields in which the student of literary history may exercise his powers. Before starting out, is it not a wise precaution to make inquiries as to the neces- sary equipment and the best route to his destination ? The following pages are written in the hope of answering these inquiries. First, the student must become familiar with the imple- ments of his trade the bibliographical material of French literature. Next, he must take up, one after the other, each type of problem that has been mentioned. He should learn to state it, to define its terms, and to reach solutions. For him noth- ing will be so valuable as to study the works of those who have skillfully and successfully accomplished researches of OBJECTS AND METHODS n this kind ; perhaps, for the benefit of the inexperienced stu- dent, these works may be coaxed into giving up the secret of their methods. Certainly no one can acquire true learning or genius through mere observation; but observation will help the conscientious young apprentice, who some day in the great workshop of his choice may become a skilled worker. 1 1 The few references given in the following list do not claim to offer a bibliography of literary criticism in general, or even of the " methods of literary history". They are intended merely to familiarize the student with the discussions mentioned in this chapter, and with the idea of literary his- tory held today by its universally recognized representatives. 1. The essential reading is as follows : LANSON, G. De la methode dans les sciences (second series, 1911), pp. 221264 ("La Methodede Phistoire litteraire"). First published in Revuedumois, October, i9io,pp. 385-413; followed by an interesting discussion, April, i9ii,pp.486-497. This reading is to be supplemented with several articles by the same author : " Ouverture des conferences a la FacultS des lettres de PUniversite de Paris," Revui Internationale de I'enseignement, November 15, 1901, p. 385. See also same volume, p. 240. "Histoire litteraire: resultats recents et problemes actuels," Revue de synthese his- torique, Vol. I (1900), pp. 52-83. "Programme d'etudes sur Phistoire provinciale et la vie litteraire en France," Re- vue d'histoire moderns et contemporaine, April 15, 1903- "L'Histoire litteraire et la sociologie," Revue de mitaphysique et de morale, July, 1904. "L'Esprit scientifique et la methode de Phistoire litteraire," Revue de I'Universite de Bruxelles, December, 1909. Hommes et livres, Preface. 1895. 2. The following reading is recommended, as a means of gaining some knowl- edge of the various types, methods, or systems of literary criticism that have been mentioned in this chapter : SAINTE-BEUVE. Catiseries du lundi, Vol. XIII; Nouveaux lundis, Vol. VIII (two important articles on Taine); Portraits litteraires, Vol. Ill; Correspondance, Vol. I, p. 315, and Vol. II, p. 40. TAINE. Introduction to the Histoire de la litterature anglaise (Babbitt edition); Essais de critique et d'histoire, particularly Prefaces of 1858 and 1866. GIRAUD, V. Essai sur Taine (4th ed., 1909). BRUNETIERE. Introduction to the Evolution des genres. 1890. 12 PROBLEMS AND METHODS On Brunetiere: GIRAUD, in Maitrcs d'autrejois et d'aujourd'hui, 1913, and Revue des Deux Mondes, March, 1908, pp. 52-82. FRANCE, A. La Vie litteraire, Prefaces in Vols. I and II. BABBITT, I. The Masters oj Modern French Criticism (1912). See the review of this book by D. Mornet, in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1915, pp. 301-303. HENNEQUIN, E. La Critique scientifique (2d ed., 1894). RENARD, G. La Methode scientifique de I'histoire litteraire. 1900. PAUTHIER, H. and J. L'Histoire litteraire. 1911. LANSON, G. "Les Etudes sur la litterature franqaise moderne," La Science Jranfaise, MORNET, D. "Les Methodes de I'histoire litteraire, etudiees a propos de I'histoire d'une ceuvre: La Nouvelle Helo'ise," Revue des cours et conferences, Vols. XXII 1 andXXII 2 (1913-1914). MORNET, D. "Les Methodes dans les recents travaux d'histoire litteraire," Revue du mots, June 10, 1914- ESTEVE, E. Critique litteraire (1915). Reprinted from Memoires de I'Acadimie Stanislas, 1913-1914. SERRURIER, C. Introduction a I'histoire de la litterature /ranfaise moderne. Ley- den, 1914- URBAIN, C. "Histoire litteraire et erudition," Revue du clerge franfais, March 15, 1914- GAYLEY, C. M., and KURTZ, B. P. Methods and Materials oj Literary Criticism. Boston, 1920. CHAPTER II IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY Before undertaking any kind of work the workman should learn to know his tools ; without this indispensable familiar- ity he is doomed to an immense loss of time, to uncertain gropings, and to many mistakes. Doubtless each subject calls for a special bibliography, but to acquire this bibliog- raphy and to acquire it by the shortest and safest route it is necessary to consult a certain number of works of general reference, through which all special references are discovered, and in this way to be practically sure that noth- ing essential has escaped or been overlooked. It is to this general bibliography of French literature, above all, that the student should introduce himself. A good idea, before starting to explore this limited province, is to take a look at the map of a vaster region, spread out in works of bibliographical reference of larger scope. I. SOME WORKS OF GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY x i. The first guide whose acquaintance it is well to make is C. V. Langlois, Manuel de bibliographic historique (Part I, 1901 (2d ed.); Part II, 1904). This book, intended pri- 1 Is it necessary to say that the works mentioned under this heading are books of very general reference, which should be known and which are a help to the student in finding his way among the complicated paths of bibliog- raphy, but which need not be consulted every time that the bibliography on a particular question is being compiled? This remark would be unnecessary if experience did not prove that the error is sometimes committed by students whose critical sense does not equal their zeal and good intentions. 13 14 PROBLEMS AND METHODS marily for students of history, makes a useful general intro- duction to any work in literary bibliography. The following paragraphs will be found especially profitable : Sections 3-38, Bibliographies universelles. Sections 63-68, Bibliographies nationales: France (very important) . Sections 95-98, Bibliographies generates. Sections 129-131, Dictionnaires de biographic. Sections 147-148, Presse quotidienne. 1 2. For general bibliography prior to 1866 see the Biblio- theca bibliographica of J. Petzholdt, 2 particularly the follow- ing sections : Pages 1-65, Einleitender Theil: works of general bibliography. Pages 66-279, Allgemeiner Theil: general references; rare books; censured and forbidden works; and, especially, individual biographies in alphabetical order (pp. 156-279). Pages 323-3 2 5> France. 1 Langlois's Manuel will be the natural starting-point when the student of literature wishes to extend his bibliography in the direction of history proper, whether he is trying to acquire the indispensable historical background or whether he is clearing up some allusion or difficulty in interpretation. He should know, besides the Histoire de France depuis les origines jusqu'a la Revolution, published under the direction of E. Lavisse (1900-1911), and its continuation for the contemporary period (the chapters on the history of society and of fine arts and letters are excellent) ; P. Caron, Bibliographic des travaux publics de 1866 a 1807 sur I'histoire de la France depuis 1789 (Paris, 1912) ; and the Repertoire methodique de I'histoire moderne et con- temporaine de la France (from the Italian wars in the sixteenth century), begun in 1898, and published thereafter in supplements by the Revue d'his- toire moderne et contemporaine . It is helpful also to know the other leading French historical periodicals : Revue historique, Revue des etudes historiques, Revue des questions historiques, and especially the Revue de synthese his- torique, because of its bibliographies and "revues generates ", or general sur- veys of the various fields of historical research. 2 Bibliotheca bibliographica. Kritisches Verzeichniss der das Gesammt- gebiet der Bibliographic betreffenden Litteratur des In- und Auslandes, in systematischer Ordnung bearbeitet. Mit alphabetischem Namen- und Sach- register (8vo). Leipzig, 1866. IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY 15 Pages 325-339, French literature. Pages 705-726, Literature, under the words Frankreich, Poesie, Romane, etc. The reference to each work, which is usually exact, is followed by a critical note, short but valuable. 3 . The classic but rather antiquated work of Petzholdt may be supplemented by the Manuel de bibliographic generate of H. Stein (Paris, 1898). x The classification of subjects is ex- plained in pages x-xiv of the Introduction. The parts that particularly concern the history of literature are the following : Pages 1-8, Bibliographies universelles. Pages 21-24, France. Pages 237-323, Philologie et belles-lettres, especially pp. 237-238, Generalites et repertoires nominaux ; 2 68-2 7 1 , Litterature f ran- qaise; 2 7 7, Traditions populaires (France) ; 281, Theatre; 284, Romans; 288, Catalogues de theses; 289, Litterature variee; 300, Bio-bibliographie litteraire; 309, Livres condamnes; 311, Anonymes et pseudonymes; 313-323, Presse periodique. Pages 407-412, Histoire moderne et contemporaine. Pages 42 1-424, Histoire de France. Pages 433-434, Archives. Pages 438-461, Histoire de rimprimerie. Pages 482-483, Livres a gravures. Pages 497-554, Biographie. The work is completed by two valuable Appendixes: a. Repertoire des tables generates de periodiques de toutes langues (pp. 637-710), which shows, for each periodical, the na- ture, number, and date of the published indexes. lf rhe Bibliographic des bibliographies of L. Vallee (Paris, 1883; Supple- ment, 1884) is not to be recommended. It is obsolete, incomplete, and other- wise imperfect. If, however, Stein's book is not available, it may be useful to turn to the following chapters in Vallee's : p. 618, Bibliographic generate ; p. 621, Bibliographic speciale; p. 623, Biographie; p. 664, France; p. 681, His- toire litteraire. See also the second part of the book, Table methodique, under the names of French writers or of French provinces. 1 6 PROBLEMS AND METHODS b. Repertoire des catalogues d'imprimes des principales biblio- theques du monde entier. 1 4. Useful information may often be gained from the two following works: British Museum Library, List of Biblio- graphical Works in the Reading Room (2d ed., London, 1889), and W. P. Courtney, A Register of National Bibliog- raphy, which contains a good number of references to books or articles published in other countries than Great Britain (3 vols.) (London, 1905-1912). Lastly, the inexperienced student will avoid long and fruitless research by reading A. B. Kroeger, Guide to the Study and Use of Reference Books (3d ed.) (I. C. Mudge, Chicago, 1917). II. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MODERN FRENCH LITERATURE THE MANUEL BIBLIOGRAPHIQUE OF G. LANSON The book that should be a constant companion to the student is the Manuel bibliographique de la litterature fran- qaise moderne (1500-1900), by G. Lanson, published in four parts (1909-1912), followed by a Supplement and an Index general (1914), and republished with corrections and addi- tions in one volume in i92i. 2 Like all good tools the Manuel should be used intelligently ; before expecting too much of it, it is wise to understand fully what it is meant to be. 1 It is well to know of these catalogues when studying an author whose life or literary activity is connected with a particular locality : for instance, the cata- logues of the libraries of Bordeaux for Montaigne and Montesquieu ; of Geneva, Lausanne, or Neuchatel for J.-J. Rousseau ; of Lyons for Louise Labe, etc. 2 Read good reviews of the book by F. Baldensperger, in Revue de philo- logie jranqaise et de litterature, Vol. XXIV (1910), p. 72, and Vol. XXVII (1913), p. 129; by D. Mornet, in Revue du mois, June 10, 1911, p. 732; by A. Monglond, in Revue de synthese historique, Vol. XXVI (1913), p. 123; and by K. R. Gallas, in NeophUologus, Vol. I (1916), p. 308. The latter gives several interesting additions and corrections. IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY 17 Here is a bibliography a la fran$aise, simple, clear, and methodical. There is no wish to impress the reader by ac- cumulating titles and references; throughout there is an effort to simplify, to blaze trails through the immense biblio- graphical forest, and to lay out paths easy to follow and always leading somewhere. "The two principles that have guided me", writes Lanson, "have been (i) to show the way to what I have omitted; (2) to compose a handbook that corresponds to the culture and the practical needs of the average student of French literature. ... To be useful to students has been my constant thought." 1 Therefore it must be borne in mind that the Manuel is not intended to give all the references that it is possible to gather, but aims only at directing the student where and how to find what he needs. The book is composed of six parts : Introduction, Biblio- graphic generate ; Seizieme siecle ; Dix-septieme siecle ; Dix- huitieme siecle ; Revolution et Empire ; Dix-neuvieme siecle. This division might cause inconvenience by cutting in halves writers who belong in two centuries, and by giving an inexact idea of the continuity of literary movements, did not the author prevent this in two ways : ( i ) a system of cross refer- ences makes it easy to piece together everything that relates to an author who lived in two centuries or who was interested in several branches of literature; (2) special chapters bring out clearly every period of transition and all transformations of literary ideals or theories. 2 Taking the Manuel bibliographique as a whole, it is de- cidedly superior in two respects to. all previous reference books of French literature. 1 Preface, p. vii. 2 See Vol. II, chap, xxvii, "Le Passage du dix-septieme au dix-huitieme siecle"; Vol. IV, chap, xi, "Du Romantisme au Parnasse," and chap, xii, 3, " Du Parnasse au Symbolisme." 1 8 PROBLEMS AND METHODS On the one hand, it constantly mentions the reviews and bulletins of learned societies. "A large part of the useful work is done by them, and it is these that students have the greatest difficulty in unearthing." 1 Often essential elements in a detailed study are buried in an article the importance of which could not be suspected from its title or origin. 2 Left to himself a student would hardly ever discover it. On the other hand, the Manuel is much more, and much better, under its apparent dryness, than a list of titles and names. It is, indeed, a mine of valuable suggestions for studies to be undertaken and for the interpretation of great literary events. The author has "chosen a system that sketches a design for the methodical study of modern French literature", and "by the very arrangement of the subject- matter, has suggested the work that should be done". 3 In this way many features that do not usually find room in a bibliography are given their place, and their importance is made clear: for instance, works and discussions relative to the authenticity, the history, and the transformations of the texts; abundant lists of translations from ancient or foreign writers and of reprints of previous works of note (this makes a valuable contribution to the knowledge of the intellectual surroundings among which the great writers have developed) ; works on the sources that have been discovered for every important literary production; and, for each of the writers who have in their day been decisive elements in the general evolution of thought or of an artistic ideal, all the criticisms or apologies, discussions or controversies, that show the reaction of the reading-public. In the same way, several chapters are devoted to the evolution of doctrines, 1 Preface, p. viii. 2 For instance, many unpublished letters, biographical documents, etc. 3 Preface, p. vii. IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY 19 theories, literary or artistic ideals, and to the history of the social environment, condition of men of letters, pedagogical doctrines, salons and coteries. Every one of these chapters is full of interesting suggestions and opens new horizons to the student who tries to read them in the right spirit. If a very matter-of-fact piece of advice is not out of place here, it may be said that a good practice is to have the Manuel bound interleaved with blank pages, on which each day, as the student progresses in his work, he will add such names, titles, and other information as will make the book far more than a tool the friend of every working-hour. 1 1 The titles of the principal handbooks of the history of French literature are found in the Manuel. Here is a list of those that offer abridged biblio- graphical information of some value : Histoire de la langue et de la literature franfaise des origines a 1900, published under the direction of L. Petit de Julleville (8 vols.) (1896-1899). Convenient bibliographies at the end of every chapter. LANSON, G. Histoire de la litterature jranfaise (i2th ed., 1914). BRUNETIERE, F. Manuel del' histoire de la litterature iran^aise (1897). Systematic and interesting; the bibliographical paragraphs may at times be misleading, in the sense that they contain almost exclusively the works used by Brunetiere in evolving his highly systematic views. WRIGHT, C. H. C. A History oj French Literature. 1912. HERRIOT, E. Precis de V histoire des lettres jranqaises (1905). A good, clear, simple, fairly complete manual, with satisfactory bibliographical notes. BRATJNSCHVIG, M. Notre Litterature etudiee dans les textes (2 vols.) (1920). By far the most convenient handbook now in existence, with bibliographies brought up to date, accurate information, and suggestive discussions. It is to be recom- mended highly to graduate students. Although the two following books include much more than French liter- ature, they supply most useful bibliographical material: GAYLEY and SCOTT. An Introduction to the Methods and Materials oj Literary Criticism. 1899. GAYLEY and KURTZ. Methods and Materials of Literary Criticism (Lyric, Epic, and Allied Forms oj Poetry) (1920). See especially the bibliographical appen- dix, pp. 787-846. 20 PROBLEMS AND METHODS BOOKS OF LITERARY BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCE AND OF NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Since Lanson's Manuel is, by its very definition, a selec- tive list of authors and works, and since it is carried only to the year 1920, the student must supplement it by other sources of bibliographical information, so as to be able both to explore, if need be, the entire printed output of a given epoch and to follow, from day to day, the publication of all important new works that bear on literary history. These two sources of information are ( i ) works that may come under the heading of bibliographical reference books, and registers of national bibliographies; (2) notices given periodically in the reviews and newspapers. A. Reference Books and National Bibliographies A convenient and reliable guide is R. A. Peddie, National Bibliographies: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Works which Register the Books Published in Each Country (London, 1912). "The official, semi-official, and trade bibliographies of a country", the author says, "are the bases of all biblio- graphical work. From them we learn (imperfectly in most cases) what books are published, and their subject indexes give us the first instalment of titles for our special bibliogra- phies. It is necessary for all who make researches in any way touching the bibliographical field to become acquainted with these most valuable tools." The following are the es- sential bibliographies : i. France before 1840? For the sixteenth century, La Croix du Maine and Du Verdier, Bibliotheque fran^aise, the 1 For more detailed information see Lanson, Manuel, Nos. 52-61. IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY 21 revised and enlarged edition published by Rigoley de Juvigny (6 vols., 4to). Paris, 1 772-1 773. 1 For the seventeenth and the early eighteenth century the most complete compilation of bibliographical data is found in T. Georgi, Allgemeine Europaische Bucher-Lexici. Funjter Theil in welchem die Frantzosischen Auctores und Bucher . . . geschrieben und gedrucket warden sind . . . (fol.). Leipzig, I742. 2 For the eighteenth and the early nineteenth century, J. M. Querard, La France litteraire (12 vols., 8vo). Paris, i827-i864. 3 2. France after 1840. Lorenz-Jordell, Catalogue general de la librairie frangaise, begun in 1840, is made up both of volumes arranged alphabetically under the authors' names and of extremely valuable volumes of Tables methodiques. It is subdivided in the following manner : Vols. I-VI, 1840-1875 ; Vols. VII-VIII, Tables. Vols. IX-X, 1876-1885 ; Vol. XI, Tables. Vol. XII, 1886-1890; Vol. XIII, Tables. Vols. XIV-XV, 1891-1899; Vols. XVI-XVII, Tables. Vols. XVIII-XIX, 1900-1905 ; Vol. XX, Tables. Vols. XXI-XXII, 1906-1909 ; Vol. XXIII, Tables. Vol. XXIV, 1910-1912 ; Vol. XXV, Tables. Vol. XXVI, 1913-1915; Vol. XXVII, Tables. 1 For the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the incomparable collection of bibliographical cards (250,000) of E. Picot has just (1920) been donated by his widow to the Bibliotheque nationale for the use of scholars and students. See also H. Omont, Anciens Inventaires et catalogues de la Bibliotheque na- tionale, Vol. I (La Librairie royale a Blots, Fontainebleau et Paris au XVI' siecle (1908)), and Beaulieux, "Supplement au Catalogue des livres du XVI e siecle (1501-1550) de 1'Universite de Paris," in Revue des bibliotheques, 1918. 2 See also H. Omont, Anciens Inventaires et catalogues de la Bibliotheque nationale, Vol. IV (La Bibliotheque royale a Paris au XVIF siecle (1914)). 3 Completed by R. A. Peddie and Q. Waddington in Table alphabetique des matieres de la France litteraire de Querard et de ses Supplements. 22 PROBLEMS AND METHODS H. Le Soudier, Bibliographic jranqaise (second series), Vol. I, 1900-1904 (Paris, 1908), and Vol. II, 1905-1909 (Paris, 1911), supplemented by the weekly Memorial de la librairie fran$aise, the monthly and yearly indexes of which are valuable. Bibliographic de la France. Journal general de Vim- primerie et de la librairie , weekly, issued since 1811. This publication is the record of everything printed in France and delivered to the Ministry of the Interior in compliance with the law on the " depot legal", which requires a publisher to deposit a certain number of copies of every book or pamphlet he prints. Of course, books that for some reason have not been delivered are not mentioned, but as a rule this inconvenience is not of real importance. At the end of each year the Bibliographic is bound into one volume, completed by an index of authors, a list of new periodical publications, and a catalogue of subjects, the most important sections be- ing: "Litterature franchise," "Societes savantes," "Sciences historiques," "Bibliographic," "Les Lettres." 1 3. France in the nineteenth century. G. Vicaire, Manuel de V amateur de limes du XIX e siecle (7 vols.) (1894- 1910) and the Table des outrages cites (1920). H. P. Thieme, Guide bibliographique de la litterature jranqaise de 1800 a 1906 (8vo) (Paris, 1907) is indispen- sable to students of modern and contemporary French litera- ture. It contains for each author ( i ) a chronological list of his works, with the name of the publisher; (2) a chronologi- cal list of the books in which the author is discussed; (3) a valuable list of articles from periodicals in all languages, rela- tive to the author. The second part of the volume is devoted to works on the history of the language, literature, and a A student of French literature should make a point of going at regular intervals to the library of the university to look through the latest numbers. IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY 23 civilization of France. Although naturally rather summary, this sort of topic index is of great value. 1 4. Countries other than France. For Germany the Voll- stdndiges Bucher-Lexicon, by C. G. Kayser, covers German bibliography from 1750 up to the present time; it is supple- mented by several subject indexes. The current bibliogra- phy is recorded (i) in Hinrichs' Halbjahrs-Katalog der im Deutschen Buchhandel erschienenen Bucher, Zeitschrijten, Landkarten, etc. Mit Registern nach Stichworten und Wis- senschaften, whose title, since 1916, has been changed to Halbjahrs-Verzeichnis etc. (for every year there are two indexes one by authors, one by subjects); (2) in the W ochentliches Verzeichnis der erschienenen und der vor- bereiteten Neuigkeiten des Deutschen Buchhandels, which, since 1893, has continued the Allgemeine Bibliographic. This periodical corresponds to the Bibliographie de la France ; it is arranged according to subjects. For Great Britain the English Catalogue of Books, by S. Low, records all the English bibliography since 1835. Up to the volume 1881-1889 (London, 1893) the author index and the subject index are published in two separate parts; after that date they are printed together in one volume. The current register is the Publisher's Circular, a fortnightly publication. For Italy we have ( i ) the Catalogo generale delta libre- ria italiana (1874-1900), by A. Pagliaini (3 vols.) (Milan, 1901-1905), completed by an Indice per materie (Milan, 1910, A-F; 1915, F-P) ; (2) the Bollettino delle publica- zioni italiane ricevute per diritto di stampa, issued by the 1 As was inevitable, the Guide bibliographique, among its forty thousand odd references, includes many errors of detail. Some of these have been cor- rected in the Revue critique, Vol. II (1907), pp. 234-237, and in other reviews of the book. 24 PROBLEMS AND METHODS National Library at Florence; (3) for current bibliography, the monthly Bibliografia italiana, founded in 1867 (very clearly arranged). For the United States the most convenient reference books are the following: (i) the American Catalog (3 vols.), cov- ering 1900-1910; (2) the United States Catalog (3 vols.: Vol. I, Books in print January i, 1912 ; Vol. II, 1912-1917; Vol. Ill, 1918-1921), continued currently as the Cumulative Book Index', (3) for current bibliography, the Publisher's Weekly. 1 5. Anonymous and pseudonymous books. Investigations, especially for the periods of absolute power, when clandes- tine literature was a necessity, will often lead the student to consult books, pamphlets, and controversial documents pub- lished without the author's name or under an assumed name. The real name will be found in the following works : BARBIER, A. Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes (4 vols., 8vo) ( 3 d ed., 1879). QUERARD, J.-M. Les Supercheries litteraires (3 vols., 8vo) (26 ed., 1879). BRUNEI, G. Supplement a la derniere edition des deux ouvrages precedents (8vo). i889. 2 B. Current Bibliography in Literary Periodicals There are several reviews that regularly supply ample lists of the books and articles on literary history published 1 The new works of bibliographical reference, literary or otherwise, are recorded in Bibliographic des Bibliotheks- und Buchwesens, published as sup- plements (Beihefte) to the Zentralblatt fur Bibliothekswesen (Leipzig), begun in 1905, and in the American Library Annual (New York), begun in 1912. For the national bibliographies of other countries see R. A. Peddie, National Bibliographies (London, 1912). 2 Completed by H. Cdani in "Additions et corrections au Dictionnaire des anonymes de Barbier," Revue des bibliotheques, October-December, 1901. IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY 25 during a given period. Among them the most useful and the most complete are the following : Revue d'histoire litteraire de la France. Reviews several im- portant French daily papers, but, unfortunately, no foreign periodicals. Kritischer Jahresbericht iiber die Fortschritte der romanischen Philologie, published by K. Vollmoller. Excellent ; gives brief notices on the contents of the works or articles mentioned. The last volume that I have been able to see is No. XIII, for the years 1911-1912. Modern Language Notes. Gives very valuable lists of new pub- lications. Zeitschrijt fur franzosische Sprache und Literatur. Literaturblatt der germanischen und romanischen Philologie. Spe- cially useful for its reviews of many German periodicals. A Yearbook of Modern Languages, by G. Waterhouse, was published in 1920 (8vo) (Cambridge). The bibliograph- ical notices are admittedly only a choice among many, and this choice seems rather arbitrary. In fact, the work does not fulfill the promise of its title, and in no way takes the place of the Jahresbericht of Vollmoller. III. ACADEMIC DISSERTATIONS The considerable number of theses, dissertations, and aca- demic essays of all sorts devoted to some point in French literary history may be approached, for the various coun- tries, through the following lists : UNITED STATES : Library of Congress, List of American Doctoral Dissertations, begun in 1912; annual; author and subject indexes. GERIG, J. L. "Advanced Degrees and Doctoral Dissertations in the Romance Languages at the Johns Hopkins University. A 26 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Survey and Bibliography," in the Romanic Review, Vol. VIII (1917), p. 328. Same survey for Harvard University, Vol. X (1919), p. 67, and for Yale University, Vol. XI (1920), p. 70. FRANCE: MAIRE, A. Repertoire alphabetique des theses de doc- tor at-es-letires des universites jranqaises (1810-1900), with subject index. Paris, 1903. Catalogue des theses -et Merits academiques, annual official pub- lication of the Ministry of Public Instruction. Begun in 1885. GERMANY: KLUSSMANN, R. Systematisches Verzeichnis der Ab- handlungen welche in den Schulschrijten sdmtlicher an dem Programmtausche teilnehmenden Lehranstalten erschienen sind, bibliography covering the period 1876-1910 (5 vols.). Leipzig, 1889-1916. FOCK, G. Bibliographischer Monatsbericht uber neu-erschienene Schul- und Universitdtsschrijten. Leipzig, 1890-1899. Jahresverzeichnis der an den deutschen Universitdten erschienenen Schrijten. Berlin, 1887 up to the present day. For other countries useful information may be gathered from the following publication of the Bibliotheque nationale in Paris: Catalogue des dissertations et des Merits academiques prove- nant des echanges avec les universites etrangeres, et requs par la Bibliotheque nationale. Issued annually since 1884. IV. LARGE CATALOGUES OF LIBRARIES i. British Museum. An admirable document, of which students too often know but little, is the General Catalogue of the British Museum Library, justly called "the richest bibliographical collection in the world". It is published in six hundred parts (4to), usually bound in one hundred volumes. A Supplement completed in 1905 records the books added to the British Museum in the years 1882-1899. The great value of the General Catalogue is that it gives not only each author with his works in his alphabetical place, but also (i) a very large number of subject entries, IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY 27 which constitute excellent bibliographical notices; (2) for each writer, after the list of his works, every book, pamphlet, or document that deals with him. The catalogue is completed by the Subject Index of the Modern Works added to the Library of the British Museum in the Years 1881-1900, by G. K. Fortescue (3 vols.) (Lon- don, 1902-1903), with five Supplements, which bring the subject index up to 1915. 2. Bibliotheque nationale. The Bibliotheque nationale in Paris, although more complete in French literature than the British Museum, unfortunately does not provide the student with so accessible a fund of bibliographical information. The following material, however, is of great importance : a. The Catalogue general des limes imprimis de la Bi- bliotheque nationale, begun in 1897, is printed now (1922) as far as the end of the letter H. It contains no subject en- tries only a list of authors and of their works. Neverthe- less, for every writer whose name is so fortunate as to begin with a letter that precedes / in the alphabet, the Catalogue general is the most complete bibliographical source. b. The Bulletin mensuel des nouvelles acquisitions jran- gaises is a precious record of current bibliography, especially under the headings "Biographic" and "Histoire litteraire". c. The Catalogue methodique de I'histoire de France con- sists of twelve volumes (4to) (Paris, 1855-1895) and con- tains material of great importance to literary history in Vols. IV (Journaux et periodiques) and IX-X (Biographies indimduelles) . The six volumes of Supplements in autog- raphy are not on sale. 1 1 An excellent Repertoire by authors and subjects may be consulted in the reading-room of the Bibliotheque nationale and will quickly become familiar to those who work in Paris ; it is a collection of index cards on which has been recorded every printed publication added to the Bibliotheque since 1882. 28 PROBLEMS AND METHODS d. Library of Congress and other American collections. Finally, an American student should know how to obtain and how to use the index cards of the Library of Congress and should be familiar with the most important of those catalogues in which some information may be found for the study of French literature. By applying to the Chief, Card Division, Library of Con- gress, Washington, D. C., all the index cards relating to a special topic can be purchased at a very low cost (one to three or four cents each). This is often a convenient way of collecting the elements of a correct and useful bibliography. The most interesting catalogues for our purpose are the following: A Catalogue of the Bibliographies of Special Sub- jects in the Boston Public Library, by J. L. Whitney, 1890 (see "France" and authors' names); A Selection of Cata- loguers' Reference Books in New York State Library (Al- bany, N.Y., 1903) ; Catalogue of the Astor Library (6vols.) ; A Catalogue of the Allen A. Brown Collection of Books Re- lating to the Stage in the Public Library of the City of Boston (1919) ; Catalogue of the Holier -e Collection in Har- vard College Library, by Currier and Gay (Bibliographical Contributions, Harvard College Library, Vol. IV, 1906) j 1 Peabody Institute Library Catalogue (13 vols.) (Baltimore, 1882-1895), which includes rare French books and valuable extracts from periodicals, etc. V. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SUBJECTS INVOLVING THE LITERARY RELATIONS OF FRANCE WITH OTHER COUNTRIES Until F. Baldensperger and his collaborators publish their much-needed Bibliographic critique de la litterature com- 1 See also the catalogues of several special collections in the J. P. Morgan Library : Corneille, Racine, Bossuet, Fenelon, Regnard, Le Sage. IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY 29 paree, the essential source of information for all questions that deal with the literary relations between France and other countries is L. P. Betz, La Litterature comparee, essai bibliographique (2d ed. by F. Baldensperger, Strassburg, 1904). This clear, compact handbook first devotes several chapters to the literary relations of France with Germany, England, Italy, Spain, the Scandinavian and Slavic coun- tries, the United States, and finally with Greek and Roman literatures. Then comes a stimulating chapter on what the Germans call Stoffgeschichte ; that is to say, the history of the principal motifs, themes, and literary types of legendary, religious, or traditional origin. Betz's book may be supplemented by articles and biblio- graphical references found in A. L. Jellinek, Bibliographic der vergleichenden Liter aturgeschichte (Berlin, 1903), un- fortunately discontinued and covering only the period June, i9O2-June, 1903; Zeitschrijt fiir vergleichende Liter atur- geschichte, begun in 1888, discontinued in 1910; and Revue de litterature comparee, edited by F. Baldensperger and P. Hazard, beginning January i, 1921, and destined to play for comparative literature the part played by the Revue d'histoire litteraire for the history of French literature. 1 VI. HISTORY OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE Even if a student has no intention of studying Romance philology in the accepted sense of the term, he may often find in his purely literary work difficulties in the language that expose him to many errors and misinterpretations. Whether he is preparing the annotation of a text, elucidating and discussing an obscure passage, or attempting to describe with precision an author's style, it is not- enough for him to 1 The Journal of Comparative Literature, begun in New York in 1903, has not been continued. 30 PROBLEMS AND METHODS know Littre's Dictionnaire or the Dictionnaire general de la langue fran$aise by Hatzfeld, Darmesteter, and Thomas. The few works named below will be of use to him. First, he will find the fundamental bibliography in the Histoire de la langue fran$aise des origines a IQOO, by F. Brunot, which now covers the subject until the latter part of the seventeenth century and which for more recent periods may be supplemented by the chapters written by the same author for the Histoire de la langue et de la litterature fran- qaise of Petit de Julleville. Lanson's Manuel will also supply interesting material. The Bibliographic de la syntaxe du fran$ais, by Horluc and Marinet (Annales de I'Universite de Lyon, 1908), is fur- nished with a copious index of words, expressions, and phrases, for which bibliographical references are given. In E. Huguet, Petit glossaire des classiques frangais (Paris, 1907) many examples, picked for the most part from editions of the collection of the Grands Ecrivains de la France (Hachette, Paris), are gathered, classified, and com- pared with definitions borrowed from the three large dic- tionaries of the seventeenth century: Richelet, Furetiere, Academic franchise. Abundant examples are also to be found in A. Haase, La Syntaxe jrangaise au XVIP siecle, translated from German into French by Obert in 1898 (new edition, Paris, Delagrave, 1916). VII. PERIODICAL LITERATURE The reviews and magazines, whether of general interest or devoted to special branches, offer to the student in ever- increasing numbers essays, articles, or short notes indis- pensable to his studies but often difficult to discover. It almost seems as if nothing stamps a student's lack of ex- IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY 31 perience and training so unmistakably as his embarrassment before the bulky collections of the various reviews. Un- fortunately the practical knowledge of how to handle this essential material cannot be acquired by theoretical advice. The best method is to spend a few hours among the stacks in the library where the periodicals are stored, so as to see them at close range, to note which of them have tables of con- tents, and to learn which tables are reliable, which are in- complete or untrustworthy. It is also well, every month or every fortnight, to look over the new numbers of these periodicals and to jot down on cards the name of any article or note that might prove helpful. There is, of course, no general index to the periodical literature of the world ; yet several large indexes are of great assistance in digging out whatever material is to be found here. Some of the following works are not only of national range but include periodicals in many languages : FRANCE. The Repertoire bibliographique des principales revues jranqaises of D. Jordell, discontinued in 1902, covers only 1897- 1899. For more recent publications it is necessary to turn either to foreign indexes, not always reliable for French reviews, or to the collections and tables of the reviews themselves. ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES. Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (2 vols. and 5 supplements) (Boston, 1891) covers the period 1802-1907. The Review of Reviews, Index to the Period- icals of 1890-1 Q02 (13 vols.) (London, 1891-1903) gives references to several periodicals not indexed in Poole. The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature (New York, The H. W. Wilson Company), begun in 1900 and much improved during the last decade, is an excellent tool ; some of the most important literary references are to be found in the volumes of Supplement, which index periodicals of more limited scope. Monthly lists enable the student to keep his bibliographical records up to date. The Readers' Guide, with 32 PROBLEMS AND METHODS its regular indexes, monthly lists, and supplements of various kinds, is complicated and at first sight disconcerting, but it is worth while to spend a few moments in making its acquaintance. The Athenceum Subject Index to Periodicals (London, 1916- ), begun in 1915, publishes separate parts devoted to special subjects, such as Lan- guage and Literature (1916). The Annual Magazine Subject In- dex, edited by F. W. Faxon, Boston, begun in 1909, gives references to "a selected list of American and English periodicals" and may occasionally supplement Poole or the Readers' Guide. GERMANY. Germany supplies three first-class indexes : The Bibliographie der deutschen Zeitschriftenliteratur, edited by F. Dietrich, begun in 1897 and issued currently, gives the contents of about a thousand periodicals in the German language. The Bibliographie der jremdsprachigen Zeitschriftenliteratur, edited by the same author, begun in 1911 and issued currently, is the most valuable index to periodicals in other languages than German ; it too is undoubtedly in the first rank. The Bibliographie der Rezensionen, edited by A. L. Jellinek, begun in 1901, gives refer- ences to the reviews on German and foreign books appearing in about five thousand periodicals in all languages. ITALY. Catalogo metodico degli scritti contenuti nelle pubbli- cazioni periodiche italiane e straniere; subject and author in- dexes; last volume published in 1914, covering 1907-1912. BELGIUM. Bibliographie de Belgique. Sommaire des periodiques, begun in 1875, discontinued in 1914 (17 vols.). Brussels. Besides the above indexes the student should be familiar with certain reviews especially interesting for our field, in which he will find notices and criticisms of the new books and follow the general orientation of researches in literary history i 1 1 To enumerate here all periodicals useful for literary history is impossible ; the Index des abreviations at the beginning of Lanson's Manuel gives some idea of them. IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY 33 Revue d'histoire Utter air e de la France, since 1899. Tables, 1894- 1899, published in 1900. Revue de philologie fran$aise et de litterature, since 1887. Index of Vols. I-X, published in 1896. Revue critique d'histoire et de litterature, since 1866. Tables, 1866-1890, published in 1895. Literaturblatt jiir germanische und romanische Philologie, since 1880. Archlv jiir das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen, since 1846. Edited by L. Herrig; often referred to as Herrig's Archil), Zeitschrift jiir franzb'sische Sprache und Literatur, since 1879. Berliner Beitrdge zur germanischen und romanischen Philologie, since 1893. Die neueren Sprachen, since 1894. Neophilologus (Groningen), since 1916. Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, since 1884. Modern Language Notes (Baltimore), since 1885. Modern Language Review (Cambridge, England), since 1905. Romanic Review (New York), since 1910. Modern Philology (Chicago), since 1903. Revue de litterature comparee (Paris), since 1921. VIII. ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND LARGE DICTIONARIES There is no need to call the attention of American stu- dents to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (nth ed., 1910-1911, 29 vols.), for they constantly use it in every imaginable way. They must, however, be reminded of two other important works: (i) the French Grande Encyclopedic (31 vols.) (Paris, 1886-1902), which, as far at least as the letter M or N, is excellent and contains certain articles that are 34 PROBLEMS AND METHODS valuable contributions to literary history; 1 (2) Brock haus' Konversations-Lexikon (17 vols.) (Leipzig, 1892-1898). France possesses no dictionary of national biography com- parable to the English Dictionary of National Biography. The old Biographic universelle of Michaud (2d ed., 1842- 1865) or the Nouvelle Biographic generate 2 of Didot (1857- 1866) should be mentioned, even if not recommended. The Dictionnaire critique de biographic et d'histoire of Jal (2d ed., 1871) brings new or unpublished documents, or interesting corrections, to bear upon many obscure or disputed points in the biography of important writers. IX. SOME PRACTICAL ADVICE When the student is collecting the bibliography of a sub- ject, it is best to use index cards 3"x 5", the size used prac- tically everywhere for cataloguing. He should learn from special treatises or from a careful inspection of the catalogue of a good library how these cards ought to be made out. 3 Scrupulous attention must be paid to the spelling of proper names; it is a common experience to see students hunting for a book, failing to find it, and giving up reading it, only because the author's name is misspelled in their own notes. Not less essential are such facts as the special edition that has been used, its date, and its size. In many cases it is advisable to copy bibliographical cards several times, so as to have two indexes, one by authors, one by subjects. For instance, here is a bibliographical card correctly made out: 1 For instance, articles "Academic," "Bossuet," "Corneille," "Diderot," "Moliere," etc. 2 Mediocre after the letter L. 8 See G. E. Brown, Indexing, A Handbook of Instruction (London and New York, 1921), or any other recent book on indexing. IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS: BIBLIOGRAPHY 35 LEBLOND (M. A.) Leconte de Lisle d'apres des documents nouveaux Paris, Merc, de Fr., 1906, i6vo. This card should be duplicated, in an abbreviated form, as often as is needed to enable the student to turn back to the book for every point on which the latter may give in- formation. For example : Sand (Influence de George) LEBLOND (M.A.) Leconte de Lisle, pp. 122-123 When the number of cards to be handled is large, it may be a good plan to use cards of various colors for different classes of reference: authors and subjects; books, periodi- cals, newspapers, etc ; original texts, books of general infor- mation, old and modern works, etc. 36 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Finally, if the library to which the student has access does not own some important book, he must remember that often it is possible to borrow from another university or from the Library of Congress. Above all, he must not be alarmed or dismayed by the number of titles and references that have been piled into this chapter. He will find that a few afternoons perhaps three or four given up at the beginning of the year to a voyage of exploration through the mysteries of the library and its catalogue will save him whole weeks and often months. This is indeed the essential piece of advice: a good student must know these indispensable books of reference, handle them, look them over, make friends with them, and remember that, in libraries as well as in life, the only form of real and fruitful friendship is the one that does not con- fine itself to formal relations, but is built up on personal contact and frequent meetings. CHAPTER III THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION Although we can read the great Greek or Latin writers in editions as correct as the number and preservation of the manuscripts permit, editions that offer us the authentic and accurate text of many modern French writers are still lack- ing. An effort has been made in this direction in the last ten years, resulting in editions like those of the Lettres philoso- phiques of Voltaire or the Meditations of Lamartine (Lan- son), the (Euvres of Vigny (Baldensperger), the Profession de joi du vicaire Savoyard (P. M. Masson), Montaigne's Essais (F. Strowski), Hugo's La Legende des siecles (P. Ber- ret), and certain others, which along their different lines may be considered as models. The task that remains is, however, enormous. We have no satisfactory edition of Rousseau's complete works; Bossuet, except the (Euvres oratoires and Correspondance, almost all of Marot and Fenelon, a large part of Voltaire, nearly the whole of Victor Hugo, and, I may say, most of the famous writers of the nineteenth century lack serious and critical editions. 1 Here is an immense and fruit- ful field. The preparation of an edition, with the study and research that it entails, offers admirable training for the stu- dent. And no task could be more useful ; a good edition of a small work of importance is worth far more than five hun- dred verbose pages of pseudo-philosophy or pseudo-criticism. 1 The so-called definitive edition of Baudelaire (1917) is as poor and in- accurate as an edition may well be (see Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1917, PP- 518-521). 37 38 PROBLEMS AND METHODS I. REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD EDITION A good edition of a modern literary text should answer at least the following requirements: 1. It should offer a correct text, that is to say, a text that reproduces as exactly as possible what the author wrote, free from all errors, inaccuracies, and alterations, whether owing to blunders of copyists or compositors, to the carelessness of the author, to ignorance, or to the prejudices of successive editors. 2. It should show the evolution of the text from the rough drafts, through the various editings and reprintings, to the final form adopted by the author. 3. It should clear up all difficulties and obscurities of the text: vocabulary, syntax, allusions. 4. It should supply a literary and historical commentary such that the work, with its sources and its historical, philo- sophical, controversial, or artistic value, may be entirely comprehensible to the reader. 5. It should be easy to handle and convenient, arranged and printed in such a way as to afford instruction and pleasure, with notes that elucidate and do not submerge the text. II. DIFFERENT STAGES IN THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION Let us suppose, then, that you have decided to undertake the task of editing one of the modern French works that it is so desirable to read from a correct and fully annotated text. As you proceed you will encounter all sorts of prob- lems and difficulties, up to the moment when you return the last press proof to the printer. The problems or difficulties, THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 39 corresponding to the successive stages in your work, can be grouped under the following heads: 1. Critical work for establishing and cleaning up the text. 2. Choice of a text to reproduce as the foundation of a critical edition. 3. Establishment and arrangement of the critical ap- paratus. 4. Reproduction of the text: questions of orthography, punctuation, etc. 5. Linguistic and grammatical commentary. 6. Literary commentary. 7. Practical details of printing. CRITICAL WORK FOR ESTABLISHING AND CLEANING UP THE TEXT You can readily see that the editor of a modern text is quite differently situated from the editor of a Greek or a Latin text. The latter has to contend with a certain num- ber of manuscripts the work of copyists, with which the author has had nothing to do; his task is to study, clas- sify, and correct these manuscripts, so as, by means of them, to find as nearly as possible the original form of some work, otherwise unobtainable. The editor of a modern text, on the contrary, has to deal with at least five categories of documents : i. Manuscripts 1 in autograph; often several successive autograph variants of the same work. x The reading of the manuscripts of modern authors (from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century) requires methodical preparation and training. The student will find a good starting-point and many useful references in the last edition (which has been much improved) of M. Prou, Manuel de palio- graphie. He should next practice reading the various handwritings of differ- ent epochs in the excellent facsimiles of the manuscript of Pascal's Penstes, 40 PROBLEMS AND METHODS 2. Manuscript copies, not in autograph, which may have been either read and corrected by the author or derived from authentic manuscripts no longer extant. 3. Editions issued during the author's lifetime, whether published or supervised by him or printed independently. 4. Editions published after the author's death, but by persons, chosen by him or qualified for the task, who were in possession of papers that today are scattered or lost. 5. Printings by publishers which reproduce more or less exactly some authentic edition and often form the texts read by the mass of the public. It is from among these that you must discover the true, pure text of the work you are editing. You will see later for what reasons an editor chooses one special text as the foundation of his edition. In certain cases internal criticism, conducted according to the strict methods of classical philol- ogy, is an indispensable auxiliary to the establishment and cleaning up of the text. i. Establishment of the text. There are cases where the application of genuine philological methods of comparison and classification of the various readings 1 the grouping of texts by families and the establishing of their derivation, of the 'exemplaire de Bordeaux' of Montaigne's Essais (both published by Hachette), or in the many examples in A. de Bourmont, Lecture et transcrip- tion des vieilles Ventures (XVl e , XVII*, XVIII* siecles) (1881), in J. Kaulek and E. Plantet, Recueil de fac-simile pour servir a I' etude de la paleographie moderne (XVII' et XVIII' siecles) (1889), in the Musee des Archives De- partementales (1878), or in the collection of the Autographic Mirror. 1 Is it necessary to mention that the collating of the various readings should be accomplished with the maximum of patience and care? There is no more tedious undertaking, nor one more calculated to exhaust the power of con- centration. Yet, though not all variations of the text need have a place in the commentary of an edition, they should always be completely collated. It is wise to do this work piecemeal, and to have other people check it up. A convenient method is to make a faithful copy of the original edition (or of some other that in particular cases may seem more authentic) ; to leave wide THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 41 without any historical or literary considerations makes it possible to distinguish the true text, which should be the authority in every critical edition. A typical example of philological methods is the work of J. Bedier 1 on the text of the Entretien de Pascal avec M. de Sad ; his use of internal criticism may be summarized as follows: Statement of the problem. Of what value is the text of the Entretien that is reproduced in every edition of Pascal ? Is it a compound of several texts? an arbitrary choice of various readings ? A critical text must be established. Elements of the problem. Seven texts of the Entretien are in existence (five manuscript copies and two early editions) no one of which has been directly copied from any of the other six. The connection and derivation of these seven texts known as G, M, J, F, B, D, T must be established. Method employed. Collation and critical comparison of the different readings. Successive results obtained: 2 a. All the seven texts are derived from the same original O, which is already faulty. b. D, G constitute one family = V. c. F, J, T, B, M constitute a second family, which is divided into subfamilies: (1) F, J, T constitute a small group =Z. (2) Group Z is related to B. Therefore B forms with Z ( = F,J, T) a family = F. margins and plenty of space at the top and the bottom of the pages, and to note therein the readings of the different editions. By a " faithful copy " must be understood the minute reproduction of words, spelling, typographical pecu- liarities, punctuation, paging, etc. Some small detail, seeming at first sight in- significant, will perhaps enable you to classify an edition definitively. Another piece of advice : do not expect hypotheses and conclusions to become clearly distinguishable until you have finished your collation. 1 Etudes critiques, pp. 3-18, 10-80. Paris, 1903. 2 Every reading that has influenced these results is, of course, found in B&iier's pages. I PROBLEMS AND METHODS (3) F is related to M through a copyist X. d. T has occasionally made use of D. Final classification. Expressed by this figure : O F J T Conclusions. Restoration of the original text (archetype) O, except in a very few instances where passages occur in X that are not in F, and vice versa; and even in these it is possible, in ten cases out of twenty, for obvious reasons to make a choice. "We need only apply obediently the rules that our classification of manuscripts imposes on us, to see the original text establish itself of its own accord ; the mere weighing and comparing of the various groups of manu- scripts should always restore the genuine readings, and cause the false to eliminate themselves like dross." 1 After this process we are in possession of the best possible text of the Entretien avec M. de Sad. This, then, is a valuable result obtained by purely internal methods of criticism. Such methods may be applied also to what I call cleaning up the text. 2. Cleaning up the text. If you are working on a manu- script or an edition, you will inevitably find yourselves con- fronted at times with a word, an expression, or a sentence that either has no sense at all or only an inadmissible one. 1 Etudes critiques, p. 48. THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 43 There are absurdities in the current texts of our best writers, 1 sometimes even in the original texts. These must be cleaned up, and for this purpose philological methods must again be used. To arouse your curiosity, incite ingenious hypotheses, and lead you to reason correctly, I know no better guide than the Manuel de critique verb ale appliquee aux textes latins, by L. Havet. 2 To be sure, the work is intended for students of Latin philology ; but as, after all, the psychology of transcribers and the mechanism of scholia, interpolations, or omissions are in the main invariable, we may well seek Ha vet's advice as to method. It is possible to cite innumerable instances of emenda- tions of details 3 both ingenious and amusing. I must content myself with a few, each exemplifying a different manner of treatment. a. In 1774 Meusnier de Querlon, publishing the Journal de voyage of Montaigne, prints the following sentence: "M. de Montaigne disoit s'agreer fort en ce detroit . . . et n'y trouvions incommodite que de la plus espesse et insup- portable poussiere . . . Dix heures apres, M. de Montaigne disoit que c'estoit la lune de ses tretes: il est vrai que sa 1 In all the derivative editions of Hugo may be found the following lines : La rose epanouie et toute grande ouverte, Sortant du frais bouton comme d'une urne ouverte, Charge la petitesse exquise de sa main . . . A recent history of French versification, written in English by Kastner, men- tions (p. 55) without wincing this "negligence" in one of Hugo's most perfect poems. If Kastner did not care to tamper with a text of Hugo, he might at least have consulted the original edition of 1859: the word there is verte (see P. Martinon, "Sur deux textes de Hugo et de Vigny," Revue d'histoire litttraire, 1908, pp. 129-130). 2 4to. Paris, 1911. See especially 62-127. 3 You should emend in this way only with extreme caution and when the emendation is imperatively demanded. Beware of those " reckless infelicities of correction" that are the hall marks of those who are always ready to correct when the text is merely obscure or too difficult for them. 44 PROBLEMS AND METHODS coustume est . . . de faire manger 1'avoine a ses chevaus avant partir ail matin du logis. Nous arrivames . . . de grand nuict a Sterzinguen." In 1889 the Italian editor D'Ancona reproduces 1 this incomprehensible text, adding in explanation De Querlon's childish note: "Parce que cette poussiere obscurcissant le jour, ne lui laissait, ainsi que la lune, que ce qu'il fallait de clarte pour se conduire." L. Lau- trey, publishing a new edition of the Voyage in i9o6, 2 makes the following correction: "Dix heures apres (M. de Mon- taigne disoit que c'estoit la I'une de ses tretes, etc.) nous arrivames . . ." Because a parenthesis is properly placed and an apostrophe restored, the sentence recovers its meaning. b. The edition of Andre Chenier by H. de Latouche (1819), and even the first impression of Becq de Fouquieres's admirable edition, print in the lambes the absurd line Pauvres chiens et moutons, toute la bergerie . . . , which the Hellenist J. Thurot, inferring a corrupt reading of the manuscript, emends in this convincing way : Pdtres, chiens et moutons, . . . c. In L'Esprit pur, of Alfred de Vigny, every edition, in- cluding the definitive edition by Ratisbonne, gives these lines : L'ecrit universel, parfois imperissable, Que tu graves au marbre, ou frames sur le sable. A nonsensical text, yet one that Brunetiere quotes in L'Evo- lution de la poesie lyrique, 3 and L. Dorison in Alfred de Vigny poete philosophe* The last line should be changed to Que tu graves au marbre, ou traces sur le sable. 5 *P. 96. 2 Hachette, Paris. 3 Vol. II, p. 27. 4 P. 204. G. Dalmeyda, "Note sur un vers de Vigny," Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1910, p. 619. Dalmeyda justly remarks that "when it is a question of texts THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 45 d. In the Journal d'un poete, again by Vigny, 1 we read : "Le Capitaine fit connaissance avec un passager. Homme d'esprit, il lui dit . . ." This ridiculous punctuation should be corrected thus: "Le Capitaine fit connaissance avec un passager homme d'esprit. II lui dit . . ." 2 e. At other times the correction is found by turning to the original text, which has been corrupted by successive editors. In the eighteenth Lettre philosophique of Voltaire, after a somewhat free translation in verse of Hamlet's so- liloquy, the Kehl editors and their successors insert a transi- tional sentence followed by a literal translation in prose; they then return to the text of 1734: "Ne croyez pas que j'aie rendu ici PAnglais mot pour mot; malheur aux faiseurs de traductions litterales ! " This interpolation is utter non- sense. Lanson reestablishes the sequence of ideas by sup- pressing the editors' addition. 3 /. The scrutiny of handwritings will often suggest an hypothesis that may lead to some useful emendation. In the first edition and in all subsequent editions of La Priere by Lamartine is found this text, 4 which Lamartine himself failed to notice: Ma pensee, embrassant tes attributs divers, Partout autour de toi te decouvre et t'adore, Se contemple soi-meme, et t'y decouvre encore. A. Hauvette, another Hellenist, observing that "in Lamar- tine's manuscripts initial s is elongated and nearly straight" and that although "Lamartine usually crosses his t with a that have been read and reread, habit and memory exert a strangely conserv- ative force." Good advice about method. See also P. Martino, "Note sur trois corrections au texte de L'Esprit pur" Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1919, p. 119. He tries to give an explanation of the traditional text, and insists quite rightly upon the necessity for extreme prudence in corrections of this kind. 1 P. 28. 2 E. Esteve, in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1914, p. 451, note. 3 Edition of the Lettres philosophiques, Vol. II, p. 82. 4 Line 53. 46 PROBLEMS AND METHODS horizontal stroke, he almost as invariably omits this hori- zontal stroke when t recurs in the same word or hemistich", corrects the passage thus: Partout autour de soi te decouvre et t'adore, which correction is verified 1 in the Correspondance? What conclusions as to method can be reached from these examples ? 1. Never allow an incomprehensible, ridiculous, or incon- sistent reading to remain in the text without correction or comment. 2. Look for the possible origin of a corrupt reading in the chirographical peculiarities of the manuscript; in an error by the compositor of the first edition ; in the editor's negli- gence or ignorance; in an inadvertence on the part of the author. 3. Make a conjecture as to the emendation. Strive to verify your conjecture by consulting the manuscripts, by * Vol. n, p. 89. z Bulletin de la societe des humanistes franc.ais, 1901, pp. 52-53. Another example is found in Bossuet's Sermon sur I'honneur du monde : " Get homme s'est enrichi par des concussions epouvantables, et il vit dans une avarice sordide; tout le monde le meprise; mais il tient bonne table a ses mines a la ville et a la campagne," an unintelligible text. Lebarq suggests " d ses ruines" ("in a way that will ruin him"), but the correction is poor French and incon- sistent with the context. Another guesses "tient bonne table, a ses mines" ("puts on airs"), which is a pointless, unnatural expression. Rebelliau sus- pects an inversion of words by Bossuet's hasty pen and reads "tient bonne mine a ses tables". Here the plural is hardly admissible. Finally, A. Croiset, the learned Greek scholar, noticing that in words beginning with con Bossuet sometimes expresses the prefix by the abbreviation "c, and noticing besides that in his handwriting u, n, v are indistinguishable, believes that the six downstrokes and ^5 that compose the word mines should be read Zvives, or convives: "tient bonne table a ses convives a la ville et a la campagne". See other examples of ingenious emendations in Annales romantiques, July, 1906, pp. 248 and 377; in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1912, pp. 400-410; in the edition of Vigny published by F. Baldensperger, Wanda, viii; and in the entire collection of the Bulletin de la societe des humanistes franfais. THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 47 studying the different readings, or by considering the rest of the work. 4. Comment upon these corrupt or doubtful passages in your notes, even if you do not succeed in correcting them satisfactorily. CHOICE OF A TEXT AS FOUNDATION OF A CRITICAL EDITION* We have seen that Bedier chose from among seven texts of the Entretien avec M. de Sad five manuscript and two printed. When Lanson undertook the editing of the Lettres philosophiques, he was confronted by more than twenty- five texts printed before Voltaire's death. I myself found over forty in editing Candide. 2 For the Profession de foi du vicaire Savoyard Masson was obliged to study at least seven different manuscripts and more than twenty-five printed editions. This, then, is the essential question : What text should be selected as a foundation for the new edition ? There are two aspects of the matter to consider : ( i ) Should the preference be given to manuscripts or to editions? (2) From among the editions which should be selected ? i. Should preference be given to manuscripts or to printed editions ? Above all, resist the temptation to ascribe, as Bedier says, "a kind of mystical superiority to every manuscript over every printed text" 3 Unquestionably, nothing is more in- valuable than a manuscript written or revised by the author ; nothing is more natural than the tendency to give this abso- 1 See Langlois and Seignobos. Introduction aux etudes historiques, pp.si-56. 2 Voltaire, Candide, with Introduction and Commentary. Published by A. Morize (Soriete des textes franqais modernes), Paris, 1913. s tudes critiques, p. 6. 48 PROBLEMS AND METHODS lutely 'authentic' text preference over all others. To do so, however, is in certain cases an error. An excellent instance of a rigorous critical treatment is Bedier's study on Le Texte des "Tragiques" d'Agrippa d'Au- bigne, in which he proves that at times an edition must be preferred to the best manuscript. 1 Elements of the problem, a. There are four texts of Les Tragiques contemporaneous with the author : A, edition of 1616, not acknowledged by D'Aubigne, though published by him. B, enlarged edition without name of place or date; acknowl- edged by D'Aubigne. T, Tronchin manuscript, prepared under D'Aubigne's direction and corrected by his hand. Z,, London manuscript, corrected by D'Aubigne and forming part of his widow's inheritance. b. These four texts, all authentic, present serious diver- gencies. c. Of the three modern editions that we possess, 2 one re- produces A with some corrections or additions taken arbi- trarily from B; the other two reproduce T without giving any reasons for this choice. Problem, a. To classify these four texts chronologically. b. To discover the definitive form, to be used as the basis of a modern edition. First phase: elimination, a. Facts observed: The text of A is an incomplete and imperfect rough draft. On the other hand, L copies all T's faults without exception and adds some of its own. Therefore L is simply a derivative of T. b. Conclusion: Elimination of A and Z,; T and B remain. 1 Etudes critiques, pp. 3-18. 2 Lalanne edition (1857) ; Read edition (1872) ; Reaume and De Caussade edition (1877). THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 49 Second phase: classification. What is the relation between T and B ? There seem to be only two possibilities : T is a revision previous to B ; T is a revision subsequent to B. A detailed study of the variants shows, however, that T is not the source of B, for often B, in agreement with A, gives a better reading; B is not the source of T, for often T, in agreement with A, gives a better reading. Third phase: critical work. See line 190: A, Vainqueur, mats helas/ c'est vainer e a la Cadmeenne. T, Vainqueur, comme I'on pent vaincre a la Cadmeenne. B, Vainqueur, comme Von pent c'est vaincre a la Cadmeenne. The correction of A in T is intelligible; but where did the ridiculous line in B come from ? A fact to be observed : B borrows the first hemistich from T 1 ; the second, from A. Fourth phase: hypothesis. After 1616 (A) D'Aubigne revised his poem only once ( T) . At the time his revision was printed he did not send his manuscript copy (7 1 ) to the printer; he sent a copy of A, corrected by hand above the text, in the margin, or on interleaving-paper. In line 190, when transferring the correction "comme I'on peut" from T to the margin of A, he inadvertently crossed out in A only "mais helas!" without including the words "c'est", which B scrupulously reproduces. Corroboration of the hypothesis, a. D'Aubigny made similar mistakes in lines 361 and 1216. b. The manuscript bears the autograph memorandum "donne a 1'imprimeur le 5 aoust". Yet the condition of the manuscript shows that it never went to a printer. Thus D'Aubigne, after writing his corrections on a copy of A, merely made a note of the date on which he gave his new text to the printer. 50 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Fifth phase: verification of the hypothesis, a. The slight divergencies between T and B can be logically explained. b. Any serious fault in A, corrected in T, fails to ap- pear in B. c. A bad error in French, contained in T, not in A, dis- appears from B at the time the proofs are corrected. Conclusion, a. B is the definitive form of the text de- cided upon by the author. b. We have no correct edition of D'Aubigne. 1 From this study, and from others like it, 2 we can frame the following suggestion as to method: When the choice lies between an impression published by the author himself and manuscripts, even if in autograph, that precede the impression, the impression is generally of greater value than the manuscripts. The question of selecting between the manuscript and printed editions may take many other forms: a. An edition has perhaps been made after the author's death, with the help of manuscripts no longer extant. The manuscripts that we possess may be merely preparatory or imperfect forms (this is the case with certain of Diderot's works). Here again the edition is more trustworthy than the manuscript. b. Suppose that, as the author has left only rough drafts, the editions have been prepared without even his posthu- mous participation. If so, we must turn to the manuscript. A typical case is the Pensees of Pascal. 3 c. We may have an edition issued without the author's supervision, as well as his manuscripts in a more or less final 1 Except of the first book, published under the direction of B6dier, Paris, 1896. 2 For instance, the study of the Provinciates of Pascal. See Molinier edi- tion (Penstes, Preface), and Brunschvicg edition, Vol. IV, p. 101. 3 Some valuable information may be gained by seeing how the first editors did their work. THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 51 form. Then we naturally choose the manuscripts. This is the situation with Andre Chenier (d. 1794), whose works were first published by Henri de Latouche in 1819. Chenier 's manuscripts, accessible today, have been used as the founda- tion for the editions of J. M. de Heredia and of P. Dimoff. d. Lastly, the real text is found in the manuscripts if the author, during an era of absolute power or of persecution, has been forced to alter or soften down his work for the printer, 1 or if he has adapted it to the exigencies of the stage. 2 From these instances, then, we can derive a second sug- gestion as to method: When dealing with manuscripts and printed editions we should choose the text that brings us closest to the author's definitive and complete thought. 2. How to choose from the printed editions 3 The choice of a printed edition may range between two extremes : ( i ) the princeps, or original edition ; ( 2 ) the last edition issued during the author's lifetime. As with the manuscripts, absolute and inflexible methods would be dangerous here. In fact, a. The original edition may be only an imperfect and unfinished sketch ; for instance, D'Aubigne's Les Tragiques. 1 For example, many philosophical writings of the eighteenth century. 2 See P. and V. Glachant, Essai critique sur le theatre de Victor Hugo, pp. 223-259. 1902. 3 Work of the kind treated here is impossible without a fairly minute knowledge of the technical processes of bookmaking during the epochs in ques- tion. See some very useful suggestions in the article by R. B. McKerrow, "Notes on Bibliographical Evidence for Literary Students and Editors, etc.," Transactions of the Bibliographical Society, Vol. XII, pp. 213-318 (London, 1914). For instance, the author shows (p. 220) in what ways "bibliographical evidence will often help us to settle such questions as that of the order and relative value of different editions of a book; whether certain sections of a 52 PROBLEMS AND METHODS b. The last edition is not necessarily superior to those that precede. c. An intermediate edition may represent more exactly than either of these the author's intention. Let us consider some examples : (1) Voltaire, Candide. Between the text of Candide of 1761, altered in certain details and amplified, and the orig- inal text of 1759, I chose that of 1759, because it was the precise form in which Voltaire hurled this bomb into the philosophical arena of his century. (2) Rabelais, Pantagruel. Abel Lefranc chose the last edition of Pantagruel, as representing the work perfected and enlarged as Rabelais desired. 1 (3) Calvin, Institution chretienne. In the case of the In- stitution chretienne, Abel Lefranc preferred the first French text, of 1541, both because that date is of capital impor- tance in the history of the French language and of French thought and because the last text (1560) published during Calvin's lifetime, translated from the Latin edition of 1559, abounds in errors and corrupt readings. 2 book were originally intended to form part of it or were added afterwards; whether a later edition was printed from an earlier one, and from which; whether it was printed from a copy that had been corrected in manuscript, or whether such corrections as it contains were made in the proof; and a number of other problems of a similar kind, which may. often have a highly important literary bearing". 1 Rabelais, (Euvres completes. Published by A. Lefranc (Vol. I, 1912; Vol. II, 1913). 2 Calvin, Institution de la religion chretienne (text of 1541). Published, in 2 vols., by Lefranc, Chatelain, and Pannier, 191 1. It is the text of 1560 that is reissued by Baum, Cunitz, and Reuss in Vol. XXXI of the Corpus Re format or um. If the additions in the Latin edition of 1559 are indeed Calvin's own, its translation, the French text of 1560, is much altered after Book I, chap. vii. See Lanson, in Revue historique, 1894, pp. 60-76, and J. Demeure, in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1915, pp. 402-407. The text of 1541 is the genuine French text, and the only Calvin text pub- lished by Calvin. THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 53 (4) Lamartine, Meditations. The text of the Meditations commonly on sale includes, besides the 1820 collection, eleven poems subsequent to 1830; the discourse Des destinies de la poesie, which dates from 1834; and the Commentaires in prose, a sort of inexact and belated confessions. Now, the Meditations has special literary significance as the expres- sion of the souls of 1820 who hailed in Lamartine their eagerly awaited poet. Literary history needed a good edi- tion, which should reproduce not the composite publication of 1849 but the important little book of 1820; this was sup- plied by Lanson. 1 (5) Ronsard, Poesies. Until 1914 we had only two mod- ern editions of Ronsard: that of Blanchemain, 2 whose text is a spurious mixture of readings picked up here and there and of the editor's inventions ; and that of Marty-Laveaux, 3 which reproduces the text of 1584 as it was arranged by an older and less spirited Ronsard, often very different from the Ronsard of the early days of the Pleiade. Laumonier 4 has undertaken to reissue the first edition of each collection, adding in footnotes the later emendations and changes. This makes it possible for us to read the poems in all their fresh- ness, to follow Ronsard's development, and to get to the heart of an epoch when "the art of expressing a thought was in the making, and was steadily advancing". These few examples show : 1 i ) That it is impossible to give a rule, or even a general suggestion, as to the choice of a text as the foundation for an edition. (2) That in a great number of cases it is well to choose the first form of an important work. 1 In 2 vols (8vo) (Collection des grands ecrivains, 2 e Serie) . Hachette, 1915. 21857-1867. 81887-1893. 4 Societe des textes franqais modernes. Hachette, 1914 et seq. 54 PROBLEMS AND METHODS (3) That, after all, the editor's endeavor should be to select and reproduce the text that has the greatest historical significance. Selection, however, is not always easy, even after deciding to rely on the first edition. Several editions differing consid- erably from one another may bear the same date. Among these the original must be found. This is the case with Rous- seau's Discours sur Vinegalite and Emile ; Voltaire's Lettres philosophiques and Candide; several of Pascal's Provin- ciates; and many other works. Once more, it is naturally impracticable to lay down rules for discovering this true original text. Each editor must find the specific method that will accomplish his purpose. Here are two examples that illustrate different processes : (i) Voltaire, Lettres philosophiques. Lanson decided to publish the text of the Lettres philosophiques of 1734. But he found two editions of 1734, and, curiously enough, both are authentic. (a) The Basle edition (London, 1734), brought out through the efforts of Thieriot, a friend of Voltaire. (b) The Amsterdam edition (Rouen, 1734), brought out by the publisher Jore. Both texts in the first place came from Voltaire, who sent a copy to Thieriot and a copy to Jore ; corrections to Thieriot and corrections to Jore. How is it possible to choose ? Lan- son decides by means of external criticism, both historical and psychological. (a) Voltaire himself corrected Jore's proofs; he did not see Thieriot's and repeatedly complained of Thieriot's negli- gence (evidence furnished by the Correspondence). (b) Coincident with Thieriot's edition an English trans- lation was being made in London from the copy sent by Vol- THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 55 taire. Now the English translation agrees often with the edition of Jore, not with the edition of Thieriot, whose "friendly emendations" are thus ruled out. (c) Finally, "the Lettres philosophiques is interesting through its role in the history of ideas. . . . The work is a polemic. Therefore, the edition must be selected that gave offense to the authorities, and was censored and condemned. '' This is Jore's edition. 1 (2) Voltaire, Candide. In the case of Candide the text of 1759 seemed to me the most interesting historically. But I had before me thirteen editions dated 1759; which was the correct one ? This time I was guided by bibliographical and critical considerations. Through an examination of typo- graphical ornaments and of other details I recognized the edition that came from Cramer's press (the press usually employed by Voltaire at that period) ; through a minute study of a curious copy 2 1 discovered in several places a text that antedates the original edition. 3 1 Lettres philosophiques (ed. Lanson), Vol. I, Introduction, pp. viii-xii. This piece of criticism demonstrates (i) the importance of the testimony furnished by correspondence; (2) the importance of translations (compare the case of the Institution chretienne) ; (3) the importance of judiciary pro- ceedings, censorship, etc. for every book that influences the history of ideas. 2 Introduction critique, pp. Ixxxi-lxxxvi. 3 A study of the various recent editions mentioned as examples draws attention to two conditions of frequent recurrence : 1. It may happen that although an author has revised and improved his text, we are not justified in supposing that the minor changes are by him. They may have been made by the printer and overlooked by the author. 2. It may happen that an author, wishing to reprint some work, is satis- fied to take a worthless copy of a former unauthorized edition, to make his additions or changes in this, and to pass over unnoticed the many little mis- takes or peculiarities of the text he is using. Thus the new edition introduces fresh faults into the very text that the author desires to perfect. 56 PROBLEMS AND METHODS ESTABLISHMENT AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE CRITICAL APPARATUS You have now collated all the texts, manuscript or printed, of the work that you intend to edit. You have chosen a text as the foundation for your work, and you have a perfect copy of it. What are you going to do with this material ? The next step is to establish the critical apparatus of your edition ; that is to say, to arrange alongside your fundamen- tal text all the readings that will help the reader to follow the history and the development of the text. 1. Observe that I say "all the readings that will help the reader" not simply "all the readings". Even though you are obliged in your preparatory work to study and to collate every divergent form of the text, it would be a childish dis- play to crowd into your "adnotatio critica" all the readings that you have accumulated in your notes. For the really in- teresting modifications would disappear, submerged by this deluge of useless detail. Therefore in your introduction rid yourself of the editions that have no bearing on the history of the text. Refer to them, describe them and leave them. 1 2. You should follow some plan that will make your criti- cal apparatus clear and readable. Do not force the reader to turn back to the introduction or to the list of symbols to find out what it is all about. In designating the different editions, avoid letters, such as the Greek alphabet, that have no significance. Use either the last two figures in the date of the edition, or a letter that recalls its essential character. Your reader will remember without difficulty that 59 stands for the edition of 1759; K, the Kehl edition; L and T, the London and Tronchin manuscripts respectively; 75", 1 See how Lanson deals with them in Lettres philosophiques, Introduction, pp. xiii-xiv. THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 57 Volume VIII of the 1775 edition. Symbols of this kind ex- plain themselves. 3. When the same reading is found in successive editions derived one from another, do not encumber your notes by enumerating each one. Do not write out 1552, 1553, 1567, 1572, but simply 52-72. 4. Where should you put your critical apparatus? This depends chiefly upon its size and upon the importance that you wish to attach to it. I am opposed to arranging the various readings at the end of the volume, or even at the end of the chapter, book, or canto. By this system the reader is given an irksome task, and the readings, massed together far from the text they are supposed to elucidate, lose in life and interest. In most cases it will be quite con- venient to put the critical apparatus on each page, between the text and the historical or exegetical notes. The general effect will be much clearer if you use different type for these three sections. In certain extreme cases it will be necessary to resort to special processes. Masson, when editing the Profession de foi du vicaire Savoyard, wished ( i ) to give us the text of the original edition and (2) at the same time to enable us to trace, through the very important manuscripts, the develop- ment of the work, thought, and art of Rousseau. Therefore he decided to arrange his text and his readings on two pages: The left-hand page, mainly critical, gives the versions of the four manuscripts, and shows the progress of Rousseau's work, from such beginnings as we can reach, up to its completion (the text of each manuscript is distinguished by a different type) ; the right-hand page, mainly historical, reproduces the original edition (with the readings of subsequent editions), and points out the sources of Rousseau. 1 1 Introduction, p. xcviii. 58 PROBLEMS AND METHODS This method, although admirable in this instance and doubt- less applicable to certain other works, such as Les Martyrs of Chateaubriand or La Tentation de Saint Antoine of Flau- bert, would, however, have no advantage for most of the works that we wish to see well edited. REPRODUCTION OF THE TEXT : QUESTIONS OF ORTHOGRAPHY AND PUNCTUATION 1 To reproduce a text is more easily said than done. It is a delicate task with even a printed text, and often impossible with manuscripts or copies. In the sixteenth century " spell- ing" can hardly be said to have existed. In the seventeenth century, though an effort was made to regulate it, few con- formed to the regulations. 2 In the eighteenth century all was chaotic ; many writers took no interest in the question ; Voltaire left his printers free to "regner sur ce petit peuple- la". Besides, a number of important texts were printed in foreign countries by foreign typographers. With manuscripts the uncertainty is even greater : at some periods no distinc- tion was made between writing * and ;, or between u and v, etc.; famous authors, such as Montesquieu, have strange orthographical frailties; 3 Me de Tencin's letters would be 1 See L. Cledat, "Sur I'etablissement du texte de Boileau," Revue de philo- logie franfaise, Vol. I (1917), pp. i ff. (in particular, pp. 9-10, on the repro- duction of orthography). 2 See F. Brunot, Histoire de la langue franfaise, Vol. IV, pp. 83-167. 3 Here is a specimen of M rae de la Fayette's spelling and punctuation: "U ny a un jour que Ion ne parle icy de vous escrire toutes les soirees se finissent en disant mon dieu escriuont done a ce pauure mr de Pomponne mandons luy combien nous nous ennuyons de ne lauoir plus et lenuie que nous auons quil reuienne cela ce dit touts les soirs . . ." Here is a quotation from Bossuet : " Pardonnez nous si nous entandonssi mal votsre grandeurs etayezagreable- ces iddees grossieres que nous nousformons denotre felicite durant lexiletla captiuite de cesteuie . . ." (quoted by Brunot, Histoire de la langue franfaise, Vol. IV, pp. 159 and 166). THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 59 a disgrace to a little girl eight years old ; Hugo himself and Lamartine 1 overlooked many inadvertencies. What are you going to do in reproducing your text? On the plea of scientific precision, shall you thrust upon your reader a text that is nearly indecipherable? Or, on the ground of its illegibility, shall you treat it as you please correcting, unifying, modernizing? Here again you must discriminate and give proof of judgment and fine critical sense. 1 . It is useless to preserve anything that is obviously some stupid mistake of the printer or an oversight on the part of the author. Nevertheless, point out the slip in your critical apparatus, for it may serve to identify the edition. 2 . If you are the first to reedit a very rare text, reproduce the original with scrupulous fidelity (with the above reserva- tion). However, the addition of a few capitals, periods, or colons, while not affecting the exactness of the reproduction, will help greatly in the reading of it. Do not fail to specify in your introduction what decisions you have made. 3. Certain authors have idiosyncrasies of spelling that they cling to. In this case do not interfere with them ; on the contrary, make them very plain. Rousseau chose to write degre for degre; religion for religion, etc. Masson 2 gives a brief list of these orthographical preferences. 3 Likewise, Voltaire decided after 1 734 to print frangais, anglais, instead of frangois, anglois, etc. This interesting fact in the history of the language should be carefully noted. 1 See Des Cognets, " Etude sur les manuscrits de Lamartine," in Melanges d'histoire litteraire (Bibliotheque de 1'Universite de Paris) , Vol. XXI, pp. 109- 197; P. V. Glachant, Essai critique sur le theatre de Victor Hugo (1902), p. 55, note i. 2 Profession de foi, p. 583. 3 See, for some valuable suggestions as to method, pages cvii-cviii of the introduction. 6o PROBLEMS AND METHODS 4. You will find texts, especially in manuscript, that use abbreviations without any coherent system. In the greater number of cases there is no objection to adopting throughout either M. or Monsieur, & or et, etc., even when the original vacillates between the two forms. 5. In editions that are intended not for savants but for the general public or for schools and colleges, to modernize the spelling, whether wholly or in part, is quite admissible; but these are not cases that involve critical methods. 6. Punctuation is a difficult question to handle. Only by a thorough knowledge of its history, and especially of the habits of your author, will you reach a legitimate solution. Frequently the punctuation of the original texts is incoher- ent, representing only the whim of the printer; it is for you, in such instances, to make the text readable, while departing as little as possible from the original. When the author himself has determined the punctuation, leave it alone. Again, if faulty punctuation alters the idea or confuses the sense, arrange it to fit the meaning. 1 Lastly, remember that even at a comparatively recent date punctuation marks did not have the same value that they have today. 2 The question is of particular importance in editing poetry, as here it is closely related to rhythm. The punctuation of 1 Here is an emendation by J. M. de Heredia in his edition of the Buco- liques of Chenier (p. 80). Instead of Les fleurs ne sont plus tout; le verger vient d'eclore, he reads, Les fleurs ne sont plus; tout le verger vient d'eclore. 2 See D. Mornet, L'Alexandrin fran^ais dans la deuxieme moitie du XVII I e siecle, pp. 38-42. He points out that printers and authors commonly used the semicolon (;) as we use the comma (,). Thus Rousseau punctuates: "Soyez-en sure, aimable Claire; je ne m'interesse pas moins que vous au sort de ce couple infortune; non par un sentiment de commiseration qui peut n'etre qu'une faiblesse; mais par la consideration de la justice . . ." (Nou- velle Heloise, Vol. II, p. 2; text of the two principal editions). THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 61 writers such as Chenier, Hugo, Vigny, or Leconte de Lisle is all-important, although their editors have too often failed to recognize this fact. Compare these two texts taken from Chenier 's Le Jeune Malade. The first is that of Latouche 1 and of Becq de Fouquieres 2 ; the second is reproduced by Dimoff from the autograph manuscript. Is it not evident how different the comment on the rhythm and expression would be for each version ? 3 Ma mere, adieu; je meurs, et tu n'as plus de fils. Non, tu n'as plus de fils, ma mere bien-aimee. Je te perds. Une plaie ardente, en- venimee, Me ronge ; avec effort je respire, et je crois Chaque fois respirer pour la der- niere fois. Je ne parlerai pas. Adieu ; ce lit me blesse, Ce tapis qui me couvre accable ma faiblesse ; Tout me pese et me lasse. Aide- moi, je me meurs. Tourne-moi sur le flanc. Ah! j 'ex- pire ! douleurs ! Ma mere, adieu. Je meurs ; et tu n'as plus de fils. Non, tu n'as plus de fils. Ma mere bien-aimee, Je te perds. Une plaie ardente, en- venimee, Me ronge. Avec effort je respire ; et je crois Chaque fois respirer pour la der- niere fois. Je ne parlerai pas. Adieu. Ce lit me blesse. Ce tapis qui me couvre accable ma faiblesse. Tout me pese ; et me lasse. Aide- moi. Je me meurs. Tourne-moi sur le flanc. Ah j 'ex- pire. douleurs! The subjects of orthography and punctuation, in short, are infinitely complicated. They require art, tact, taste, on your part. Here again the best method is, after studying 2 i862. 3 This example is interesting in showing that even the most impressionistic and subjective criticism implies an initial study of literary history and of its precise methods; that is, unless you are disposed to be as enthusiastic over Latouche's punctuation as over Chenier's rhythms. 62 PROBLEMS AND METHODS thoroughly the individual case, to decide what liberties you may allow yourself so as to present the text in the form de- sired by its author, without obliging your reader to decipher hieroglyphics or to wrestle with absurdities. LINGUISTIC AND GRAMMATICAL COMMENTARY The linguistic and grammatical commentary aims at ex- plaining every difficulty that your text may present in vocab- ulary, grammar, syntax, and versification. Obviously, the earlier the text the more necessary it becomes. What most of the work of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and many passages previous to 1650 really need is translation. As soon as you have acquired material for the commen- tary, the questions again arise : How must you choose ? How shall you arrange it? 1. In choosing, the following is a safe principle: Keep in your notes only such data as to vocabulary or language as are indispensable for understanding the text. The rest is padding and ostentation. If you chance upon a curious or interesting word, do not take the occasion to write its com- plete history ; examples filched from dictionaries and crowded into the same page as the text make your work tedious and obscure. Avoid anything that sounds like a philological dis- sertation. Discuss only the special points that need clarify- ing. Reject all but the necessary remarks. 2 . The arrangement will depend entirely on the scope and purpose of the commentary; that is to say, on the kind of work you are editing. There are difficulties in arranging the commentary either as footnotes or at the end of the volume. If as footnotes, the notes will be overloaded, and, in trying to lighten them, serviceable and sometimes necessary mate- rial will be discarded; if at the end of the volume, or of THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 63 separate parts of the volume, your comments will be of far less benefit to the reader. Here are a few suggestions : a. When your commentary is not bulky, insert it below the text with the other notes. b. When it is bulky, a good plan may be to divide it into two parts : one part, for observations on grammar or syntax, to be arranged as footnotes ; the other, for remarks on vocab- ulary, in a glossary at the end of the volume. Asterisks in the text would then refer the reader to the glossary. c. In the case of very important grammatical and syn- tactic commentary, you might index every remark of the kind made in the notes, supplying in this way the elements and the plan of a study on the language of your author. 1 At all events, bear in mind that you are not writing a philological contribution to the history of the language, but are elucidating a difficult text. Everything that does not directly further your aim must be sacrificed without compunction. LITERARY COMMENTARY The literary commentary should include all remarks and notes, whether historical, biographical, philosophical, or aesthetic, all discussions on sources or influences, all biblio- graphic or iconographic information, necessary for under- standing the text. During the preparatory work you will accumulate an enormous and somewhat confused mass of documents of every kind and origin. Resist the temptation to insert them all in your notes. They have helped you, but they are not all indispensable to your reader. Therefore, here again, to know how to choose is the beginning of wisdom. x The editions of Moliere or of Racine in the Collection des grands ecri- vains de la France furnish admirable examples. 64 PROBLEMS AND METHODS But how should you choose ? The principle of choice has, I think, been formulated perfectly by Lanson: "To know how to retain from your exhaustive researches the material that is called for by the nature of the text." Lanson means that you should begin by deciding (this will prove your perspicacity and tact as an editor) what constitutes the special interest of your text what gives it importance in the author's life, or in the history of ideas or of some particular literary theory or genre. Pick out from your notes those that are related to this aspect of the work and that help to explain it. Leave the others, or take only the most important. For instance, 1. Saint-Simon's Memoir es requires, above all, historical commentary : information about the people and events men- tioned; explanation of obscure allusions; correction of er- rors; completion of fragmentary anecdotes. This has been supplied in Boislisle's large edition. 1 2. Works that are more or less autobiographical should on every point be criticized, verified, and explained, in notes that weigh them against accurate critical biographies of their authors. We are still waiting for such an edition of Rous- seau's Confessions. 3. Philosophical, theological, and polemical works should have their environment restored. Your notes should bring out the relation of a work to previous or contemporary sys- tems and doctrines; the writer's standing; the current of ideas he followed or tried to stem. Under this heading come the Pensees of Pascal, the Sermons of Bossuet, the Emile of Rousseau, the Genie du christianisme of Chateaubriand. For many of these the commentary should be especially on the sources. 2 1 Collection des grands ecrivains. Hachette. - The study of sources will be treated in a special chapter. THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 65 4. Other works, on the contrary, have chiefly an aesthetic interest. The notes should, therefore, in each case lay stress upon the artist's effort to reach or to approach perfection; upon the means he employs ; upon the degree of his success or failure. It happens frequently that such literary com- mentary is inseparable from the study of the various read- ings and successive transformations of the text. The novels of Flaubert, and the poems of Chenier or of Leconte de Lisle and many of Lamartine's or Hugo's, are well suited to criticism of this kind. Is it necessary to say that there are no ' air-tight partitions ' between these compartments? The question is, primarily, to use intelligence in deciding what direction your com- mentary should pursue; what aspect you should empha- size; how much space you should devote to each category of notes. Lastly, by an attentive study of several good editions you will best serve your apprenticeship. PRACTICAL DETAILS OF PRINTING I sum up here these suggestions of an entirely practical nature, intended not to exhaust the subject but to indicate how such details as are involved in the final work on an edi- tion may judiciously be handled. 1. Whenever possible put all the annotation, critical or historical, on the same page as the text. This is its proper place, where it is most effective. 2. Distinguish with special type the different sections of the page : text, various readings, notes. 3. Use simple, intelligible symbols. 4. When you have selected a system of symbols, adhere consistently to it from the beginning of the book to the end. 66 PROBLEMS AND METHODS 5. Do not fail to equip your edition with the necessary indexes and tables of contents: "Livre sans index, livre a peu pres perdu" has been justly said. 6. Do your utmost to insure the typographical correctness of your text, of the various readings, and of the notes. EXAMPLES OF EDITIONS TO STUDY In order to become acquainted with applications of the various methods, you will find nothing of greater value than to spend some hours in familiarizing yourself with certain recent editions. I subjoin a list, which may be altered or enlarged at your pleasure. 1. In the Collection des grands ecrivains de la France, published by Hachette, study preferably Moliere (Despois, Mesnard, and Desfeuilles) ; La Bruyere (Servois) ; Racine (Mesnard) ; Pascal (Brunschvicg) ; Saint-Simon (Boislisle). 2. The Societe des textes francais modernes has published, beginning in 1905, a series of critical and annotated editions, among which the most instructive as regards method seem to me to be the following : VOLTAIRE. Lettres philosophiques (Lanson). 1909. Du BELLAY. (Euvres poetiques (Chamard). Since 1908. SENANCOUR. Obermann (Michaut). 1912 and 1913. VOLTAIRE. Candide (Morize). 1913. RONSARD. (Euvres completes (Laumonier). Since 1914. HEROET. (Euvres poetiques (Gohin). 1909. 3. The publication of the Pensees of Pascal forms one of the most complicated and interesting problems in editing. All the documents on that question are readily accessible. See especially the introductions to the Michaut edition 1 and 1 i8Q7. See A. Gazier, "G. Michaut, Les Pensees de Pascal," Revue d'his- toire litteraire, 1897, PP- 624-626. 6 7 to the Brunschvicg edition 1 ; the Manuel bibliographique of Lanson, Nos. 4632-4651; and the complete photographic reproduction of the manuscript published by Hachette. 4. Not less instructive is the history of the edition of Mon- taigne's Essais. Nos. 2552-2569 of the Manuel refer you to some useful sources for this study. See in particular the Bordeaux edition, published by Strowski, beginning in 1904, and the photographic facsimile of the precious copy in the Bordeaux Library. 5. It has been said that the edition of Rousseau's Profes- sion 'de foi du vicaire Savoyard by Masson 2 "sets a standard for publications of this kind, and is the model edition that (while modifying the plan and the method to suit particular cases) we should always try to approximate". 3 You have seen above in what an ingenious way Masson arranges his commentary and critical apparatus. An introduction, which is an example of masterly terseness, explains (a) the history of the composition and the publication of the Profession] (b) the development of the text traced through the manu- scripts and the editions; (c) the method of the present edition. The historical commentary, the result of formidable re- search, is concentrated upon the following points: (a) works that Rousseau alludes to, and that he refutes; (b) origins of his art and erudition; (c) biographical events that are re- flected in his work; (d) texts, possibly but not necessarily known to Rousseau, that form "the intellectual and moral atmosphere for his maturing mind". It must indeed be a fine edition that deserves the commen- dation that "every detail in the critical apparatus or in the commentary serves some purpose". 3 Lanson, in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1917, p. 322. 68 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Since these editions will be useful as material for critical observation rather than as models for beginners to imitate, I add the names of some excellent works on a more restricted plan, which will give you a correct idea of the edition of an important, though more limited, text. 1. Rabelais, Lettres d' Italic, published by Bourrilly (8vo) (1910). The book has a successful typographical arrange- ment, full, judicious notes, and a convenient index. 2. Rabelais, Le Quart Lime de Pantagruel ("edition par- tielle", Lyon, 1548), critical text published by Champion with introduction by Plattard (8vo) (1909). Its good points are a clear text, well-arranged readings, a wisely planned introduction, and lucid and complete notes. 3. D'Aubigne, Les Tragiques, Livre I, Miser es, published under the direction of Bedier (i6mo) (1896). 4. Claude Binet, La Vie de P. de Ronsard, published by Laumonier (8vo) (1910). The work shows immense erudi- tion, which, in my opinion, slightly overbalances the text. There is a good critical commentary. I should prefer to have the historical commentary arranged at the bottom of the page of text rather than at the end of the volume. 5. Voltaire, Correspondance (1726-1729), published by Foulet (1913). This edition is a model of the critical method applied to the establishment of a text. The notes and appendix clear up many faults or inaccuracies of pre- vious editions. 6. In the last few years four editions have been published that are well worth examining: Lamartine's Meditations, edited by Lanson (2 vols.) (1915) ; La Legende des siecles, edited by Berret (2 vols.) (1920); Telemaque, edited by A. Cahen (2 vols.) (1920); Adolphe, edited by G. Rudler (1919). In breadth of learning that never submerges the text, in discriminating commentary, and in perfect arrange- THE PREPARATION OF AN EDITION 69 ment they stand for an ideal that is, perhaps, a little dis- couraging but that certainly may act as an inspiration. 1 1 Those who wish to undertake the proper editing of any of the important texts of the nineteenth century would do well to know that under the French law a writer's works belong either to his editors or to his heirs for a period of fifty years, to the day, after his death. Therefore, no one can publish, in part or in full, any work thus protected without a preliminary understanding with its legal owners. Also, by a very recent law, the duration of the war (1914-1918) is not to be included in the legal fifty-year period: the period is to be lengthened by five years. Thus the authors who should have become 'public property' during 1920 do not become so until 1925; among them are Merimee, Montalembert, Alexandre Dumas pere, Jules de Goncourt, Prevost- Paradol. Other writers whose works will become public property within the next few years are the following: during 1926, Emile Deschamps; during 1927, Theophile Gautier; during 1928, Ernest Feydeau, Glatigny; during 1929, Michelet, Guizot, Jules Janin, Charles Asselineau; during 1930, Quinet, Tris- tan Corbiere; during 1931, George Sand, M me Louise Colet, Fromentin. Henri Monnier; during 1932, Thiers; during 1933, Claude Bernard, etc. CHAPTER IV ESTABLISHING A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY The establishment of the critical bibliography of a writer, of an important work, or of a question of literary history is one of the most useful services that a young scholar can ren- der to science. Let it be clearly understood that he should not think of undertaking any work comparable to those huge bibliographical monuments that usually represent more than a quarter of a century of patient, skillful research; for ex- ample, Voltaire, Bibliographic de ses aeuvres* by G. Ben- gesco, or the Bibliographic des recueils collectijs de poesie publies de 7577 a 1700? by F. Lachevre. On the contrary, it is a question of a work with a definite aim that is suffi- ciently modest not to mean the sacrifice of a lifetime ; it is a question of choosing a very limited subject, of placing at the disposal of anyone it concerns all the serviceable references, correctly presented, verified, and criticized. Today, for no matter what subject, the list of printed ref- erences is long, at times formidable. If an investigator were always obliged to consult an exhaustive list of these refer- ences, he would inevitably be overwhelmed. Suppose that a historian were to venture upon the study of Jeanne d'Arc : in the catalogue devoted to her by H. Stein, which does not contain the manuscript documents, he would find more than twelve thousand entries. He would need at least thirty years for the mere perusing of these twelve thousand printed docu- ments. And, to quote the saying of a French humorist, by that time he would be either dead or crazy, or would be be- a ln 4 vols., 8vo. 1882-1891. 2 In 4 vols., 4to. 1901-1905. 70 ESTABLISHING A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 71 ginning all over again on the amount of new material printed during those thirty years. This is the reason for the existence of critical bibliogra- phies works not of accumulation but of choice, not of pil- ing up but of clearing up. For their given subjects they should tell the reader : At the present day, here is a list of what you must read or examine. Here are the writer's works, with the indispensable bibliographical data. Here are the publications that contain information worth consulting. The rest is mediocre or bad, verbiage or rubbish. By this means, in from fifty to one hundred pages, it is possible to offer a very helpful bibliographical introduction. 1 It often happens that the bibliography of a thesis may or should be presented in this form. How can such a work be prepared, compiled, and ar- ranged ? It is understood that you are in possession of the requisite materials, that you have established and verified all index cards relating to your subject, as has been explained in Chapter II ("Implements and Tools: Bibliography"), and that these have been classified, studied, and appraised. There remains to make of them a convenient and accurate little book. Let us take two different cases : the critical bibliography of an author; the critical bibliography of a subject. CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF AN AUTHOR A study of the best critical bibliographies published re- cently, together with sound common sense, will indicate that the most logical and satisfactory divisions are the following: i. A short biographical notice. Give in detail the chronol- ogy of the writer's life. F. Funck-Brentano, Introduction aux bibliographies critiques (8vo, 7 pp.). Paris, 1899. 72 PROBLEMS AND METHODS 2. Manuscripts. Compile as complete a list as possible of the manuscripts, telling where they are to be found (location of the library, call number, etc.) and what they are (auto- graphs or copies, well or poorly preserved). Analyze the contents, specifying what use has been made of these manu- scripts in the printed works and bringing to light those that may be still inedited. For correspondence, if the case arises, mention where the letters are stored and the whereabouts, if known, of all scattered letters, such as those described in the catalogues of autographs, etc. 1 Mention in addition which of the manuscripts are accessible to the public and how they may be consulted. 3. Works (or articles} published during the author's life- time. Describe in its chronological position each work that was published during the author's lifetime. This description necessitates a technical knowledge of at least the elementary facts about book production, and especially about the me- chanical side of it. Perhaps this is as good a chance as any to insist upon the dangers of the average student's ignorance on this subject : the art of printing is linked in too intimate a way with literary history to be safely neglected. Whether in establishing a critical bibliography or in preparing an edi- tion or the critical apparatus of an important text, it is often possible to solve questions more rapidly and surely by simple bibliographical evidence than by purely literary methods. No book exists for French literature that in this respect com- pares with Ronald B. McKerrow's excellent treatise Notes on Bibliographical Evidence for Literary Students and Edi- tors of English Works of the XVIth and XVIIth Centuries, published in the Transactions of the Bibliographical So- 1 Especially the catalogues of private or public collections or of public sales. See, for example, the catalogues of Charavay, in France, or that of the Dreer Collection or of the Anderson Collection, in America. ESTABLISHING A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 73 defy. 1 The examples are, of course, taken from English writers, but many of the principles and suggestions can without difficulty be applied to works printed in France. Besides concise and clear details about the making of a printed book and the various stages in the process, 2 the student will find some useful technical information on the importance of signatures, 3 imprints, and initials ; on the part played by watermarks in determining the size of a book; on the exact meaning of the terms 'edition' and 'issue' (p. 260), with an explanation of the particular cases that may arise ; on the way to distinguish a first impression from those that follow (pp. 264 ff.) ; on how to tell whether two copies belong to the same edition (pp. 270-272); on the importance of 'cancels' (French cartons} and the means of detecting them. This preliminary study will be of the great- est service for the descriptions that must be included in your critical bibliography. 4 The following recommendations should also be carefully observed: Reproduce with minute exactness the full title-page, in- cluding the arrangement of the lines (separate them by short, vertical strokes). Do not neglect any details or im- perfections in the imprint, ornaments etc. 1 Vol. XII, pp. 213-321. London, 1914. 2 "Elementary instruction in the mechanical details of book production need occupy but a few hours of a university course of literature, and it would, I believe, if the course were intended to turn out scholars capable of serious work, be time well spent" (p. 220). The Practice of Typography, by T. L. De Vinne (4 vols.), is an excellent introduction. 3 A 'signature' is a distinguishing mark (letter or number) placed at the bottom of each sheet of a book, to indicate its place to the folder and binder. For any difficulty about the meaning of foreign technical terms see Voca- bulaire technique de l'editeur,en sept langues (Berne, 1913 ) and H. Ramin,F0ca- bulaire anglais-franqais et fran$ais-anglais des industries dulivre (Paris, 1920). 4 You will find some good technical advice in F. Madan, "On Method in Bibliography," Transactions of the Bibliographical Society, Vol. I, pp. 91- 102; and G. W. Cole, "Compiling a Bibliography" (New York, 1902) (re- printed from the Library Journal, 1902). 74 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Note the date of publication with the greatest possible accuracy. For modern or recent books, thanks to the Journal de la librairie and to publishers' announcements, the month or the week of their appearance may often be determined. Next, mention all subsequent editions, recording each in- teresting alteration, whether in the title or in the contents of the volume. Make plain, whenever you can, the motives for these alterations. Reproduce any fragments, prefaces, forewords, suppressed passages, etc. that have disappeared from the current edi- tions and that may be of interest in tracing the history of the author's thought. 1 When it is a question of collections of poetry, essays, or treatises, give in detail the contents of the volume, which may vary from one edition to another. Group together any information that gives an idea of the circulation of the work (numbers of copies printed at each impression, reviews in journals and periodicals, etc.). For each volume state the number of pages and, for cer- tain old editions, the irregularities of paging, signature, in- teresting illustrations, or typographical ornaments, woodcuts, headpieces and tailpieces, etc. When there are several volumes, or a complete or incom- plete collection of an author's works, establish and record the date of publication of each volume. Many modern writers, particularly since the beginning of the nineteenth century, have first published their works as articles in reviews or journals (Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Hugo, Vigny, Musset, Sainte-Beuve, Renan, Taine, Bourget, a See, for instance, Taine's remarkable pages, exhumed by V. Giraud in his Bibliographic critique de Taine, particularly (p. 13) an admirable portrait of Sainte-Beuve suppressed from the Preface of the Essais de critique et d'histoire. ESTABLISHING A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 75 Anatole France, among others). Your critical bibliography should contain the answers to the following questions relat- ing to such articles: Where and when did they appear? Were they included in some later work or were they put to no further use ? If they were used, did they conform to the original text? 4. Posthumous works. In addition to the details already suggested, you will note the conditions under which posthu- mous works have been published : Who was responsible for their publication? How much was the editor guided by directions left by the author ? Is his work satisfactory, and may it be considered definitive? If errors, omissions, or corruptions exist, what are they? 5. Correspondence. Enumerate the published collections of correspondence; ferret out the letters not included by the editor of the correspondence, stating whether they were overlooked by him at that time and have been published later, or are still in manuscript. 6. Works to be consulted. It is on the question of works to be consulted that your bibliography should be truly criti- cal. Your aim should be, in directing your reader to what is really useful, to save him the time and the trouble of hunting up and reading hundreds of pages, either empty of information or definitely superseded by more recent or more scientific works. Your entries should be followed by brief, precise criticisms. If a valuable review has been published, give the reference. In particular, call attention to the information that lies hidden in the periodicals, the proceedings of learned socie- ties, and other compilations. This is an essential part of your task. 1 x Take care to state the number of pages in each article. This gives an idea of its importance if not of its thoroughness. 76 PROBLEMS AND METHODS When a work has aroused a controversy, group the refuta- tions, apologies, and parodies round it ; make clear the stand taken by adversaries and defenders; in short, restore the work to its exact environment. Finally, do not omit to "date your bibliography almost to the day, so that the reader may know definitely when your bibliographical investigation ended". 1 To present all this material conveniently, several arrange- ments are possible. It is for you to choose that best suited to the specific question you are treating. 2 One of the most favorable methods, I think, consists in dividing your refer- ences into General Studies (in chronological or alphabetical order, or classified under books and periodicals this last arrangement has little to commend it) and into Particular Studies (subdivided into studies relating to successive works, studies relating to ideas or doctrines, studies relating to biographical detail, etc.). 7. In any case, the work should be completed by one or more indexes, where, distinguished by different kinds of type, the names of persons and the titles of works should be enumerated. EXAMPLES TO STUDY Here are four examples of bibliographies constructed in this manner, demonstrating each from a different point of view how helpful it is to undertake and accomplish success- fully a work of this kind. i. C. Urbain, Bibliographic critique de Bossuet (8vo, 31 pp.) (Paris, 1900). In this little book, completed on 1 Funck-Brentano, Introduction aux bibliographies critiques. 2 Every bibliographer while making his investigation [I should add, "and arranging his material"] should act as if at some future time he intended to write a comprehensive work upon the subject of his labors, and was simply making a preliminary survey and record of the field, with this as his main purpose constantly in view. G. W. Cole, Compiling a Bibliography, p. 4 ESTABLISHING A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 77 September 15, 1899, the student will find the following points particularly worth his notice : a. The compactness and precision of the biographical data (pp. 1-2). b. The description of the various editions of Bossuet. c. The bibliographer's criticism of each edition, summing up the work of the editor and explaining to what extent the text may be considered authentic (pp. 18-21 and passim). d. The grouping of the "References from Contempora- ries" (p. 21 ) and the " Refutations and Apologies" (p. 29). x 2. V. Giraud, Taine, Bibliographic critique (8vo, 81 pp.) (Paris, 1902), completed in March, 1902. This is a true model of its kind, condensed, clear, intelligent, interesting to read. The reader should pay particular heed to the fol- lowing points : a. The clearness of the paragraph devoted to Taine's man- uscripts (p. 2). b. The defmiteness and completeness of the information on every article published by Taine, together with its 'his- tory' ; that is to say, the record of how Taine afterwards used it, as well as valuable extracts from the passages that are not reproduced in the later publications (pp. 3-43). c. The full account of the various transformations of the Essai sur les fables de La Fontaine (p. 5), and the publica- tion of the Histoire de la litterature anglaise (pp. 21-23). d. The equal clearness and thoroughness of the data on the references and of his estimate of them ; for instance, the work of G. Barzellotti (p. 54). e. The publication, in the paragraph Fragments de la cor- respondance, of several letters scattered among the reviews 1 Another bibliography on Bossuet, Bibliographic rahonnie des ceuvres de Bossuet (i6mo) (published by Verlaque, Paris, 1908), offers an occasion for instructive comparison. Verlaque's is perhaps more complete, though certainly less critical, than Urbain's, which it will neither supersede nor overshadow. 78 PROBLEMS AND METHODS or catalogues, and a critical study (p. 47) resulting in the rectification of the date of one of these letters. 1 3. G. Rudler, Biblio graphic critique des ceuvres de Ben- jamin Constant (8vo, 108 pp.) (Paris, 1908). Except in an appendix that makes no pretense of completeness, Rudler does not attempt to give a bibliography of works on Benja- min Constant. His chief aim is to make an inventory of Constant's manuscripts and works, corresponding to the period covered by his other book, La Jeunesse de Benjamin Constant (Paris, 1908). A student should study this Biblio- graphie critique in particular for the classification of papers, the discussions concerning the dates of certain letters, the de- scription of the manuscripts, and the publication of a large number of inedited letters and documents. 4. G. A. Tournoux, Bibliographie verlainienne ; contribu- tion critique a I'etude des litteratures etrangeres et compa- rees (i6mo, 172 pp.) (Leipzig, 1912). Tournoux has con- ceived his book along entirely different lines and with quite another purpose from the critical bibliographies of Urbain and Giraud. 2 He desires, by the establishment of a methodi- cal bibliography, to trace the dissemination and the influ- ence of Verlaine's work in the different countries throughout the world. Considering successively the French-speaking countries, and then Spain, Portugal, Italy, Rumania, Greece, Germany, England and English-speaking nations, Holland, and the Scandinavian, Slavic, and Czechic countries, he ex- 1 See, for the same sort of work, Martino, "Bibliographie critique de Fromentin," Revue africaine, 1914 (reprinted separately) ; A.Maire, L'CEuvre scientifique de Blaise Pascal: bibliographic critique (8vo, Paris, 1912) (a re- markable work); H. Cordier, "Essai bibliographique sur les oeuvres d'A. R. Le Sage," Bulletin du bibliophile, January, igoS-December, 1909; and G. Mi- chaut, Bibliographie des ecrits de Sainte-Beuve, at the end of his thesis en- titled Sainte-Beuve avant les "Lundis". 2 A true critical bibliography of Verlaine has still to be compiled and would be a useful, interesting subject for a Ph.D. thesis. ESTABLISHING A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 79 amines, in each one, the literary or critical studies, transla- tions, anthologies, poems on Verlaine, and even the poems that have been set to music. The work has for us a double interest : a. It illustrates, on the one hand, the fact that from these bibliographical studies, if they are well done, however dry and narrow they may seem, general ideas of wide, keen interest may be derived. This Bibliographic verlainienne throws into strong relief the influence and expansion of the poet's work; it is immediately evident that "whereas he has been popular in Germanic and Slavic countries, he has had only a cold reception among the Latin peoples, with the ex- ception of the Spanish: let this fact be explained by those critics who are specially concerned with literary psychology and race affinity. However widespread the diffusion of his work, Verlaine has not been translated in his entirety. His translators have confined themselves to introducing a limited number of his poems into their languages. They must have followed some system in their choice. What has guided them ? Why has a certain author in a certain country pre- ferred a certain piece? There is material for many in- vestigations, as regards not only Verlaine's genius but the character of those who have translated him, or for whose benefit he has been translated." 1 b. On the other hand, a contribution of this type gives in- teresting suggestions; it opens to our students a vast and enticing field. Without choosing too extensive or too weighty subjects, but preferably some recent authors for whom American libraries can more readily furnish the necessary resources, many analogous works may be successfully under- taken. I have in mind studies of critical bibliography on Hugo, Dumas, Flaubert, Maupassant, or Zola, in America 1 Introduction, p. ix. 8o PROBLEMS AND METHODS or in England ; on the dissemination and reputation in France of American or English authors, or, indeed, of great writers of other nationalities, such as Tolstoi or Ibsen. Subjects like these could be treated by a group of graduate students working in collaboration in a seminar under a professor's supervision. CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF A QUESTION OF LITERARY HISTORY Having considered the critical bibliography of an author, we are naturally led to a second type of bibliography that of a complete subject, or of a movement of ideas. The principles and rules evidently remain unchanged; they are merely adapted to the different subject matter. Here again it is precision, judicious choice, critical apprecia- tions enabling the reader to lay his hand on something that would be difficult or impossible to discover for himself, reli- able and discriminating erudition, that we should struggle to attain. Suggestions for a subject might be multiplied indefinitely: (i) A critical bibliography of a literary genre: 1 dramatic pastoral; classic tragedy (its origin); romantic drama; comedy of manners. 2 ( 2 ) A critical bibliography of a literary school or epoch: preciosite; revival of the taste for an- tiquity at the end of the eighteenth century ; fantastic litera- ture during the romanticist period; realistic or naturalistic 1 Sec, for example, H. Vaganay, Le Sonnet en Italie et en France au XVl e siecle. Essai de bibliographic comparee (8vo) (Lyons, 1903). 2 Here is a supplementary suggestion, found in the Revue d'histoire litte- raire (1906), p. 501: "A bibliography that should include the keepsakes, the collections of extracts, and the literary periodicals of the Romantic school, would lead to the discovery of many pages by the best French authors of the nineteenth century not contained in their works, and would supply a power- ful tool, and many suggestions, for literary historians and bibliophiles." ESTABLISHING A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 81 schools. (3) A critical bibliography of the relations of lit- erature at a given time with the fine arts, with philosophy, or with music. (4) Above all, a critical bibliography of a great writer's influence in his own or in a foreign country a question that involves both the bibliography of a writer and the bibliography of a subject. An admirable example of the latter is the Bibliographic critique de Goethe en France,by Baldensperger (8vo) (Paris, 1907). I know few books in which bibliographical informa- tion is presented with more acumen and skill or in a manner more stimulating to the reader's mind. The dryness of the references is constantly relieved by brief and adequate com- mentaries, valuable quotations, and ingenious comparisons. This excellent model, which a student must not expect to equal in his first attempt, will, nevertheless, point out where and how to proceed. CHAPTER V INVESTIGATION AND INTERPRETATION OF SOURCES It is not possible to reason in a discriminating manner about an author's thought or art or to make a sound estimate of his originality unless in advance we have discovered and explained whence his ideas have come ; by what influences he has been affected ; what writers have stimulated or nour- ished his thought; what books he has imitated, adapted, sometimes calmly copied, in short, what are the sources of his work. First, it is necessary to agree on the definition of a source. To discover the sources of a work does not mean only the malicious pleasure of pointing out in footnotes all passages reproduced with varying degrees of fidelity or servility from another author. It does not mean merely the childish satis- faction of catching, let us say, Chateaubriand or Hugo 'in the act' the relish of showing beyond a shadow of doubt that some page of the Voyage en Amerique or some line in La Legende des siecles is nothing but a more or less clever appropriation from the text of an obscure traveler or of a forgotten journalist. Not, indeed, that such criticism is unjustified or useless. I should say even that it is necessary, and this for several reasons. First, because it keeps our admiration from stray- ing toward points that do not deserve it. Next, because it throws valuable light on the working-methods of the writer whom we are studying. Lastly, because in this way we be- come better acquainted with the character of the writer, 82 INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 83 with his scruples as to originality or even as to literary probity. Yet we must concede that plagiarism was formerly regarded in a very different light from what it is today. If Montaigne blandly transcribes entire fragments from other writers, no one in the France of his day thought of blaming him. Even in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries pub- lic opinion was still indulgent in this regard ; it was not until the last century that plagiarism was condemned as out-and- out dishonesty. Up to that time an author had a sort of recog- nized right to "take what he wanted where he could get it". Discovering a source means something besides bringing to light and indicating literal imitations or conformity of one text to another. It means investigating, finding, analyzing, and discussing the material of all kinds that may have con- tributed to the formation and the expression of a great writ- er's thought : first, without doubt, passages directly borrowed (whether admittedly or not), conscious or unconscious imi- tations of some predecessor; but in addition other sources, less obvious, less easy to define, sometimes scarcely tangible sources at least as important as the former. Such would be the perhaps remote effect of education ; the impress left by something hastily read; the recollection of a conversa- tion; the influence of literary, political, social, or religious environment the stamp of some tradition, not always to be traced to a particular book, but reacting upon the writer through his friendships, his associations, and the salons, academies, and social sets of every sort that he has fre- quented. These form the atmosphere that an author is obliged to breathe, no matter how determined he may be to shut himself up in his ' tower of ivory ' ; they cannot fail to affect him in some degree, positively or negatively, whether he is swayed unconsciously or whether he resolutely takes the opposite stand. 84 PROBLEMS AND METHODS When we speak of atmosphere, of environment, we must remember that the literary works studied and admired today represent only a small part of the total production of the period in which they appeared. For every masterpiece or work of real worth that has come down to us there are hundreds, if not thousands, that have sunk forever into the oblivion they deserve. There was a time, however, when the works that are now condemned were widely read ; frequently they had a brilliant though brief success. They helped to form the 'ambient' in which our famous writers have been developed, and, therefore, the extent to which they have pro- vided or confirmed these writers' ideas should be taken into account. If you examine La France litteraire of Querard or glance through Voltaire's or Grimm's Correspondance, the files of the Annie litteraire or of the Journal des savants, you will gain a superficial notion of what Voltaire, Rousseau, or Diderot very likely used to read, week after week, month after month material that, thought out anew, transformed, worked over and over, may have reappeared in their writ- ings. We are disposed to accept too readily the false theory that great writers read only great writers that geniuses merely pass on the torch from one to the other. Nothing is more untrue. A certain celebrated page by Rousseau can be traced to his having recently read the Journal encyclo- pedique ; a brilliant witticism of Voltaire was his reaction to a passage by an obscure and ignorant Jesuit Father. It is necessary, then, in order to clarify and understand the great and glorious works to spend much time with the mediocre and insignificant. This labor of investigating and discovering sources of every kind is important, as we have seen, because it is the indispensable condition for determining the originality of INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 85 an author. 1 A time-honored custom that dominates the methods of instruction in every country concentrates the study of the history of literature round its masterpieces. If it is a question of instruction only, nothing is more legiti- mate; it is always better to read in our classes, and to re- quire our students to read, Corneille than Alexandre Hardy, Chateaubriand than W. Bartram, and Anatole France than the Abbe de Villars. However, the moment that we under- take a historical and critical study of the master writers the point of view changes. It then becomes a question of dis- covering exactly what kind of men they were, what new ideas they contributed, and how much they availed them- selves of traditions, of preexisting thought and learning. This knowledge is acquired only through as complete a study as possible of the sources from which they borrowed. It is all very well to say that Rousseau introduced into eighteenth- century literature the type of the a bon sauvage" and that he first expressed the "sentiment de la nature"; that Vol- taire imported English Deism into France ; that Du Bellay's Defence et illustration de la langue fran$oise was little short of revolutionary. These assertions on the part of the lecturer or the critic who scorns 'facts' and limits himself to ' ideas' may, indeed, be the occasion of magnificent rheto- ric, whose least defect will be its absolute erroneousness. Nevertheless, patient and thorough study of the sources not infrequently leading to the discovery of forgotten documents has proved that the "bon sauvage" existed long before Rousseau, who exploited rather than invented a notion al- x As a good example of the study of an author's originality taken in con- nection with an examination of his sources, see J. Plattard, L' Invention et la composition dans I'&uvre de Rabelais (Paris, IQOQ) ; in particular, chap, i, "Les Rapports de Pceuvre de Rabelais avec la litterature romanesque de son temps," and chap, vi, "L'Humanisme." 86 PROBLEMS AND METHODS ready on the way to general acceptance; that La Nouvelle Helo'ise did not create the feeling for nature in the eighteenth century but gave expression to it; that Voltaire's Deism is of French rather than English extraction, and that when he left for London in 1726 his ideas were well established on that point ; finally, that the first book of the Defence et illus- tration de la langue jranqoise is hardly more than a transla- tion, sometimes verbatim, of a similar work published for the vindication of the Italian language. If, unhappily, there were not still many critics and philosophers who refuse to admit the necessity of researches of this kind, it would be superfluous to lay stress upon them. In the second place, the search for sources is important for establishing derivations and legacies from other writers and epochs. Again, it is only by a careful inventory of the sources, the direct imitations, or the less obvious influences that the degree of dependence between two authors or two periods may be fixed. Take Andre Chenier as an example: how much does French Romanticism owe to him ? How can we answer this question otherwise than in empty words be- fore we have listed all possible comparisons between him and Lamartine, Vigny, Hugo, and the rest? Even when the list has been made, it is evident that we have not answered the question (this is a point that we must not lose sight of), but we shall, at least, have material with which to answer, a basis for reasoning we shall not be building in the air. Finally, the search for sources is important because it attracts attention to certain works and certain writers, little known and oftentimes forgotten, who in their day were the vehicles for ideas, or the * exciters' for producing the thought of more renowned writers. Between the radiance of the seventeenth century and the brilliant epoch of eighteenth- century philosophy there has long been for us a sort of black INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 87 hole ; the study of the sources of the famous writers of the eighteenth century is dragging out of this obscurity many writers who, during the transition period, were their pre- cursors and their inspiration. As 'source-hunters' we do not tread a safe path; before proceeding further we should be warned against certain temptations and certain possible errors. i. First, we must avoid becoming < source-maniacs'; that is to say, adopting as a postulate the theory that a specific source necessarily underlies each passage, each line, of the text in question. Alfred de Musset says, "It is imitating someone to plant cabbages" ("C'est imiter quelqu'un que de planter des choux"), and it is always " imitating someone" to write a book. We cannot speak or write without borrow- ing the words of others; as La Bruyere declared long ago, "everything has been said, and we are too late by the seven thousand years and more that men have existed, and thought." We must not, on the pretext of pointing out a source, multiply comparisons that are nothing but vague coincidences of words or of thought, or uninteresting repeti- tions of banal and everyday ideas. Amusing examples are found in E. Dreyfus-Brisac, Un Faux Classique, Nicolas Boileau, 1 or Plagiats et reminiscences, ou Le Jardin de Ra- cine. 2 If Ronsard writes, Les matelots a la peur indomptes, and you find in Boileau, Immolent trente mets a leur faim indomptable, should you conclude from this, as does Dreyfus-Brisac, that Boileau has here copied Ronsard ? It is also unwarrantable 1 Paris, 1901. 2 Paris, 1905. 88 PROBLEMS AND METHODS to discover plagiarisms, or even sources or simple reminis- cences, in resemblances of the following kind: Accable de malheurs, d'ennui et de tristesse . . . ALEXANDRE HARDY Et que simple temoin du malheur qui 1'accable. RACINE Echauffant les glacpns de cette ame cruelle . . . HARDY Et, de sang tout couvert, echauffant le carnage. RACINE At this rate, when M. Jourdain says to his servant, "Nicole, apportez-moi mes pantoufles", he certainly is guilty of several barefaced plagiarisms. Therefore do not let us hunt for sources or influences where none exist. 2. On the other hand, when we have found a source, we should not think that it is the only one the only possible one. We must avoid what I call the ' hypnotism of the unique source.' Take warning from those authors of monographs who, having devoted themselves largely to the study of one person, are as a result obsessed with a tendency to detect his influence on every side. Lanson alludes to this when he writes, "We study Lamennais's influence upon Hugo or Lamartine, and we close our minds to all the channels by which the same ideas, the same opinions, could have been simultaneously supplied to them". 1 He is thinking of the two books, by C. Marechal, entitled Lamennais et Victor Hugo 2 and Lamennais et Lamartine. 3 Marechal is without doubt the greatest authority on Lamennais in the world. For years he has made him the centre of his studies, of his in- terests, and of his literary affections. What, then, is more natural than the tendency to discover Lamennais in every famous writer who could possibly have read him? Incen- se la mithode dans les sciences, Vol. II, p. 251. 2 1906. 3 i9O7. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 89 testably his influence is real and deep and should be men- tioned and studied; but it should be taken into account (which Marechal apparently has not cared to do) that Hugo and Lamartine have felt other influences contradictory or cor- responding to Lamennais's. It is obvious that in his poem La Providence Lamartine uses every Christian argument against despair. "He takes them from Lamennais", Marechal would say. As a matter of fact, they are the commonplace, tradi- tional arguments by which Christian theology seeks to aid all those whom life discourages and disillusions. Lamartine did not need Lamennais's help to discover and express them. These remarks apply also to those who are hypnotized not merely by a man but by an idea or a theory. Take, for in- stance, the book entitled Montesquieu et la tradition politique anglaise en France; les sources anglaises de "U Esprit des lois" by J. Dedieu. 1 Throughout its pages we feel the author's unconscious desire that everything in the Esprit des lois should be English his constant inclination to furnish, along- side Montesquieu's text, fragments of Sidney, Locke, Mande- ville, Gordon, Arbuthnot, Warburton, or Bolingbroke. It seems to us that Dedieu, while working on the text, always had one question uppermost in his mind. This question was not, Is there a source for this passage, and if so what is it? It was rather, Can I not find some English quotation as a source for this passage ? This ill-advised method, although it did not entirely interfere with the usefulness of his book, clearly led him to assert the English origin of some passages of Montesquieu that are merely reminiscent of classic Greek or Roman texts. Furthermore, he has not taken into ac- count that "there has existed, at least since the Renaissance, a mass of notions and opinions, often contradictory, which forms a sort of intellectual atmosphere breathed by all Euro- 1 Paris, 1909. 90 PROBLEMS AND METHODS pean students and scholars. Some principle, whose origin is sought by certain critics in the works of Clarke or even of Bolingbroke, may be traced to the most venerable manuals of Roman law." 1 Therefore it behooves us, as I have tried to show, not to hunt for a single source, or a single category of sources, where there are many and of various kinds. Nor should we look at a text through a stained glass that prevents our de- tecting the differences in shade or the odd medley of colors. 3. In the third place, we should avoid the danger of rea- soning from a resemblance to a direct dependence. We touch now upon one of the most indispensable precautions in the investigation of sources that which applies to 'intermedi- aries.' A writer expresses some idea ; another expresses the same idea. We should not be in too great a hurry to say that the second took the idea from the first, even if nothing contradicts the theory. We should make sure that between the two there does not exist a third writer, and perhaps a fourth, who served to transmit the idea, sometimes, indeed, under a new aspect. This question of intermediaries furnishes an occasion for various comments on the method of investigating sources. a. Even the fact that a writer inserts a literal quotation does not prove that he has read the book from which it is copied. There may have been a middleman who supplied the quotation ready to hand. Montaigne quotes Calpurnius and Prudentius without having read either the one or the other. The three passages from each that are found in the Essais were taken from the writings of his friend the learned Justus-Lipsius. 2 Therefore, for the study of Montaigne's 1 H. Barckhausen, in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1910, p. 407. 2 See P. Villey, "Amyot et Montaigne," Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1907, p. 714; and Les Sources et V evolution des "Essais" de Montaigne, Vol. I, pp. 92 and 203. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 91 sources it is the text of Justus-Lipsius that is interesting, not that of Calpurnius or of Prudentius. In the same way Mon- taigne quotes Florus, Frontinus, Polybius, Vegetius, although he has read none of them. Every fragment is copied from the Politkorum Libri Sex of this Justus-Lipsius, the middle- man whom Montaigne consults. We must pay careful attention, especially in the case of ancient writers, to the collections of axioms, maxims, adages, and extracts of all sorts, which, as inexhaustible and varied treasure-troves of facts, quotations, sayings, similes, and an- ecdotes, obviate the necessity of reading the original works. Villey shows that Montaigne owes much to these miscel- lanies. He cites 1 from the Apologie deR.de Sebond 2 a cer- tain passage containing four quotations and two examples (from Terence, Sophocles, Athenaeus, and Ecclesiastes) . Do not suppose, however, an equal diversity in Montaigne's pre- paratory reading; for the four quotations and the two ex- amples are already grouped by Erasmus on one page in his Adagia under the title "Fortunata Stultitia." It may perhaps happen that the very writer for whose sources we are looking acts as intermediary between himself and a remote text. With some particular work in view, or simply to preserve some useful or interesting passage, he may keep a more or less systematic notebook. Later, when another work is in preparation, he consults this compilation of facts and quotations (in the same way as the volumes of maxims and anecdotes) long after he has forgotten the re- mainder of the texts from which he copied them. Montaigne, for instance, gathers for his own use a num- ber of exact quotations from Latin writers. He reads his Seneca, picks out the phrases that have impressed him, and, 1 Villey, Les Sources et devolution des "Essais" Vol. II, p. 15. 2 Montaigne, II, 12. PROBLEMS AND METHODS without any particularly diligent study of the author, writes an Essai composed of his maxims. 1 MONTAIGNE 2 C'est ce qu'on dit, que le sage vit tant qu'il doit, non pas tant qu'il peut; et que le present que nature nous ait faict le plus favo- rable et qui nous oste tout moyen de nous pleindre de nostre con- dition, c'est de nous avoir laisse la clef des champs. Elle n'a ordonne qu'une entree a la vie, et cent mille yssues. Pourquoy te plains-tu de ce monde? II ne te tient pas: si tu vis en peine, ta laschete en est cause; a mourir, il ne reste que le vouloir: Ubique mors est : optime hoc cavit Deus. Eripere vitam nemo non homini po- test; At nemo mortem : mille ad hanc adi- tus patent. Et ce n'est pas la recepte a une seule maladie, la mort est la re- cepte a tous maux. C'est un port tres-asseure, qui n'est jamais a craindre, et souvent a rechercher. Tout revient a un: que 1'homme se donne sa fin, ou qu'il la souffre, qu'il coure au devant de son jour, ou qu'ii Tattende; MAXIMS FROM SENECA Sapiens vivit quantum debet, non quantum potest. Epistle 70 Nil melius aeterna lex fecit. Epistle 70 Hoc est unum cur de vita non possumus queri. Epistle 70 In aperto nos natura custodit. Epistle 70 Unum introi'tum nobis ad vitam dedit, exitus multos. Epistle 70 Neminem tenet (vita) . . . ? Nemo nisi vitio suo miser est. Epistle 70 Scias ad moriendum nihil aliud in mora esse, quam velle. Epis- tle 70 Seneca, Phoenissa, Act I, line Non tantum hujus morbi, sed totius vitae remedium est. Epis- tle 78 Portus est, aliquando petendus, nunquam recusandus. Epistle 70 Nihil existimat sua referre, fa- cial finem an accipiat, tardius fiat an citius. 1 Villey, Les Sources et Involution des "Essais" Vol. II, p. 17. 211, 3; Vol. Ill, p. 26. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 93 D'ou qu'il vienne, c'est tous- Nemo nisi suo die moritur. jours le sien: en quelque lieu que Epistle 69 le filet se rompe, il y est tout, Ubicumque desines, si bene desi- c'est le bout de la fusee. nis, tota est (vita). Epistle 77 La plus volontaire mort, c'est Bella res est mori sua morte. la plus belle. Epistle 69 La vie despend de la volonte Vitam et aliis approbare quisque d'autruy; la mort, de la nostre. debet, mortem sibi. Epistle 70 En aucune chose nous ne de- In nulla re magis quam in morte, vons tant nous accommoder a nos morem animo gerere debemus. humeurs qu'en celle-la. Epistle 70 La reputation ne touche pas une Ad id consilium fama non per- telle en-treprise, c'est folie d'en tinet. Epistle 70 avoir respect. Le vivre, c'est servir, si la li- Vita, si moriendi virtus abest, berte de mourir en est a dire. servitus est. Epistle 70 In this instance Montaigne the collector of the Latin max- ims is the intermediary between Seneca and Montaigne the writer of the Essai. Voltaire furnishes us with similar examples. During the long years when he was preparing the Essai sur les moeurs he filled many books with notes and references, preserving here an entire passage, there a single sentence, here an amusing anecdote, there a date or a dry detail; sometimes merely copying; sometimes adding a reflection of his own, incisive, scoffing, caustic. The Sottisier 1 and part of the (Euvres inedites 2 are instances of miscellanies, or collections, of this type. From such collections arise in Voltaire's mind, at a later date, memories, reminiscences, and allusions which we should be amazed to find grouped together did we not know that they had already been combined on the occa- l. XXXII (ed. Moland). 2 Vol. I, Published by F. Caussy, Paris, 1914. 94 PROBLEMS AND METHODS sion of a previous work. The chapter in Candide about 'Le Pays d'Eldorado' 1 is for the most part constructed in this way. Here again, it is the author himself who has been the middleman between the original texts and their distant echo found in his pages. b. A special category of intermediaries, to which atten- tion must be called, is composed of translations and editions. Frequently when a writer borrows or receives his inspira- tion from some ancient or foreign text, it is not the original version that has influenced him but a translation or an adaptation. It is clear in this case that some turn of phrase, some detail of expression, some error perhaps, may not originate with the author but with the translator. What Villey says of the translations used by Montaigne may be widely applied: We must find out, as regards each author, whether Montaigne read the text or a translation, and, when he used a translation, whose translation it was. Suppose that Montaigne chooses an expression that happily conveys the meaning of the Latin phrase : is the choice his own, or did some translator prompt him? Sup- pose that he mistranslates: shall we impute the mistake to him, or lay the blame elsewhere? A translator is often a collaborator, and also often a traitor. We must know how far Montaigne has been aided and how far betrayed. 2 This Villey has accomplished in a masterly fashion in his works on the sources of the Essais. 1 Chap, xviii. 2 For instance, Amyot translated Plutarch in 15 72, after which date editions succeeded one another rapidly. Now on page 172 of the first edition he writes, "Sylla ayant pris la ville de Peruse condamne tous les habitants a raourir, except^ son hote". But Ptruse is an error for Prtneste, corrected in the second edition. Montaigne copies the passage, writes Ptruse, and never afterwards changes it. No more evidence is needed. See Villey, in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1907, p. 715. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 95 Problems of the kind are frequent among writers who quote from the Bible. What translation do they use? Silvestre de Sacy's ? a Catholic or a Protestant version ? For a poet like Vigny the question is interesting. 1 In "Les Trois Cents," one of the poems in La Legende des siecles, Hugo is inspired by Herodotus, but not by the Greek text: he has taken the translation of Du Ryer, as E. Fre- minet has conclusively shown. 2 Finally, along these same lines, it is useful and often pos- sible to determine exactly what edition an author has fol- lowed. On the one hand, he may have found in a certain edition some unusual readings, which are retained in the borrowed fragment. On the other hand, he may have used the notes, commentaries, or introductions of some particular edition as additional material. For instance, Montaigne 3 quotes an anecdote about Saint Louis from a "tesmoing tres digne de foy", whom he sincerely believes to be Joinville; whereas it is Anthoine de Rieux, who in 1547 published the first edition of Joinville, but in a disfigured, mutilated, highly colored form. The identification of the edition used exonerates Montaigne. 4 In like manner we find several lines transferred intact to the Essais from a note by Lambinus in his edition of Lucretius. 5 4. Another tendency should be resisted, which, though resembling the mania for sources, differs essentially from it. I call it the obsession for the written source. Suppose that in the course of your studies you come upon a passage evi- dently not original with your author : you feel convinced that beneath it is a source of information that can be reached ; 1 See H. Alline, "Deux Sources inconnues des premiers poemes bibliques de Vigny," Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1907, pp. 627-636. 2 Melanges d'histoire litttraire, Vol. XXI, pp. 4-6. 1906. 3 I, 38. 4 Villey, Les Livres d'histoire moderne utilises par Montaigne, p. 38. 5 Ibid. p. 16. 96 PROBLEMS AND METHODS you find yourselves launched upon a tedious and endless chase after a clue to the document used in the mysterious passage. You will not find it, for the excellent reason that there is no such document. You have chanced upon one of those sources that we have already mentioned, unwritten sources, information assimilated by the author in conversa- tions, in his daily pursuits, influences that you cannot hope to trace. In this case be resigned to your ignorance; or, if circumstances permit, apply to the problem the appropriate method, of which farther on we shall have examples. It remains now for us to form an exact idea of the nature of a source, and of what aspects it may assume. This may be gathered from a series of examples, proceeding from the simplest to the most complex from the fragment directly borrowed to the vague and almost intangible suggestion. It is needless to say that this classification is not absolute, that there are no perfectly distinct types of sources. They are of all kinds ; their degree of relationship to the text inspired by them is infinitely variable, and those that follow are given merely as samples. i. Direct sources. A passage may be almost literally transcribed. MONTAIGNE 1 AMYOT Nous semblons proprement celui . . . comme si quelqu'un ayant qui, ayant besoin de feu en iroit affaire de feu en alloit chercher querir chez son voisin, et y en chez ses voisins, et la y en trou- ayant trouve un beau et grand vant un beau et grand, il s'y ar- s'arreteroit la a se chauffer, sans restoit pour toujours a se chauffer, plus se souvenir d'en raporter chez sans plus se soucier d'en porter soi. I, 25 chez soi. Comment il faut outr, fol. 30, V 1 Quoted by De Zangroniz, in Montaigne, Amyot, Saliat, p. 36, INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 97 MONTAIGNE l J'ay vu (dit Arrius) autresfois un elephant ayant a chacune cuisse un cymbale pendu et un autre atta- che a sa trompe, au son desquels tous les autres dansoient en rond, s'eslevant et s'inclinant a certaines cadences selon que 1'instrument les guidoit; et y avoit plaisir a ouyr cette harmonic. II, 12 CHATEAUBRIAND 2 L'hibiscus, cette herbe enorme, qui croit dans les lieux has et hu- mides, monte a plus de dix ou douze pieds, et se termine en un cone extremement aigu : les feuilles lisses, legerement sillonnees, sont ravivees par de belles fleurs cra- moisies, que Ton apergoit a une grande distance. Voyage en Ame- rique, p. 84 ARRIAN J'ay veu autrefois un elephant ayant a chacune cuisse un cymbale pendu, et un autre attache a sa trompe, au son desquels tous les autres elephants dansoient en rond, proprement et a certaines cadences, tantost s'elevant en 1'air, ores s'in- clinant, selon que le son et la ca- dence du premier le requeroient: et y avoit plaisir a ouyr I'harmonie de ces cymbales. Translation by Witard, p. 327 BARTRAM L'hibiscus coccineus croit a dix ou douze pieds de haut, en se divi- sant regulierement de maniere a former un cone aigu. Ses branches se subdivisent de meme et sont or- nees de grandes fleurs pourpres, qu'on apergoit a une grande dis- tance. W. BARTRAM, Travels, etc. (Dublin, 1793), p. 102 VICTOR Huco 3 C'est dit; va les chercher. Mais qu'as-tu? Qa te fache? D 'ordinaire tu cours plus vite que cela! Tiens, dit-elle en ouvrant les rideaux, les voila ! Les Pauvres Gens (1854) 1 Quoted by Villey, in Les Livres d'histoire moderne utilises par Montaigne, p. 169. 2 Quoted by Bedier, "Chateaubriand en Amerique," Etudes critiques, p. 203. 3 See P. Berret's article "Les Pauvres Gens et Les Enfants de la morte" Revue universitaire, April, 1916, pp. 265-272. He points out that, besides the poem by C. Lafont, Hugo had read in the Presse (to which he subscribed) 98 PROBLEMS AND METHODS CHARLES LAFONT "Adoptons les enfants de cette malheureuse. . . . Tu ne me reponds pas ? Parle, tu m'embarrasses. Blames-tu mon dessein? Non, puisque tu m'embrasses. Va chercher les enfants." "Tiens," dit-elle, "ils sont la!" Les En j ants de la morte (1851) VICTOR Huco 1 C,a, dit Roland, je suis neveu du roi de France, Je dois me comporter en franc neveu de roi. Quand j'ai mon ennemi desarme devant moi, Je m'arrete. Va done chercher une autre epee, Et tache cette fois qu'elle soit bien trempee. Tu feras apporter a boire en meme temps, Car j'ai soif. Le Manage de Roland, 11. 52-58 JUBINAL Olivier, lui dit-il, je suis le neveu du roi de France, et je dois agii comme un franc neveu de roi; je ne puis frapper un ennemi desarme; va done chercher une autre epee qui soit de meilleure trempe, et fais- moi en meme temps apporter a boire, car j'ai soif. Article from the Journal du dimanche, November i, 1846 The borrowed passage may be found in a modified or transposed form. on December 10, 1852, a sort of plagiarism in prose of the poem, ending with these words, which resemble even more closely than Lafont's the text of La Legende des siecles: "Va les chercher! Tiens, dit-elle en tirant les rideaux du lit, les voila ! " In Hugo's manuscript the first version is " Tiens, dit-elle en tirant les rideaux, les voila ! " See also Berret's edition of La Ltgende des siecles, pp. 740 ff . 1 Quoted and annotated in P. Berret, Le May en Age dans La Legende des siecles et les sources de Victor Hugo, p. 34. See also Berret's edition of La Legende des siecles, p. 161. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 99 MONTAIGNE * Cleomenes disoit que, quelque mal qu'on peut faire aux ennemis en guerre, cela estoit par dessus la justice, et non subject a icelle, tant envers les dieux que envers les hommes, et, ayant faict treve avec les Argiens pour sept jours, la troisieme nuict apres, il les alia charger tous endormis et les defict, alleguant qu'en sa treve il n'avoit pas este parle des nuicts. -1,6 AMYOT II avoit faict treve pour sept jours avec les Argiens: la troi- sieme nuict apres, . . . il les alia charger, . . . et comme on lui reprochoit qu'il avoit faulse la foy juree, il respondit qu'il n'avoit pas jure de garder les treves la nuict: au demeurant que quelque mal que Ton peut faire a ses enne- mis . . . cela estoit par dessus la justice et non subject a icelle, tant envers les dieux qu'envers les hommes. Les Diets notables des Lacedemoniens, fol. 217, V CHATEAUBRIAND 2 Le P. Aubry se pouvait sauver, mais il ne voulut pas abandonner ses enfants, et il demeura pour les encourager a mourir par son exemple; jamais on ne put tirer de lui un cri qui tournat a la honte de son Dieu ou au des- honneur de sa patrie. II ne cessa, durant le supplice, de prier pour ses bourreaux et de compatir au sort des victimes. Pour lui ar- CHARLEVOIX Le Pere de Brebeuf se riait egalement des menaces et des tor- tures memes; mais la vue de ses chers neophytes cruellement trai- tes a ses yeux repandait une grand amertume sur la joie qu'il ressentait de voir ses esperances accomplies. . . . Les Iroquois le firent monter seul sur un echa- faud et s'acharnerent sur lui. . . . Tout cela n'empechait pas le ser- 1 Quoted by De Zangroniz, in Montaigne, Amyot, Saliat, p. 29. Here the modifications and transpositions may be explained by the difference between Montaigne's purpose and Amyot's: in Montaigne's version the moral re- flection precedes the exposition of the fact that illustrates it. 2 Quoted by Bedier, in Etudes critiques, pp. 270-280. The additions or modifications are due to considerations of art and of style. The aim has been to increase the picturesqueness of the description and to fill out the rhythm. See also G. Chinard, "Chateaubriand. Les Natchez, livres I et II. Con- tribution a 1'etude des sources de Chateaubriand," University of California Publications in Modern Philology, Vol. VII (1919) > PP- 201-264. 100 PROBLEMS AND METHODS CHATEAUBRIAND (Continued) racher une marque de faiblesse, les Cheroquois amenerent a ses pieds un sauvage Chretien, qu'ils avaient horriblement mutile. Mais ils furent bien surpris quand ils virent ce jeune homme se Jeter a genoux, et baiser les plaies du vieil ermite, qui lui criait : M on en- fant, nous avons ete mis en specta- cle aux anges et aux homines. Les Indiens, furieux, lui plongerenl un fer rouge dans la gorge pour I'em- pecher de parler. Alors, ne pou- vant plus consoler les hommes, il expira. On dit que les Cheroquois, tout accoutumes qu'ils etaienl a voir des Sauvages souffrir avec Constance, ne purent s'empecher d'avouer qu'il y avail dans I'humble courage du pere Aubry quelque chose qui leur etait inconnu. . . . Atala CHARLEVOIX (Continued) viteur de Dieu de parler d'une voix forte, tantot aux Hurons, qui ne le voyaient plus, tantot a ses bourreaux, qu'il exhortait a craindre la colere du ciel. . . . Un moment apres on lui amena son compagnon (le P. Lallemant) qu'on avail enveloppe depuis les pieds jusqu'a la tele d'ecorce de sapin, el on se preparail a y mellre le feu. Des que le P. Lallemanl aper- qul le P. de Brebeuf dans 1'affreux etat ou on 1'avail mis, il fremit d'abord, ensuite lui dit ces paroles de 1'Apotre: Nous avons ete mis en spectacle au monde, aux anges et aux hommes. ... II courul se jeler a ses pieds el baisa respec- lueusemenl ses plaies. . . . Les barbares enfoncerent dans le gosier du P. de Brebeuf un fer rougi au feu. . . . Son courage etonna les barbares el ils en furenl choques, quoique accoutumes a essuyer les bravades de leurs prisonniers en semblables occasions. Histoire de la Nouvelle France, Vol. I, pp. 292- 293 At other times the borrowing is particularly interesting from the point of view of the author's style. The important fact is no longer that the writer has taken ideas from some- one else and has woven them more or less adroitly or boldly into the texture of his book : it is a question of thoughts that have become like his own and have been engraved on his mind because they appealed to him, because they agreed INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 101 with his own imagination and taste. The study of such sources throws much light upon the writer's artistic personality. MONTAIGNE 1 AMYOT II est advenu aux gens veri- Ainsi comme les laboureurs tablement sgavans ce qui advient voient plus volontiers les espis qui aux espis de bled: ils vont s'ele- penchent et se courbent contre la vant et se haussant la tete droite terre que ceux qui pour leur le- et fiere tant qu'ils sont vuides, gerete sont haults et droicts, d'au- mais quand ils sont pleins et gros- tant qu'ils les estiment vuides de sis de grains en leur maturite, ils grain et qu'il n'y a presque rien de- commencent a s'humilier et a bais- dans. Aussientre les jeunes gens qui ser les comes. Pareillement, les se donnent a la philosophic, ceux hommes ayant tout essaye et tout qui sont les plus vuides et qui ont sonde, n'ayant trouve en tout cet moins de pois, ceux-la ont du com- amas de science et provision de mencement 1'assurance, la conte- tant de choses diverses rien de nance, . . . et puis quand ils se massif et de ferme, et rien que commencent a remplir et a amasser vanite, ils ont renonce a leur pre- du fruict des discours de la raison, somption et reconnu leur condi- ils otent alors cette mine superbe. tion naturelle. II, 12 De la vertu morale, fol. 37, E 2 2 . Documentary sources. More often than not the source is some reading undertaken by an author to gain informa- tion on a detail of his subject, and summed up in a note such as we all make when we are verifying a doubtful point. For a historical work the sources are the documents that the historian discovers, studies, criticizes according to scien- tific methods, and cites either in his footnotes, appendixes, or 1 Quoted by Villey, in Les Livres d'histoire moderne utilises par Montaigne, p. 198. 2 To the examples quoted here may be added, in particular, P. Henriot's article in Revue du temps present, August 2, 1912, where it is shown that Victor Hugo, in his William Shakespeare, calmly pilfered from Guizot's Shake- speare et son temps. See also the many articles that point out Stendhal's barefaced plagiarisms, especially C. Stryienski, "Les Dossiers de Stendhal," Mercure de France, October, 1903; P. Arbelet, L'Histoire de la peinture en Italic et les plagiats de Stendhal (1913) ; M. Barber, "Encore un plagiat de Stendhal," Mercure de France, February i, 1920; F. Gohin, "Stendhal pla- giaire de Meiiinee," Minerue fran^aise, 1920. 102 PROBLEMS AND METHODS bibliography. In the case of a literary work, a work of art, the scaffoldings, thanks to which we can follow and 'check up' the investigations of the historian, have been torn down. The documents, the sources, are cleverly absorbed into the texture of the work. It is, however, necessary to separate them, to see in what way they have been used, and how they have stirred the imagination, the thought, or the emotions of the writer. Examples might be given by the hundred ; a few must suffice to illustrate what precedes. Let us begin with a scientific document. When Voltaire discusses Newton in the Lettres philosophiques, 1 he takes his information for the most part from A View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy by Dr. Pemberton. 2 While reading it he makes notes, of which the substance, and frequently the detail, reappears in his composition. 3 VOLTAIRE PEMBERTON Monsieur Newton fait voir que Sir Isaac Newton finds that the la revolution du fluide dans lequel time of one entire circulation of Jupiter est suppose entraine n'est the fluid wherein Jupiter would pas avec la revolution du fluide swim, would bear a greater pro- de la terre comme la revolution de portion to the time of one entire Jupiter est avec celle de la terre. circulation of the fluid where the Lettres philosophiques (Lanson earth is, than the period of Jupiter edition), XV, Vol. II, p. 18 bears to the period of the earth. A View etc., Vol. II, p. 138 J. Morel, "Recherches sur les sources du Discours de Vinegalite"* gives many examples of documents that may be called ' philosophical.' The category of documentary sources par excellence, how- ever, is that of the historical sources. Here again it would iXIV-XVI. 2 London, 1728. 3 For particulars as to the material borrowed from Pemberton, see the com- mentary on these three letters in Lanson's edition of the Lettres philoso- phiques, Vol. II. *Annales Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Vol. V. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 103 be possible to extend indefinitely the list of examples. None are more instructive than those offered by Berret in his splen- did work entitled Le Moyen Age dans La Legende des siecles, et les sources de Victor Hugo. 1 We shall have occasion to re- turn to him when treating the ' sources of inspiration'; even at this stage Berret enables us to follow Hugo's documentary processes with marvelous precision. He studies and com- pletes the catalogue of Hugo's library at Guernsey; knows what books he had at his elbow on the shelf in his little room ; what newspapers and magazines he read ; what clip- pings he made, and how he filed them and attached them to the manuscripts where they were used. In short, he lets us sit beside Hugo at work and watch his daily methods. If we study the chapters devoted to such poems as L'Aigle du casque, Ratbert, Le Parricide, we shall be spectators of Hugo accumulating his notes, dipping into Quentin Dur- ward, the Dictionnaire universel by Moreri, a little-known Introduction a I'histoire du Danemark by Mallet, and many other books. While preparing the poem Ratbert he goes in quest of proper names of an imposing sonority and of the right length to fit his line ; we catch him busy with his list, first hunting in the article "Malespine," in Moreri's Diction- naire, then simply running through the letter V, picking up here and there such names as strike his fancy. 2 La meme flamme court sur les cinq Merindades; Olite tend les bras a Tudela qui fuit Vers la pale Estrella sur qui le brandon luit; Et Sanguesa fremit, et toutes quatre ensemble Appellent au secours Pampelune qui tremble. Le Jour des rois, line 206 On divisait le royaume de Navarre en cinq Merindades qui etaient: Merindade de Pampelune, d'Olite, de Sanguesa, d'Estella, de Tudela. 8 Moreri's Dictionnaire (Art. "Navarre") 1 Paris, 1911. 2 P. Berret, loc. tit. pp. 201 ff. 3 Loc. tit. p. 162. 104 PROBLEMS AND METHODS The inevitable conclusion reached by Berret 1 is that the investigation of documents gives an entirely new idea of Hugo's processes of composition, and of the origin and growth of his inspiration. 2 3. Sources of detail. It is necessary only to open some good modern edition and look through the commentary, or glance at the tables of contents of any of the special reviews, Revue d'histoire litteraire, Modern Language Notes, etc., to find innumerable examples of sources of detail. Many of these sources are incontestable ; many are doubtful ; some are based on hardly acceptable analogies. Comparisons that show merely from what work the author has taken a certain fact, allusion, or proper name have no great interest. They are, moreover, generally the easiest to make. Most of the editions of ancient writers, and many historical books or collections, have tables of contents or indexes that do away with much drudgery. The informa- tion of real value is that concerning the action of the au- thor's mind the way in which his memory and emotions are roused. Voltaire, in the course of a chapter in Candide (1759), tells us that "Pangloss enseignait la Metaphysico-theologo- cosmolo-nigologie" a magnificent word, which makes us think of Rabelais. How is it formed? From a distant 1 PP. 387-396. 2 Other examples of historical documentation of the same kind are studied by E. Huguet in his articles "Quelques sources de Notre-Dame de Paris" Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1901, and "Notes sur les sources de Notre-Dame de Paris," loc. cit., 1903. See also, for documentary sources, J. Vianey, Les Sources de Leconte de Lisle, and A. Hamilton, Sources of the Religious Ele- ment in Flaubert's Salammbo (Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1918) ; and especially H. Chamard's and G. Rudler's remarkable work, "La Documenta- tion sur le XVI e siecle chez un romancier du XVII e : les sources historiques de La Princesse de Cleves," Revue du seizieme siecle, 1914. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 105 recollection, on the one hand; with ironical intent, on the other. A long while before, he had read in the Memoires de Trevoux, February, I737, 1 an article by the Jesuit Father Castel, which called Leibnitz's system "une doctrine physico- geometrico-theologique" . The expression is underlined in the text read by Voltaire. We know in this way how the form of the pleasantry became lodged in his marvelous memory. On the other hand, the person whom Voltaire attacks most violently in Candide is the German metaphysician Christian Wolf, whose followers honor him for having coined and cir- culated the term "cosmology"; therefore Voltaire includes it in the extravagant, derisive vocable with which he bap- tizes the doctrine of Pangloss. As for nigologie, is any com- ment needed? The amusing, ridiculous word serves as a fitting completion of the jest. Here, then, the source of the detail throws light upon the actual workings of Vol- taire's mind. Other instances, by illustrating the capacity of Voltaire's memory, help us to understand how he could construct with such astonishing ease paragraphs containing allusions and reminiscences traceable to I know not how many volumes, published at different times, on every conceivable subject. " Je suis la fille du pape Urbain X et de la Princesse de Palestrine", says "la Vieille" in Candide in beginning her story. Why this connection between the names Urbain and Palestrine? Because twenty years previously they had ap- peared in one sentence in the Annales de V Empire. Or again, when Candide and his little troop arrive at Buenos Aires, they present themselves to the governor "Don Fernando d'Ibaraa y Figueora y Mascarenes y Lampourdos y Souza". Voltaire's agile mind gathered this imposing name from ip. 469. io6 PROBLEMS AND METHODS material found in five scattered volumes, and from the list of accomplices in the attack against the king of Portugal, Sep- tember, 1758 ; that is, at the very moment when Voltaire was writing his novel. 1 VOLTAIRE II donna 1'ordre a ses ingenieurs de faire une machine pour guinder ces deux hommes extraordinaires hors du royaume. Trois mille bons physiciens y travaillerent ; elle f ut prete au bout de quinze jours et ne couta pas plus de vingt millions de livres sterling, monnaie du pays. On mit sur la machine Candide et Cacambo. . . . Ce fut un beau spec- tacle que leur depart, et la maniere ingenieusedontilsfurent hisses . . . au haut des montagnes. Candide, chap, xviii, p. 124 HISTOIRE DES SEVARAMBES II nous dit qu'il nous menerait au haut de la montagne par une voie qui peut-etre nous surpren- drait. . . . Nous trouvames divers grands traineaux attaches a de gros cables qui descendaient du haut de la montagne ou ils etaient attaches. . . . Quand nous y fumes monies, on donna un coup de sifflet, et Ton tira une petite corde qui allait vers le haut; aussitot, nous sentimes monter notre trai- neau fort doucement; . . . par ce moyen, nous montames ce rideau de montagnes sans aucune peine, et sans etre tires ni par hommes ni par chevaux. ad ed., 1716, Vol. I, pp. 156-157 The form the light and nimble narrative is Voltaire's own ; but to the obscure Denis Vairasse, author of the His- toire des Sevarambes, he owes the first idea of the marvelous machine. In certain cases the study of these sources of detail per- mits us to form a lifelike picture of the writer's literary proc- esses. A typical instance is the thirteenth of the Lettres philosophiques, again by Voltaire. 2 We find him with a page or two to write on the infinite variety of ways in which "the 1 Candide (A. Morize edition), pp. 3 and 58. 2 Lanson edition, Vol. I, p. 166, and Commentaire, p. 178. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 107 great philosophers have positively settled the nature of the soul of man". Hastily opening a copy of Bayle's Diction- naire, he turns to the precious table of contents at the back, hunts up some supplementary information in the body of the work, and composes his eight or ten paragraphs. Some- times he is so hurried that he is satisfied with the synopses furnished him by the table ; he goes too fast, skips a line in his reading, and attributes to one the theory of another. VOLTAIRE BAYLE Le divin Anaxagoras . . . affirma AME. . . . Elle est un etre ae- que 1'ame etait un esprit aerien, rienselon Anaxagoras, 219, etselon mais cependant immortel. Dio- Diogene le Physicien, II. 297*, et gene . . . assurait que 1'ame etait une portion de la substance de Dieu une portion de la substance meme selon Cesalpin, n8 b . . . . Etait de Dieu. . . . Epicure la com- composee de plusieurs parties selon posait de parties comme le corps. la doctrine d'Epicure, III. loi 3 . 1 We see that through heedless reading the doctrine of Cesalpino is transferred to Diogenes. At Voltaire's door, as at many another's, instances of this kind of inadvertence may be laid. 4. Composite sources. It would be a great mistake, as we have already pointed out, to think that when a source exists there is but one source for each passage or each detail. A poem or a page of prose is often a sort of mosaic, inlaid more or less intentionally, sometimes in an almost inextricable manner, with reminiscences or fragments of varied nature and origin. Take, for instance, the following poem by Andre Chenier, a real piece of marquetry, where traces of ancient authors, especially Greek, are recognizable in every line. For the sake of brevity I restrict myself to giving the references. 2 1 The numbers and letters refer to the volumes, pages, and columns of the Dictionnaire. -From the Becq de Fouquieres edition, p. 56. Paris, 1872. io8 PROBLEMS AND METHODS CHENIER Pleurez, doux alcyons ! 6 vous, oiseaux sacres, Oiseaux chers a Thetis, doux alcyons, pleurez 1 Elle a vecu, Myrto, la jeune Tarentine ! Un vaisseau la portait aux bords de Camarine : 5 La, 1'hymen, les chansons, les flutes, lentement Devaient la reconduire au seuil de son amant. Une clef vigilante a, pour cette journee, Dans le cedre enferme sa robe d'hymenee, Et Tor dont au festin ses bras seront pares, 10 Et pour ses blonds cheveux les parfums prepares. Mais, seule sur la proue, invoquant les etoiles, Le vent impetueux qui soufflait dans les voiles L'enveloppe. Etonnee, et loin des matelots, Elle crie, elle tombe, elle est au sein des flots. 15 Elle est au sein des flots, la jeune Tarentine! Son beau corps a roule sous la vague marine. Thetis, les yeux en pleurs, dans le creux d'un rocher, Aux monstres devorants cut soin de le cacher. Par ses ordres bientot les belles Nereides 20 L'elevent au-dessus des demeures humides, Le portent au rivage, et dans ce monument L'ont au cap du Zephyr depose mollement ; . Puis de loin, a grands cris appelant leurs compagnes, Et les Nymphes des bois, des sources, des montagnes, 25 Toutes frappant leur sein et trainant un long deuil, Repeterent, helas ! autour de son cercueil : "Helas! chez ton amant tu n'es point ramenee; Tu n'as point revetu ta robe d'hymenee : L'or autour de tes bras n'a point serre de noeuds, 30 Les doux parfums n'ont point coule sur tes cheveux." La Jeune Tarentine INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 109 CLASSICAL REMINISCENCES 1. Catullus, Cartn. III. Antipater Thessal. Anth. IX. 2. Virg. Georg. I. 399. 215; Anth. VII. 188. Theocritus, Idyl. VII. 57. 8. Euripides, Ale. 160. Euripides, Iph. in Taur. 1089. n. Virg. JEneid. VI. 338. 4. Schol. Find. Olymp. V. i. 15. Bion, Eleg. 5. Several Greek Epithalamia. 19. Propertius, III. vii. 67. 6. Lucretius, I. 97. 22. Strabo, VI. i. 7. Xenocrates Rhod. Anth. VII. 291. Anth. VII. i. Composite sources are met with everywhere, either in the case of authors such as Chenier, Montaigne, and the poets of the Pleiade, whose minds are crammed with quotations, recollections, and details of Greek, Latin, or Italian litera- ture; or in the case of those who, having read extensively with a definite work in view, exhibit in some later book traces of this reading which, though partly effaced, trans- formed, or distorted, are yet unmistakable. Voltaire's works bristle with reminiscences of this kind. Examine this short passage from Candide : Tout etant fait pour une fin, tout est necessairement pour la meilleure fin. Remarquez bien que les nez ont etc faits pour porter des lunettes, aussi avons nous des lunettes. Les jambes sont visiblement institutes pour etre chaussees, et nous avons des chausses. Les pierres ont ete formees pour etre taillees et pour en faire des chateaux ; aussi Monseigneur a un tres beau chateau . . . (P- 5). These five or six lines, written in 1759, are the combina- tion of almost as many memories, some of which date back more than twenty years. The passage "les nez ont ete faits pour porter des lunettes" is taken from the Jesuit Hart- scecker, whose Recueil de plusieurs pieces de physique' 1 - Vol- taire read at Cirey at the time when he was working on 1 i2mo. Utrecht, 1730. no PROBLEMS AND METHODS Newton with M me du Chatelet. 1 He discovered in it the following passage 2 : "Je crains fort que quelque railleur ne s'avise de dire ici . . . que Dieu a donne en partie le nez a I'homme pour la commodite d'y mettre des lunettes." He jus- tified the forebodings of the obscure Jesuit when, in his Ele- ments de la philosophic de Newton (1738), he used the jest for the first time: "Parce qu'au bout d'un nombre prodigieux d'annees les besides ont ete enfin inventees, doit-on dire que Dieu a fait nos nez pour porter des lunettes ? " 3 The idea had lodged in a corner of his brain, to reappear twenty years later. In reading the pious dissertations of Pluche in Le Spec- tacle de la nature (1732) Voltaire found 4 some absurd pas- sages on the " perfections de la jambe". These had already supplied him with the following remark: "Les hommes por- tent des chaussures; direz-vous que les jambes ont ete faites par un etre supreme pour etre chaussees?" 5 The way for the joke in Candide has been paved. When, in November, 1756, Voltaire's friend Thieriot sent him the works of "1'illustre vicaire Derham", he read in the Physico-theology 6 : "Le Createur a fait naitre des materiaux par toute la terre, convenables aux edifices. . . . Quelle bonte immense du Createur, . . . cette variete immense de plantes . . . et de pierres \ " Here are noses, legs, and stones, gath- ered from voluminous and scattered reading. An even clearer example of Voltaire's habit of using, in a work of fiction, material collected for some more serious work is Chapter XVI in Candide, on the Oreillons. 7 I give a short extract from it, with corresponding references. iSee Moland edition, Vol. XXXIII, p. 347. 2 P. 25. 3 Vol. XXII, p. 565. * Vol. V, pp. 45-Si. ^Dialogue entre Lucrece et Posidonius, Vol. XXIV, p. 62. 1756. 6 Vol. I, p. 324. Translated into French in 1726. 7 On pages 96 ff. of my edition may be found all the references. Here I am obliged to choose and abridge. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES in CANDIDE 3 A leur reveil, ils sentirent qu'ils ne pouvaient remuer; la raison en etait que pendant la nuit les Oreillons, b habitans du pays, les avaient garottes avec des cordes d'ecorce d'arbre. c Ils etaient en- toures d'une cinquantaine d'Oreil- lons tout nus, d armes de fleches, de massues et de baches de cail- lou: e les uns faisaient bouillir une grande chaudiere; les autres preparaient f des broches, et tous criaient: "C'est un Jesuite, c'est un Jesuite; nous serons venges,s et nous ferons bonne chere; h man- geons du Jesuite, mangeons du Jesuite." REFERENCES a The entire passage abounds in personal recollections; Voltaire had seen in Paris, in 1723, four cannibals from Louisiana. Many of his im- pressions of that time are contained in a letter of October, 1737, and also in the Essai sur les mozurs (ed. Mo- land, Vol. XII, p. 388). b Garcilaso de la Vega, Histoire des Incas (1737), Vol. I, p. 91: "Us se perqaient les oreilles ... les Es- pagnols les nommerent pour cela Ore- jones, ou hommes a grandes oreilles." See also La Condamine,_Re/af ion abre- gee du voyage etc., p. 105. c Voyages de Franc ois Coreal ( 1 72 2 ) , Vol. I, p. 195: "Ils garrottent le prisonnier avec des cordes de colon." d Numerous references from the books of travel consulted for the Essai sur les moeurs. e Voyages de Francois Coreal, Vol. I, p. 236: "Nous trouvames une cin- quantaine de Guapaches armes de fleches et de massues"; and Vol. I, p. 228 : "Ils rotissent leurs prisonniers et les mangent ... Ils ont pour arme une espece de massue; ils se servent pour couteaux de pierres qu'ils ai- guisent." f Voyages de Francois Cortal, Vol. I, p. 171 : "prtparatifs pour le massacre de quelque captif dont la chair doit les regaler." eVoyages de Francois Coreal, Vol. I, p. 232: "Les pretres de ces sau- vages ha'issent mortellement les J6- suites. . . ." hMoratori, Relation des missions du Paraguay (1754): "Us se propo- saient de faire un excellent repas de la chair du P. Ruiz, qu'ils croyaient 112 PROBLEMS AND METHODS CANDIDE (Continued) Candide s'ecria: "... nous al- lons certainement etre rods ou bouillisJ . . ." Cacambo ne per- dait jamais la tete: "Ne desespe- rez de rien", dit-il au desole Candide: "j'entends un peu le jar- gon de ces peuples, k je vais leur parler." "Ne manquez pas", dit Candide, "de leur representer quelle est Pinhumanite affreuse de faire cuire des hommes, et com- bien cela est peu chretien." 1 REFERENCES (Continued) devoir etre fort delicate, parce que les Jesuites sont les seuls au Paraguay qui fassent usage du sel." JGarcilaso de la Vega, Vol. I, p. 45: "Sans attendre que la chair soil ou rotie ou bouillie, ils la mangent goulument. . . ." ^Voyages de Francois Corial, Vol. II, p. 30: "Mon interprete, qui sa- vait une partie du jargon de ces peuples, me servit beaucoup dans cette occasion." 1 Herrera, Histoire generate des con- quetes des Castillans (1671) (quoted in the Essai), $d decade, p. 312 : "Un pretre lui fit entendre que, pour se sauver, il fallait vivre selon la loi de Jesus-Christ en cessant de manger de la chair humaine." See also page 393 : "Ilssacrifiaient des hommes, ils les man- geaient, ils faisaient d'autres choses abominables, du tout contraires a notre sainte joi; ils mangeaient ceux qu'ils captivaient, dont Dieu etait fort ofjensl." Reminiscences occur throughout the chapter, and also in the pages that describe the travelers' stay in Eldorado. As a part of the researches and documentation for the Essai sur les mceurs (1756) every book cited had been read by Vol- taire, and the curious or valuable passages entered in his notebooks. These passages he had, in his role of historian and critic, incorporated in the Essai sur les mceurs ; he had, however, through his labors of documentation accumulated a reserve of concrete or picturesque details, a store of exact or evocative terms, which, when the time came, he was to in- troduce, in his role of novelist, into the pages of Scarmentado or Candide. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 113 It is true that these details have suffered various distor- tions; the interest and fruit of this study of sources is precisely to show how the alterations take place. Some are involuntary, resulting from the inaccuracies of memory of the novelist who invents a tale with his head full of material that he attempts neither to dismiss nor to recall. Others are voluntary, a means of transforming some flat, colorless docu- ment into a paradoxical or controversial satire or caricature. In this respect the study of composite sources is a valuable auxiliary to literary analysis. 5. Oral and indefinite sources. Lastly, in the investigation of the sources of the details of a work, there is a class, as important as it is difficult to trace, which deals with the oral and indefinite sources, in other words, with whatever in- spiration a writer owes to his environment (literary, political, artistic, or religious), to the thousand and one contacts that stimulate his thought or his imagination and give birth to an idea, a word, or a clever expression. Is it necessary to say that, in most cases, these sources are bound to elude us, and that we must be resigned ? It would be absurd to expect to grasp the intangible : we should risk obtaining for our pains only worthless and ridiculous results. Before giving up, however, we must push on as far as we can. It is, in fact, possible in many cases, if not to clear up a definite point, at least to group together a certain amount of information, a number of facts, quotations, and details of all sorts, that will help us to study the genesis and growth of a writer's thought or style. We can try to reconstruct an en- vironment of opinion, thought, literature, or art. We can revive the atmosphere of certain political or religious discus- sions: turn ourselves into Jansenists, the better to explain Pascal; into philosophers, to study Diderot; into Bretons, to follow the young Renan. We can examine newspapers, U4 PROBLEMS AND METHODS periodicals, the innumerable short articles called forth by special events, where are recorded the freaks of public opin- ion, the transformations of customs, the fluctuations of thought. With their aid we may get in touch with the facts, the ideas, that have reacted on our author. There remain the conversations, the oral sources, forever beyond our reach. Here we must accept the inevitable. Yet, in some cases, by means of articles, letters, or contemporary references, we may hope to guess the possible or probable topics of these conversations a delicate and most uncer- tain method, to which we shall have the prudence never to attach a demonstrative value. A few examples follow of indefinite sources, or, to be more exact, of the reconstruction of an intellectual or literary environment. a. Lanson, in his commentary on the Lettres philo- sophiques, attempts in several places to "reconstruct the condition of English public opinion and thought that gives rise to certain of Voltaire's assertions". 1 He accumulates quotations from authors whom Voltaire may have known; refers to facts that may have impressed him ; gives informa- tion illustrating what the public round him was feeling and thinking. See his notes on the ninth letter, "Sur le gouverne- ment," and the remarks that preface it : This letter is the result of everything that Voltaire has read or heard in discussions on politics and on the origins of the English Constitution . . . Many of my extracts will serve to show the con- dition of public opinion opposed or reflected by him, rather than writings from which he acquired definite information. It was a subject threshed out daily in the newspapers, as it undoubtedly was in conversation. It is, therefore, necessary to be very cautious in naming his sources. 2 1 Introduction, pp. 1 ff. 2 Vol. I, p. 108. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 115 Observations of the same sort on another subject are found in the commentary of the eighteenth letter, "Sur la tragedie" : Here it can never be a question of an investigation of sources, in the strict sense of the word, except for a small number of facts. Voltaire's zesthetic judgment is the result of a lifelong training and a preference for French art. Nevertheless, it depends also in great measure on conversations held with cultivated Englishmen, whose acquaintance he had made. I cite a certain number of texts, to be taken less as direct sources of Voltaire than as evidence of the state of English public opinion about English writers. 1 These remarks are excellent and fitted for wide application. b. Morel, in his "Recherches sur les sources du Discours de I'inegalite" 2 deals with analogous cases, which, neverthe- less, differ somewhat from the above. He tries to "replace Rousseau in the genuine intellectual surroundings where his thought was formed ; to show that there were vital influences inducing him to read certain books already out of date". Turning, for instance, to the study of Rousseau's personal relations with Diderot, he points out the significance of these relations in the formation of Rousseau's ideas. He "recon- structs" the Diderot whom Rousseau knew, to whose "in- candescent" conversation he listened. He pictures Diderot seized by the "pedagogical mania" that made him "ha- rangue" unceasingly. Diderot is an insatiable giver of good advice ; he is full of general information, of plans that others, who have the time, may carry out. He indicates the destina- tion and the route : he himself has not patience for the pil- grimage. He must have lavished such advice on Rousseau. Morel tries to piece it together as far as possible, by analyz- 1 Vol. II, p. 88. It is in this connection that Lanson gives the list of plays by Shakespeare and other authors produced in London during Voltaire's stay. 2 Annales Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Vol. V (1909), pp. 119-198. n6 PROBLEMS AND METHODS ing and studying the ideas expressed by Diderot before 1754 and by comparing them with the Discours de I'inegalitt, mentioning also with great scrupulousness the necessary limitations of such a method and the impossibility of reviv- ing everything supplied to Rousseau by Diderot's vigorous, enthusiastic utterances. 1 c. To the same category belongs the problem arising whenever an author has been shaped by what has gone be- fore him whenever his work, whether in substance or in form, is the product of literary tradition, resembling not one but a hundred others and imitating all without imitating any in particular. Candide furnishes an interesting example. The scenario of the novel is, as it were, thrust upon Voltaire in advance ; his imagination is sure to work along the lines where he will find everything in readiness. I cannot say that any one novel is the source of the setting and of the general structure of Candide ; but, after reading nearly all the novels pro- duced during the thirty or forty previous years, I can say that the source of the scenario of Candide is the whole mass of a certain part of these productions novels of adventure and of imaginary travels, in which the plots follow an un- alterable plan and the itineraries can be unerringly pre- dicted. It matters little whether Voltaire chooses to ridicule a l quote here some lines by Morel as defining clearly a few of the prob- lems met with in all investigations of sources: "We ascertain the 'written' sources, the influences, the identical conditions of mind; the unexpected de- velopments from very small beginnings; we run through the entire gamut of the voluntary or involuntary deformation that ideas undergo in passing from one mind to another. The spoken word is more expressive than the written. Diderot, holding forth upon the Interpretation de la nature (published in 1754), must have surpassed his own book: affirming instead of assuming; above all, introducing the problems and perhaps the solutions to be found in a later work. Still, it would be a dangerous method to substitute, for the book actually in our possession, a hypothetical, spoken book" (p. 119). INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 117 them or to make use of them: it is here that he finds his background ready made, from which he can hardly escape. Just before Candide appeared, a critic made fun of the fic- tion of the day : What is there in any novel? Thwarted love affairs, brutal fathers, quarrelsome relations, formidable rivals, jealous rages, kidnapings, sword-thrusts and pistol-shots, dangerous illnesses, unhoped-for recoveries, unexpected meetings, touching recognition scenes, virtuous young girls, women who are far from virtuous, superannuated husbands deceived by their 'better halves,' faithful valets, and chattering chambermaids. 1 Is not this all there is in Candide ? The thwarted love of Cunegonde and Candide; the brutality of M. de Thunder- ten-Trunck; Don Fernando, the formidable rival; the jeal- ous rages of Don Issacar; the kidnaping of his beloved; Candide transfixing the baron; Pangloss's illness, and his unhoped-for recovery after the crucial incision and the dis- section had been begun ; the wildly improbable meetings (in Venice, in Buenos Aires, in Holland, in Paraguay) ; the duped inquisitor; the "faithful Cacambo"; and the pretty maidservant ? Open at random ; look down the table of con- tents ; turn the pages : characters, itineraries, incidents and adventures, catastrophes and wonders their cues are num- bered by tens and hundreds. There are the conventional development and the inevitable background (London, Por- tugal, Venice, Constantinople, Amsterdam) . Corsairs abound. Throughout is the same succession of captures, abductions, recognitions, escapes ; throughout, journeys to Lisbon, Amer- ica, Paris, to the carnival at Venice. This inexhaustible rubbish was brutally ridiculed in the brilliant pages of Can- dide ; nevertheless, Candide is what it is only because all the 1 Annie litteraire, Vol. V (1757), p. 70. n8 PROBLEMS AND METHODS rubbish existed before it, in short, this material must be considered one of its sources. 6. Sources of inspiration. In contradistinction to the sources that, whether unique or composite, affect only the detail of a work are others that may be called genera- tive sources. 1 They supply the writer with either (i) the initial idea, (2) the subject, or (3) the setting and con- texture of the work. The following examples are chosen from many. a. A source that accounts for the very existence of a work. An author's acquaintance with a certain work may stimu- late in him the desire to produce a similar work, transformed and adapted to suit the needs of another public and another time. Already he may have had some vague project, which perhaps would have taken years to materialize, if it had materialized at all. It is then that some book takes effect; it spurs the author, crystallizes his ill-defined aspirations and uncertain plans. He begins to write, and, following his model more or less closely, produces the new work. Such is the case with La Deftence et illustration de la langue frangoise by Joachim du Bellay. Before Villey's discovery 2 the ideas and theories brought forward by Du Bellay were thought to spring from the deep-seated tend- encies of the French Renaissance. Doubtless Du Bellay would, in any case, have been heard in the violent debate that stirred literary opinion at this time. Still, who knows how long he might have waited? who knows what form he might have chosen for his book? As it happened, he read 1 Naturally these two categories are not mutually exclusive : a book that is the source of inspiration for an entire work is very frequently, even usually, the source of many details. 2 Les Sources italiennes de "La Defence et illustration de la langue franc, oise" de Joachim du Bellay (Bibliotheque litteraire de la Renaissance). Paris, 1903. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 119 the Dialogo delle Lingue of Sperone Speroni (1542). It is safe to say that, whatever he may have borrowed elsewhere, he took from Speroni, at the very least, all the material for the first book of the Defence not only entire passages but the fundamental doctrines. Villey thus describes the effect produced upon the accepted theory about Du Bellay by a simple investigation of sources : It must be admitted that all his ideas are borrowed, that entire pages are copied. These ideas have generally been considered Du Bellay's principal claim to glory, ... an eloquence, an en- thusiasm, in which it was good to recognize the petulant ardor of a young reformer . . . We must learn to look upon them as merely the contributions of an imitator of Italy, who repeats for our benefit what is said across the Alps . . . To explain the Defence, it is no longer sufficient to find in it a reaction against the Art poetique of Sibilet, and to assert its novelty: the essential point is to reestablish its connection with an Italian movement of ideas ; to trace in it the reflection of Italian theories. b. Suggestion for the subject. It is always interesting and sometimes very illuminating to discover the origin of the subject itself of a work of a play, poem, or novel. Often this discovery requires little effort. Mythology and Greek, Roman, and Biblical history have supplied French literature, as they have every other, with subjects that for centuries have been chosen and rechosen, treated and treated again. In such a case, unless we are able to find the intermediary directly used by our author, it is hardly possible to speak of a source in the true sense of the word. We should try especially to determine whether or not the treatment of the subject is original and to give the work its precise position in the general evolution of the legendary or historical theme. This research is, however, no longer a study of sources. 120 PROBLEMS AND METHODS On the contrary, there are many cases where we can wit- ness the very creation of the work. We discover the read- ing, the association, the impression, that set the author's creative faculty in motion and decided the direction of his thought or fancy. In this case precise investigations and definite solutions are possible. We shall frequently see some trivial anecdote, some dull, colorless newspaper article, some quotation, become as it were the spark that kindles the great blaze material often coarse, neglected or unknown, transformed by the genius of a great artist into something precious. The poets who are worthy of the name are those to whom it matters little whence they gather the wood for their edifices, and this wood is not always cut in the forest. It may have been used several times in former structures. The virtue of these poets is that they demolish the hovel that they rob ; above all, it is that they perceive their material where the mass of readers, before and after them, have seen and will see nothing worth gathering and using. 1 I might enumerate several hundred articles or books where examples of this kind abound; I have space for but two or three. (i) The typically 'romantic' subject of Victor Hugo's Ruy Bias 2 is well known : the valet, Ruy Bias, is in love with the queen of Spain ; Don Salluste, whom the queen has sent into exile, thirsts for revenge ; he passes Ruy Bias off as a noble, Don Cesar de Bazan, and orders him "de plaire a cette femme et d'etre son amant". Ruy Bias obtains power, dis- tinctions, and honors until such time as Don Salluste con- siders his vengeance ripe ; then, enticing the queen into the a E. Dupuy, quoted by J. Giraud in (Euvres choisies de Vigny, p. xxx. 21838. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 121 most abominable trap, Don Salluste hurls at her this vile insult: "Ah! vous m'avez banni. . . . Moi, je vous ai donne mon laquais pour amant ! " A romantic scenario of incredible unreality, which has been the butt of many critics. Lanson proves 1 irrefutably that this "improbable" sub- ject, "this love affair of a domestic, not with a queen, it is true, but with a famous woman, is taken from real life, from history." It is an episode in the life of Angelica Kauffmann, the artist, an episode that the Biographic nouvelle des contem- porains 2 summarizes as follows: An English painter whom she had refused to marry revenged himself in a manner unworthy of a gentleman. He chose a good- looking young man of the lower classes, dressed him magnificently, and had him taught the customs and speech of men of the world. The fellow, introduced to Angelica under the name of Count Frederic de Horn, succeeded in imposing upon the ingenuousness of the young artist. . . . Hardly had the marriage taken place when the painter revealed the trick. The adventure is related in the notice on Angelica published, in the Galerie des contemporains, 3 by A. Rabbe, a great friend of Hugo ; later, in Leon de Wailly's novel Angelica Kauffmann, which came out only a few weeks before Hugo began to write Ruy Bias. A comparison of the detail of the three works is amusing. In Wailly's novel the characters have already become dramatic, the dialogue gives certain cues to Ruy Bias, the character of Don Salluste is seen emerging. From this anecdote, then, unearthed in biographical diction- aries, Hugo took the subject of Ruy Bias. 1 "Victor Hugo et Angelica Kauffmann," Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1915, pp. 392-401; supplemented by H. C. Lancaster, "The Genesis of Ruy Bias," Modern Philology, Vol. XIV, March, 1917. 2 i823. 3 i828. 122 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Lanson sums up with precision the degree of certainty reached in his conclusions. (a) It is beyond doubt that the unfortunate marriage of An- gelica Kauffmann to the false Count de Horn furnished the subject of Ruy Bias. (b) It is almost as certain that Victor Hugo knew the novel by Leon de Wailly founded on this incident. (c) It is not improbable that Hugo became interested in the actual event through an account by the historian Rabbe. 1 Lanson 's short article is an excellent model for any treat- ment of the ' sources of inspiration' of an author. 2 (2) The same might be said of Berret's Le Moyen Age dans La Legende des siecles. 3 With immense learning, as well as with unfailing psychological perspicacity, Berret describes Hugo as the latter selects and works into shape the subjects of his "little epics of La Legende des siecles". Through a study of the poet's life, through an analysis of his mental and emotional condition, the critic reconstructs the general trend of Hugo's tastes and prejudices at any given moment. In Berret's pages we watch the poet falling under the influ- ence of some reading a magazine article, a fragment from a dictionary which, just at that time, offers him a subject, a setting, a scenario, through which he can give vent to his seething thoughts and tormenting emotions. We observe the decisive effect of an article by the popularizer Jubinal, "Quelques Romans chez nos ai'eux," printed in the Journal du dimanche of November i, 1846. The article crystallizes ip. 400. 2 Lanson points out also (Revue de Paris, March i, 1913, p. 32) that Alfred de Musset's Fantasia is inspired by the marriage of the Princess Louise, daughter of Louis-Philippe, to Leopold I, king of the Belgians. 3 See the interesting review by H. Potez, in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1912, PP- 455-457- INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 123 tendencies, desires, plans, until then confused and uncertain in Hugo's mind. Page 6 of the Journal strikes him particu- larly ; he cuts it out ; in the margin he jots down some lines suggested by the text; he groups other quotations and ex- tracts around this first document. As Berret says, this page is "the infinitesimal source of the immense work". Proceed- ing farther with the special study of each piece in La Legende, he points out, for instance, that "Le Mariage de Roland" and "Aymerillot" take their subjects from the same article by Jubinal; "Le Cirque de Gavarnie" from the Guide Richard, which Hugo carried in his pocket when visiting Spain in 1843 I the pursuit of Angus in "L'Aigle du casque" from the pursuit of Ernaut in Raoul de Cambrai, again in JubinaFs article. (3) Alfred de Vigny was subject to influences in much the same way, though his reading is often of a more dignified sort than Hugo's. The researches of Dupuy, Baldensperger, Masson, and J. Giraud, of which I have already spoken, show in many instances the initial sources of his inspiration. Eloa was suggested to him by reading Klopstock, Byron, and the Loves of the Angels by Thomas Moore. La Neige is derived from the little-known La Gaule poetique, by Marchangy; La Maison du berger from a fragment of Book X of Les Martyrs, by Chateaubriand; La Mort du loup from Byron and from a page of Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome; Le Mont des Oliviers from a part of Jean Paul's Dream, trans- lated by Mme de Stael in De I'Allemagne ; etc. In treating cases of this kind we should never forget that the important point is not to give an exact reference to an initial text or document but to show how and why the text has played so stimulating a part in the artist's inner life; how and why this harmony between two writers has been established this mysterious and fruitful collaboration that 124 PROBLEMS AND METHODS resulted in a masterpiece. Once more, what erudition dis- covers is and should be only another step toward a thorough psychological and aesthetic acquaintance with a great author. c. A source that furnishes the setting or the contexture of the work. We have seen that a literary tradition may fur- nish the essential elements of the scenario of a novel. In certain instances, of course, a precise source exists. A writer wishes to voice opinions, passions, ideals, all of which are personal to himself; but he borrows the background from someone else, a series of events, an arrangement of the plot, into which his sentiments and his ideals fit quite nat- urally, through which they find expression. Few novels are more personal than Dominique, exquisite and profound pages where Fromentin has set down his doubts, his bitterness, his disillusionment. Apart from this strictly personal side, however, there exist in the novel a background, a contexture, a series of incidents and scenes, taken by Fromentin from M me de Duras's novel Edouard. 1 It is to Edouard that he owes the general outline of Domi- nique. A study of his indebtedness throws light upon the part in Fromentin 's genius played respectively by his crea- tive imagination and his powers of analysis. 7. Graphic and plastic sources. The enumeration of the various categories of sources must be completed by one last class, to which sometimes not enough attention is paid : the graphic and plastic sources sculpture, paintings, engrav- ings, book illustrations. Many writers, poets and novelists in particular, have a powerful visual imagination. Their eye is caught by a painting, or by an illustration in a book. Often this is enough to produce a lasting reaction made use of later by their creative genius. X G. Pailhes, "Le Modele de Dominique" Revue bleue, March 13-20, 1909. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 125 When I was looking up the sources of Candide, I could not imagine where Voltaire had found the word mitre to de- scribe, in the chapter on the Inquisition, the headdress of his hero, nor where he had run across several other details in the scene of the auto-da-fe. At last I discovered that they were due to the impression made by four picturesque engrav- ings in Dellon's La Relation de I'inquisition. 1 In a recent article on La Sensibilite plastique et picturale dans la litterature du XV IP siecle 2 the author has attempted to show the close relationship between many pages of the great classics and the artistic productions of their time painting, architecture, landscape gardening, and interior decorating. These comparisons are judicious; they would be more valuable if on certain precise points we could be sure of a direct source of inspiration. Much still remains to be done in this field. In 1668 La Fontaine began to publish his Fables', from 1667 to 1674 the labyrinth of the gardens at Versailles was being ornamented with motifs in sculpture taken from the Fables of ^Esop: is this merely a coinci- dence ? For La Fontaine's description of Night in Le Songe de Vaux his inspiration is the painting by Le Brun on the ceiling of Fouquet's gorgeous chateau : is this the only defi- nite example that can be mentioned ? 3 When writing Le Deluge Alfred de Vigny was not un- mindful of L'Inondation by Poussin nor of Le Deluge by Girodet; it is possible that Tony Johannot's illustration for The Pilot of Fenimore Cooper suggested to him several de- tails in La Fregate la Serieuse. As inspiration for La Colere de Samson and Le Mont des Oliviers Milton, J. P. Richter, and others should be named. Another fact, however, must 1 Plates reproduced on pages 45 ff. of my edition. 2 P. Dorbec, Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1919, pp. 374-395- 3 See Lafenestre, Artistes et amateurs. 1900. 126 PROBLEMS AND METHODS not be overlooked : while in England, at Lady Blessington's, Vigny saw two masterpieces by Mantegna, since then added to the National Gallery. One is called Samson and Delilah ; the other, The Agony in the Garden. Dupuy shows how much the opening lines of Vigny's Mont des Oliviers, ... La nuit n'a pas calme La fournaise du jour dont 1'air est enflamme, recall the little canvas, "where what catches the eye is the stormy, unforgetable sky, streaked red and black". 1 Lastly, in Berret's investigations of the sources of La Legende des siecles he repeatedly dwells upon the role played by an engraving, a picture, an illustration, as exciter of the poet's imagination. Hugo owed the vision that forms the subject of "Montfaucon" to an engraving by Daubigny, in the last chapter of Notre-Dame de Paris, 2 representing a gallows with a flock of birds disappearing toward the hori- zon. A part of "Ratbert" was suggested by an engraving of Les Crimes des Papes, by La Vicomterie, 3 that Hugo had at Guernsey ; from it he took several of the attitudes, tortures, and scenes of debauchery described in the poem. In "L'Aigle du casque" certain details come from armorial designs that Hugo had seen in Debrett's Peerage of 1826, a volume he undoubtedly utilized. 4 In "Plein Ciel," Hugo's aeroscaphe is taken from an illustration accompanying an article by Theophile Gautier in the Presse 5 : "Victor Hugo, as hap- pened often, was struck more with the picture than with the text." 6 X E. Dupuy, Alfred de Vigny; II. Son Role litteraire, p. 357. See also P. Buhle, Alfred de Vignys biblische Gedichte und ihre Quellen, Rostock, 1908. 2 Gamier edition, 1844. 3 Paris, 1792. * Berret, Le Moyen Age dans La Legende des siecles, pp. 67, 355, and passim. 5 July 4, 1850. 6 Berret, in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1902, p. 601. See also Berret's edi- tion of La Legende des siecles, p. 793. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 127 It is naturally at periods when plastic art occupies a rela- tively important place in the attention of authors and public that interconnections of this type become more frequent. A. Cassagne, in his book entitled La Theorie de I'art pour I'art, 1 cites useful examples. Flaubert, in preparation for L' Education sentimentale, laid in a store of maps and en- gravings of the various quarters of Paris in which the story was laid. The first idea of La Tentatlon de Saint Antoine came to him at Genoa while looking at a painting by Breughel. Herodias has as its source of inspiration some sculptures; Saint Julien I'Hospitalier, a stained-glass window in the cathedral at Rouen. 2 Theophile Gautier owed to a picture by Fortuny the conception of his poetic ballet Le Manage a Seville. 3 The beautiful Passion of Leconte de Lisle was writ- ten "at the request of a painter friend" to translate into verse the grouping and the emotional appeal of fourteen paintings of the stations of the Cross. Brunetiere wrote in 1883, " French art in the seventeenth century has not yet been studied sufficiently in its relation to literature". This is true ; I should add that French litera- ture has not yet been studied sufficiently in its relation to plastic art. This field of research holds many precious dis- coveries in store. The very diversity of the examples that I have just cited, the possibility of multiplying them endlessly, the impossi- bility of predicting every type of case that may arise, are 1 P. 369. 8vo. Paris, 1906. 2 Maxime Du Camp, Souvenirs litteraires (8vo) (Paris, 1882-1883), Vol. II, p. 541; and J. Giraud, "La Genese d'un chef-d'oeuvre," Revue d'histoire lit- teraire, 1919, pp. 87-93; M. A. N. Gossez, Le Saint Julien de Flaubert (Lille, 1903)- 3 Bergerat, Theophile Gautier, p. 211 (reference given by A. Cassagne, loc. cit.). 128 PROBLEMS AND METHODS sufficient proofs of how foolish and futile it would be to con- clude this chapter by compiling a sort of Practical Handbook for the Investigation of Sources, along the lines of a treatise on chemical analysis. Abundant reading, the study of schol- arly works taken as models, the comparison of methods that have succeeded with those that have failed, will be the best lessons. I venture, however, for convenient reference, to give a brief list of the principal fields for the investigation of sources. Perhaps special studies will disclose some not men- tioned here. Not every research, obviously, will be produc- tive, I want simply to show where those who have sought have usually found, if not everything, at least something. Any investigation of sources, I believe, may profitably in- clude all or several of the following steps, whether each proc- ess is pursued to its farthest limit or whether the preliminary soundings indicate that nothing is to be hoped for in that direction : a. Reconstruction and study of the private library of an author, 1 either in case the books are still together or in case they are scattered where it is possible to trace them. Inves- tigation of the notes, comments, and underscorings, and of dates and other chronological indications that help to place the reading of each work. b. Information about the periodicals (reviews, newspapers, bulletins) to which the author may have subscribed (see lists of subscribers, catalogues of members of learned societies and academies, etc.). 1 See works on Montaigne's library, and on books annotated by him. See also, for example, P. Bonnefon, "La Bibliotheque de Racine," Revue d'histoire litt^raire, 1898, p. 169; and the many catalogues of libraries formerly belong- ing to famous writers, such as the library of Sainte-Beuve, that of Jules Lemaitre, etc. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 129 c. Compilation of the reading done by the author from clues given by himself in his correspondence and other writ- ings: references to proper names and typical events, his- torical allusions, etc. Care should be taken to distinguish between the works that the writer has certainly read and those that it is probable, possible, or not impossible that he has read. d. Enumeration of the books or documents that a writer working on a given subject at a given time might have con- sulted. Special attention (i) to intermediaries; (2) to the writer's knowledge of foreign languages. e. Study of any biographical elements that throw light on the desired sources : friendships, favorite resorts, social, lit- erary, or religious groups; education, and the reading it entails; travel; familiarity with works of art, with certain neighborhoods and scenery, in short, the immense contri- butions from life, which often outweigh the contributions from books. My concluding remarks have already been indicated in the course of the chapter. i. In the first place, every investigation of sources pre- supposes on the part of the investigator an extended, pro- found knowledge of literary environments and traditions. Each month, in the special reviews, a certain number of articles announce the discovery of the source of some im- portant work. When reading them I always think of the satisfaction of those who have made the discoveries. But very often, too often, these so-called sources are only coin- cidences, without interest or significance. Too often the illusion of the author arises simply because he lacks a general acquaintance with the literary, intellectual, philo- sophic, or artistic background of the epoch in question. He acts very much like a student of geography who, perched on 130 PROBLEMS AND METHODS a mountain-top above an ocean of clouds and perceiving to left and to right of him a few isolated peaks, attempts to de- scribe the mountain range they belong to. His work will amount to nothing until he sees the whole chain and studies not only the surface but the layers of subsoil. Likewise, we must be judicious enough not to leap from crag to crag with the happy confidence engendered by ignorance or partial knowledge. 2. In the second place, do not suppose that to discover the source is all there is to do. In itself that has no interest. Every investigation of a source should tend toward a definite end: a wider and truer acquaintance with the author, his thought, the evolution of his art, his working-methods, his character, his originality. Under the inviting title Comment Voltaire jaisait un livre, 1 Lanson, summarizing his search for the sources of the Lettres philosophiques, sets forth in a clear and concise form the entire programme and the cau- tious method required by such an investigation : It would be interesting to know with precision how the book grew in his mind ; to be able to refer the various parts to the vari- ous realities that affected him, to the things that he saw, the re- marks that he heard, the books that he read ; to have the power to determine what outside instigation and what reaction oj his eager mind produced each sentence. By watching the author at work, by seizing events and documents at the moment when they were first known to him, and by noticing what became of them later in his work, we shall, I hope, form a more exact idea oj his literary psychology, by which I mean the play and the processes of his faculties as thinker and artist. Is not this, expressed in modern terms, just what Mon- taigne 2 said a long while ago? 1 Revue de Paris, August i, 1908, pp. 505-533. The italics are mine. 2 Essais, HI, 8. INVESTIGATION OF SOURCES 131 To distinguish in an author the worthiest parts, and those more strictly his own, the strength and beauty of his soul, we must know what is his and what is not ; and, in the case of what is not his, how much we owe to him of the selection, arrangement, ornamen- tation, and language used therein. . . . On this point, as on so many others, the old Essais offer us wise counsel, which here has the practical ring of modern methods. CHAPTER VI CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY I. IMPORTANCE OF CHRONOLOGY It would be superfluous to lay stress upon the importance of chronology in all historical studies literary history in- cluded were it not, unhappily, that experience in teaching proves the need of this insistence. The ignorance and care- lessness of students as to chronology are the sources of constant surprises, which would be amusing to their profes- sors and examiners if they were not more often discouraging. Great writers and great works are sometimes assigned dates several centuries wide of the actual dates. As this inaccuracy is not reserved for the history of literature but frequently extends to the history of art and to history in general, it is not surprising that many students are impervious to general ideas and syntheses that require the correlation of several branches of historical science. Familiarity with chronology is essential to any organized knowledge of the past. When an important historical or literary fact is mentioned, it should be possible to fit it at once into its literary and historical environment. An event or a work must never appear isolated, but must be compre- hended in its full relation to contemporary life. For ex- ample, Corneille's Le Cid, that great landmark, should link itself instantly with other momentous events. Le Cid ap- peared in 1636: now 1635 is the date of the founding of the Academic franchise; 1636, of the organization of Port- is 2 CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 133 Royal; 1637, of the publication of Descartes's Discours sur la methode. And in reading the Histoire de la litterature anglaise of Taine (1864) would it not be profitable to re- member that the French translation of Darwin's Origin of Species dates from 1862, Kenan's Vie de Jesus from 1863, La Cite antique of Fustel de Coulanges from 1864, the In- troduction a I' etude de la medecine experimental of Claude Bernard from 1865? Chronology, however, is not an object of study : I should call it, rather, a habit of mind. Do not suppose that on the day when you become unpleasantly aware of the gaps in your knowledge of dates it is enough to say to yourselves, "Now I am going to take up chronology!" Any such plan would be mere waste of time. The best way, to borrow a famous saying, is "de n'en point parler, mais d'y penser toujours". I mean that during your work, on whatever sub- ject it may be, literature, history, philosophy, art, or edu- cation, you should constantly make a particular point of impressing on your mind the dates and their mutual rela- tions. This you should come to feel an indispensable part of any intellectual activity. In acquiring the habit you will be aided by taking systematic notes of chronology, often adding to them and rereading them. By this method, with no special effort, you will find yourself at the end of a few months on much firmer ground. There are several books that will help you, both in learning useful dates and in grouping together dates that belong to different branches of history. Among others are Putnam's Handbook of Universal History. A Series of Chrono- logical Tables. 1 DREYSS, C. Chronologic universelle. 2 New York, 1914. 2 i6mo. Hachette, Paris, 1857. 134 PROBLEMS AND METHODS NICHOL, J. Tables oj European History, Literature and Art. 1 CIROT, DUFOURCQ and THIRY. Synchronismes de la litterature fran$aise. 2 This last work, serviceable and very cleverly arranged, is a valuable implement. Not only does it tabulate in columns all important dates in French literature, but in many cases it presents in parallel columns the coincident dates of political or artistic history. Nothing, however, can take the place of chronological tables made by yourself. You should become accustomed to using a notebook in which, allowing a page or half a page for each year of the century or period that specially interests you, you will enter in their proper places all the important dates that come to hand : publications of books ; births and deaths ; significant events in the biography of the great writ- ers; principal facts of contemporary history, including the history of art, of music, or of foreign literatures, etc. As from time to time you read these notes over, you will quickly see, first, that all these dates, or at least the most essential ones, are engraving themselves on your memory; next, that the mere bringing together of dates and facts is surprisingly productive of general ideas and interesting suggestions. Remember that nothing is accepted so blindly as a date, and be on your guard. You cannot be sure of the correct- ness of even a standard work where dates are concerned. As a general rule, never construct a theory, never sustain an argument, by propping it up with any date you have not minutely verified. 1 8vo. Glasgow, 1884. 2 8vo. Paris, 1894. Good Tableaux chronologiques are to be found at the end of both Lanson's and C. M. des Granges's Histoire de la litterature franfaise. CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 135 Here is an illustration of that sort of danger. I do not take it from the history of literature but from the history of the law. There exists a Roman law, the Lex Aquilia, dating from 468 A. u. c. It happened that in an excellent French manual of the history of Roman law one of those ' reliable' books that every student consults and robs con- tinually by a typographical error 408 was printed instead of 468. As dates are accepted with so little question, this carelessness on the compositor's part was enough to establish a kind of tradition. A respectable number of theses or works on law can be found which, placidly accepting the date of 408, have based deductions and theories thereon. 1 Many works on the history of literature expose you to similar perils. Let skepticism and suspicion be your watchwords. II. PROBLEMS OF CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY Chronology is as important for the study of literary works as it is for the history of government, diplomacy, or law. Unluckily, its acquisition is not a simple matter of memory and effort guided by caution a compiling of incontestable lists of dates, with each great literary event in its proper place. On the contrary, even in very recent literature many dates are either unknown, doubtful, or traditionally inexact. The problems that arise in connection with these may be divided into two classes, as follows: 1. To fix the date of a work. Until the correct date of a work is fixed, it obviously cannot be given its true place in the biography of the author and in the literary life of his time. 2. To fix the dates of the various parts of a work. If a work represents several years of reflection and labor, the 1 Example cited by A. Girard, in Revue Internationale de I'enseignement, June 15, 1890, p. 621. 136 PROBLEMS AND METHODS date of each part must be known before the progress of the thought, art, intellectual and moral life, of a writer can be traced. TO FIX THE DATE OF A WORK 1. By comparison with the manuscript. Frequently the testimony of a manuscript, unknown or unnoticed before, makes it possible to establish an exact date on which the printed text throws no light. Verlaine's famous poem Art po6tique, De la musique avant toute chose, Et pour cela prefere 1'Impair . . ., appeared in 1885 i n Jadis et naguere; it became the mani- festo of the "Ecole symboliste." E. Dupuy, after a study of Verlaine's manuscripts, pointed out 1 that Art poetique is one of a collection entitled Cellulairement, written by Ver- laine while in prison and completed in August, 1874. This fact, had it been known to A. Barre in time, might perhaps have led him to give a less positive form to the phrase with which he begins his otherwise excellent thesis Le Symbo- lisme 2 : u ln French literature the symbolist movement dates from 1885." 2. By historical criticism of documents. Take a work as important as Corneille's Polyeucte. Until a few years ago the exact date of this masterpiece was uncertain. It used erroneously to be assigned to 1640. After Marty-La veaux's edition it was supposed again wrongly to belong to 1643. E. Rigal has now proved 3 that Polyeucte was written in the winter of 1641-1642. He reaches this result by taking, one by one, the facts or the documents on which it had been thought justifiable to 1K Etude critique sur le texte d'un manuscrit de P. Verlaine," Revue d'his- toire litteraire, 1913, pp. 489-516. See page 503. 2 Paris, 1912. 3 "La Date de Polyeucte," Revue universitaire, Vol. II (1911), pp. 29-36. CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 137 base the chronology of Corneille's plays, and by demonstrat- ing that these data are either uncertain or wrongly con- strued. He begins by eliminating the date of 1640. a. Horace and Cinna already belong to 1640 Cinna to the second half of the year; it is not likely that Corneille composed three great tragedies in the same year. (This is simply a presumption, not a certainty.) b. Polyeucte was read at the Hotel de Rambouillet, and gave offense there. Now, Corneille had no connection with the Hotel before the last third of 1641. Rigal next disposes of a letter from an obscure "conseiller au Parlement," C. Sarrau, addressed to Corneille, Decem- ber 12, 1642 : Ut valeas tu cum tuis Musis scire imprimis desidero ; et utrum tribus eximiis et divinis tuis dramatis quartum adjungere medi- teris? . . . Inaudivi nescio quid de aliquo poemate sacro, quod an affectum an perfectum sit, quaeso, rescribe. This text has always been interpreted as meaning that after the "three exquisite and divine dramas" (Le Cid, Horace, Cinna) the " sacred poem" Polyeucte was to make a fourth. In that case it would be necessary to place Polyeucte later than December, 1642 ; that is, in 1643. Rigal contends that (i) the expression "three divine dramas" does not necessarily exclude Polyeucte] and (2) that the words "sacred poem" do not necessarily allude to it, but much more probably to one of the religious poems that Corneille wrote at all periods of his life. Finally, a hand-corrected copy of the Abbe d'Aubignac's Pratique du theatre, 1 long overlooked, bears witness that Richelieu, who died in 1642, knew of Polyeucte and disap- proved of certain scenes. 1 Paris, 1657. 138 PROBLEMS AND METHODS If you add the fact that Corneille was in Rouen and not in Paris at the beginning of July, 1641 (and, therefore, un- able to oversee the staging of a play), you will notice that, little by little, owing to successive criticisms of facts and documents, Polyeucte has been inclosed within two chrono- logical limits the autumn of 1641 and the summer of I642. 1 3. By the combined study of manuscripts, text, and ex- ternal documents. A typical problem is that of the date of Helena, a poem by Alfred de Vigny. What are the facts, and how may the problem be stated ? Helena was published for the first time in an anonymous book of Poemes, in March, 1822. It disappeared from the Poemes of 1829, having been "juge severement" by its au- thor. It was not reprinted during Vigny's lifetime. A note from the Journal d'un poete, published by L. Ratis- bonne in 1867, after Vigny's death, says, u /7^aisanessay written at nineteen years of age", which would be in 1816. Now as early as 1864, in a famous article, Sainte-Beuve denied the accuracy of this date : Alfred de Vigny's debut in literature dates from 1822. With his poem Helena he paid enthusiastic tribute to the cause of the Greeks; at the same time, in his La Dryade and Symetha, he played the flute to the tune of Andre Chenier, revived and brought into prominence in the last few years. 2 The real date of these Neo-Greek poems of M. de Vigny is that of their publication, and, for the historian of literature who cares for accuracy, there is no occasion to accept the somewhat arbitrary dates that the poet has since felt impelled to assign to them. 3 H. Carrington Lancaster, "The Dates of Corneille's Early Plays," Modern Language Notes, January, 1915, pp. 1-5; A. L. Stiefel, Ueber die Chronologic von Jean Rotrou's dramalischen Werken (Berlin), and in Zeit- schrift fur franzosische Sprache und Litteratur, Vol. XVI (1894), pp. 1-49; and E. Dannheisser, "Zur Chronologic der Dramen Jean de Mairet's," Ro- manische Forschungen, 1889. 2 By H. de Latouche's edition (1819). 3 Revue des Deux Mondes, April 15, 1864. CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 139 In the last few years the question has been taken up anew, discussed, and, I believe, very nearly decided. 1 Let us see now the importance of the question and the methods used in the discussion. A. Importance of the Question This controversy is not the outcome of the minute and fruitless curiosity of scholars. Apart from the interest of placing each work in its exact position in the evolution of a great genius, Vigny's very character is at stake. The point to be decided is whether, by deliberately changing the date, he yielded to an artist's petty desire to make his youthful genius seem more isolated and precocious. If so, his memory is tarnished with a f white' lie. On the contrary, if the poems really belong to the date they bear, it is Sainte-Beuve who must be accused, who must be blamed for having through ill-advised jealousy formulated a hypothesis so detrimental to the reputation of a great poet. In addition, the history of Andre Chenier's influence and of his role in the formation of the Romanticists of the first generation is involved in the solution of this question. B. The Discussion a. "Helena" dates from 1816: theory of Dupuy. Dupuy supports his chronological theory by three kinds of argu- ment, as follows : (i) Arguments deduced from historical allusions. Helena, according to Sainte-Beuve, cannot be anterior to 1821, be- cause of allusions to the Greek Rebellion, which did not break out until March, 1821. Helena ends with the capture 1 Besides Sainte-Beuve's article (reissued in the Nouveaux Lundis, Vol. VI) see E. Dupuy, "Les Origines litteraires d'Alfred de Vigny," Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1903, pp. 373-412 (reissued in La Jeunesse des romantiques, 1905) ; E. Esteve, Helena, critical edition (1907), Introduction; P. M. Masson, "L'ln- fluence d'Andre Chenier sur Alfred de Vigny," Revue d'histoire litteraire, 140 PROBLEMS AND METHODS of Athens, which occurred eight months later, and, therefore, must be posterior to this event. Dupuy retorts that actual historical events were not Vigny's inspiration, since the poem, published in March, 1822, contains a description of the taking of the Acropolis, June 30, 1822 : we should have faith in the poet's imagination. (2) Arguments deduced from the sources. Faith is made easier because other imaginative works that depict the Greeks as fighting against their oppressors were written before 182 1 : "Byron's Turkish Tales and his lyric outbursts are among these". Dupuy points out also that The Siege of Corinth (1816) certainly influenced Helena. In this connection, how- ever, he makes the concession that in 1822, just before send- ing it to press, Vigny very likely revised it, "so as to touch up the coloring and perhaps lengthen the plot". (3) Arguments deduced from other facts connected with literary history. Dupuy adds that it was not in 1819 but toward 1828, and especially in 1832, that Chenier, little known till then, really conquered the generation of Roman- ticists. Therefore the argument drawn from Chenier's in- fluence is not of great weight. b. Helena dates from 1821: theory of Esteve and Masson. To the arguments of Dupuy, Esteve, in his edition of the poem, opposes forceful counterarguments. (i ) Vigny calls Helena "an essay written at nineteen years of age", but this is a hasty note of little weight rather than a positive assertion. Besides, as the entry was made long after the event, Vigny's memory may have been at fault. 1 1909, pp. 1-48; Vigny, Poemes, Baldensperger edition (Conard, Paris, 1914) ; E. Dupuy, Vigny, la vie et I'aeuvre (1913) ; E. Dupuy, in Revue d'histoire lit- teraire, 1915, pp. 602-605. 1 This would not be without precedent. Thus, in the second preface to the Poemes, in 1829, Vigny says, "When these poems appeared nine years ago. . ." Yet the collection of 1822 had been published not nine, but seven, year? before ! CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 141 (2) Esteve does not believe that in 1816 Vigny could have "imagined" the development of the Greek insurrection of March, 1821. The poem gives the impression of having been written on the rebound from the events themselves. It is comprehensible that Shelley, when writing Hellas in October, 1821, should mention the capture of several towns that sur- rendered some months later. In 1821 Vigny could "foresee" the fall of the Acropolis, Athens being already three-quarters conquered; but in 1816 he would have had to predict, not the capitulation of a town that was almost taken, but the whole insurrection. (3) Byron's influence in 1816 is not sufficient to explain the stand taken by Vigny in the Greek question. As a mat- ter of fact, at that date, in Chttde Harold, II, and the first part of The Giaour, Byron was sympathetically bemoaning the hopeless degeneration of the Greeks. How, then, is it possible to suppose that a young French lad, hardly out of school, could have not merely predicted but pictured as tri- umphant a revolt which the most ardent friends of the Greeks could not foresee? (4) Certain definite facts strengthen this opinion. Helena refers to the famous hymn of Rhigas, 1 known in France through Byron only in 1820 ; to the heroic death, of the Suliote women, 2 a fact learned also only in 1820, from the Voyage dans la Grece by Pouqueville; to the abandonment of the town of Parga by its inhabitants, 3 on May 10, 1819. (5) Lastly, Byron's influence seems an argument against rather than for the theory that Helena was written in 1816. The poem is indeed full of imitations, many of which are direct. But in 1816 Vigny could not have known Byron thoroughly enough to enable us to explain these imitations. His familiarity with the English poet dates no farther back !Bk. I, line 92, 2 Bk. II, lines 406-414. 3 Bk. II, line 396. 142 PROBLEMS AND METHODS than the translation made by Pichot in 1819-1820, and more particularly from the article and extracts contributed to the Lycie jranqais by Bruguiere de Sorsum in August, iSao. 1 Certain lines prove beyond a doubt that Vigny used Pichot's translation. 2 Therefore Helena could not have been written before 1821. In antedating his work Vigny 's motive was to pose as precursor of the Philhellenic movement and also to repudiate his debt to Andre Chenier. This last point is strongly corroborated by an article of P. M. Masson entitled "L'Influence d'Andre Chenier sur Alfred de Vigny." 3 Masson uses most precise methods in his search for the sources of Vigny. He brings to light a con- siderable number of details borrowed by Vigny from Chenier, and finds it impossible to explain even the works that Vigny places earlier than 1819 except on the assumption of a very complete knowledge of Chenier's work published by Latouche in 1819. c. Helena is composed of elements belonging to two dif- ferent dates : result of recent investigations. The arguments presented by Esteve and Masson, are, in my opinion, almost irrefutable. Nevertheless, Baldensperger, when publishing his edition of Vigny's poems, 4 contributes a new fact. Au- thorized to work among Vigny's manuscripts, he detected that the preparatory notes of Hdlena the first material gathered by the poet were written in the same hand as his earliest papers, "an almost childish hand"; 5 and concludes that the original plan and idea of Helena belong certainly to 1816 or before, thus confirming the date given by Vigny. Besides, by an internal analysis, he shows that the original idea of Helena can be satisfactorily accounted for without 1 For details see another contribution by Esteve, Byron et le romantisme fran^ais. Paris, 1907. 2 See Book II, lines 47-52. 3 Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1909, pp. 1-48. 4 i9i4- B P- 285. CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 143 turning either to Byron, the Greek insurrection, or to Chenier : the subject is taken from Corneille's Theodore] the orien- talism and exotism can be traced to Chateaubriand, Ossian, the Koran, the Psalms, or to some other reading of Vigny's. There is in the poem a 'first layer' dating undoubtedly, or very probably, from 1816 or thereabouts. Thus the idea and the elements of the poem may very well go back to the time when Vigny was nineteen years old. It is no less sure, however, that the poem itself did not assume its definitive form until after the events of 1821, and until after reading Chenier. Vigny, following his accustomed method, has "touched up and patched up" the original sketch in many places. It must, therefore, be admitted that, in insisting upon 1816 as the date of composition, he yielded to the temptation to deceive his readers, as Masson puts it, by "un geste inelegant et malhabile". TO FIX THE DATES OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF A WORK The problem of fixing the dates of the various parts of a work may be presented in several ways, depending upon whether it is a question of ( i ) the date of a work composed of fragments, when the chronological order is not fixed by the author; (2) the chronology of a collection when the dates are not correctly or completely given by the author; (3) the date of the composition of different parts of an im- portant work when the preparation and revision extend over a long period of the author's life. i . Chronology of a work made up of fragments. A typical example of a fragmentary work is the Journal d'un poete of Vigny, published after his death by Ratisbonne. 1 The Jour- nal is a document of capital importance for the study of Vigny's opinions, philosophy, and art. He enters at random, t 144 PROBLEMS AND METHODS in his notes, projects for poems, reflections on his reading and on incidents in the political and literary life of his time, and many doleful meditations that exhale bitterness and pessi- mism. Hence the importance of an exact chronology of these fragments. Ratisbonne's edition, however, is full of gross errors, on which even well-informed critics have based their conclusions as to the development of Vigny's pessimism. In a very good article 1 I. Roney undertakes the indis- pensable cleaning up and attempts to reestablish the genuine dates of some important fragments of the Journal. His ar- ticle is interesting as an example of method, for it shows us (i) that flagrant errors have crept into works as recent as the Journal d'un poete ; ( 2 ) that this minute chronological verification is not merely the whim of a scholar but is requi- site to any synthetic reconstruction of the evolution of Vigny's philosophy. For instance : a. The year 1824 of the Ratisbonne edition includes frag- ments written surely as late as 1829, since in them Vigny alludes to a play produced in 1829; or even as late as 1832, since they mention the destruction of certain poems that he burned in 1832, and also speak of his revising the proofs of Stello, published in 1832. b. These necessary corrections modify to a great extent our views on the origin of Vigny's pessimism. Obviously, if already in 1824, at the threshold of his intellectual life, we come upon dismal thoughts and melancholy reflections, it is easy to accept the opinion that Vigny was born a pessimist and did not become one. Today, however, this idea no longer seems in agreement with the facts. 2 Thus, errors in chronol- 1(1 Sur quelques erreurs de date du Journal d'un poete" Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1907, pp. 17-39. 2 See particularly E. Dupuy, La Jeunesse des romantiques and Vigny, la vie et I'oeuvre, and the Introduction and commentaries of the Baldensperger edition, CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 145 ogy have produced others, not in the material detail of Vigny's biography but in the historical, psychological, and moral interpretation of his personality. Roney's contribution is a concise and exact application of the method that attempts to fix the chronology of a work by the precise examination of historical or biographical allu- sions and of information of every kind. 2. Chronology of the various pieces in a collection? Al- most all the large collections of poetry the odes of Ronsard or Malherbe no less than the lyrics of Lamartine 2 or Hugo consist of poems written at different periods and gathered into one volume. Although the poet himself frequently dates each piece, experience teaches that the modern critic should not accept these records without suspicion and precaution. 1 shall dwell at some length upon H. Dupin's "Etudes sur la chronologic des Contemplations" 5 of Victor Hugo, partly because, as the work of a student, it proves that, by apply- ing sure and rigorous processes to a well-chosen subject, it is possible to reach successful and serviceable results without being far advanced in one's career. The following is an abridged description of its object and method. x As the contents of these collections often change from one edition to an- other, close attention should be paid to them. This implies a knowledge of the date of each piece. A fine example of such work is P. Laumonier, Ron- sard, poete lyrique (Paris, 1910). The first part of the volume is devoted to establishing the chronology of Ronsard's Odes. See especially pages 26-69 for a model of scholarly discussion. I do not dwell particularly upon this un- usually good book, because it is striking more in the excellence of its conclu- sions than in the novelty of its method. 2 See, in the Lanson edition of the Meditations, the arguments on the exact date of the composition of the first poems. 8 Melanges d'histoire litteraire (8vo), pp. 41-107. Published under the direction of Lanson, Bibliotheque de 1'Universite de Paris, 1906. 146 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Elements of the Problem The dates respectively given in the edition and in the manuscript disagree for one hundred and thirty-seven poems out of one hundred and seventy-eight. As the contents of the book represent twenty-five years of Victor Hugo's poetic activity, an exact chronology is requisite for establishing the true evolution of his ideas, feelings, and style. Moreover, if he altered the dates, we must know why: perhaps the rea- sons may disclose some traits of his character or genius. Attempt at Solution Dupin, having put aside every poem on which manuscript and edition agree, uses three different methods to ascertain the genuine dates of the others. a. Critical comparison between the dates in the manu- scripts and those in the edition. First, for thirty poems the dates found in the edition antedate those of the manuscripts, giving different years but the same month. The manuscripts are certainly correct in these instances that is, unless the ridiculous hypothesis be admitted that they are subsequent final copies made each time by chance on the anniversaries of the months when the poems were first written ! Next, it is obvious that, in postdating or antedating cer- tain other pieces in the edition, Hugo, having written them at seasons ill-suited to their subjects, wished to substitute more appropriate occasions. About twenty of the poems are dated as shown in the table on the opposite page. b. Evolution of Hugo's feeling about love. In studying the diverse forms that love assumes in Victor Hugo's work, from the pure gravity of the Lettres a la fiancee to the sensu- ous gaiety of Les Chansons des rues et des bois, Dupin dis- CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 147 POEM DATE OF MANUSCRIPT DATE OF EDITION REASON II. 5. xxiii: " Le val- lon ou je vais tous les jours ..." December 17, 1854 April, 1855 A poem full of spring- time, for which Decem- ber is hardly suitable. II. 6. xxii: "Ne dites pas : mourir ..." October, 1854 Jour des morts, November, 1854 A time better fitted for meditation on death. II. 6. xxvi : " L'homme en songeant ..." October 1-13, 1854 1855 This poem, like several others, voices Hugo's philosophic ' credo ' at this time. He places all such poems in 1855 or in January, 1856, as if written on the eve of publication. II. 4. vi : " Quand nous habitions tous ensemble ..." October 16, 1846 Villequier, September 4, 1844 The anniversary of his daughter's death. II. 4. xiv : " Demain, des 1'aube ..." October 4, 1847 September 3, 1847 Eve of the anniversary of his daughter's death. tinguishes three phases: 1819-1823, the love of "one soul for another", pure, serious, often melancholy and "fatal"; 1830-1840, a love still pure, and constantly interspersed with philosophical reflections, yet showing signs of contami- nation (his inspiration is no longer "la fiancee" but Juliette Drouet) ; 1840-1865, including Les Chansons, the love is no longer an actual experience it is the ingenious invention of an artist. Now, the love poems in Les Contemplations naturally fall into two groups, of which one belongs with the poems of the period 1830-1840, the other with Les Chansons. The dates of about fifteen poems are thus fixed, and in favor of the manuscript. 148 PROBLEMS AND METHODS c. Evolution of Hugo's versification from 1830 to 1854. By means of exhaustive statistics bearing upon several thou- sand lines, Dupin determines for different epochs (1830, 1830-1835, 1835-1840, 1854) the proportion of lines that are cut elsewhere than at the hemistich; the proportion of the different coupes] the proportion of enjambements. Next he examines the poems of Les Contemplations and ranks them under the corresponding headings. In this way he finds the dates of the manuscript usually confirmed. d. Evolution of Hugo's style from 1830 to 1854. Dupin next makes an experiment similar to the preceding one by studying the formation of Hugo's images and metaphors: the proportion of images of immense size; of images that are sensations ; of animated and personified objects ; of sym- bols, etc. It must be admitted that these last two methods (statis- tics of the characteristics of versification and of style) are not entirely reliable. There is no real determinism or autom- atism in literary production. Still, I am far from consider- ing these processes negligible, provided they are applied with prudence and sense. Obviously, a particular coupe occurring two or three times in a poem is not enough to fix the date. But if, for instance in a piece assigned in the edition to 1840, a division is repeated six or seven times that is absolutely unheard of in Hugo's versification from 1835 to 1845 but is found in five or six per cent of the lines belonging to 1850- 1855, we have a fairly weighty presumption. In such a case the increase or decrease of the characteristics laid bare by the statistical method gives important indications as to the evolution of an author's processes and the date of com- position. It is merely an elementary precaution not to at- tribute to these ' charts' the value we ascribe to the 'curves' obtained by a like scientific observation. CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 149 In conclusion Dupin draws up a chronological table of Les Contemplations which is most useful for the study and explanation of the work. 1 3. To fix the date of the different parts of an extended or autobiographical work. For every work that has been pre- pared and composed during many years of the author's life, or contains autobiographical and personal material, it is particularly essential to give each section its exact chrono- logical position, for each is a part of the portrait the author wished to leave us. This is true of Montaigne's Essais, Rousseau's Confessions, Chateaubriand's Memoires d'outre- tombe, Victor Hugo's La Legende des siecles, and many other important works. An excellent illustration is the way in which Villey has succeeded, with as much certainty as the subject permits, in establishing the chronology of Montaigne's Essais. His work fills three volumes: Les Sources et V evolution des ff Essais" de Montaigne 2 and Les Limes d'histoire moderne utilises par Montaigne? Importance of the Question The Essais consist of three books, divided into chapters, some very long, some very short, written by Montaigne be- tween 1572 and 1592 and representing without any logical 1 See the use to which these researches are put in an article by P. Berret, "Une Methode critique pour 1'explication des Contemplations a propos de leur chronologic," Revue universitaire, Vol. II (1913), pp. 48-57. He points out that the printed date is the poetic date on which the author, inspired by certain events, conceived the ideas or opinions to which he gave literary ex- pression ten or twenty years later; the date of the manuscript is that of composition and represents a certain stage in Victor Hugo's artistic develop- ment. In a critical study of Les Contemplations both these dates should be taken into account after having been duly verified. 2 In 2 vols., 8vo. Paris, 1908. 3 In i vol., 8vo. 1908. 150 PROBLEMS AND METHODS sequence the results of his reading, reflection, and personal thoughts. The problem is to establish the exact chronology of this intellectual activity. Thus we shall avoid " falling into the traditional error of mistaking a transient opinion for the final expression of his personality, and, through the con- fusion of dates, of introducing contradiction and incoherence into his ideas". 1 Furthermore, we shall learn how his inner life has developed. His life and his books deposit on his mind successive ' strata ' of experience. From each stratum he attempts to learn some lesson, and, each time, the succeeding stratum shows him the insufficiency of his ideas and raises the problem again. ... It is this romance of an intellect that fascinates and instructs the psychologist. To trace it we need as many dates as possible. 2 First Chronological Data It is known, before any detailed research, that Montaigne withdrew to his chateau and began working on the Essais in 1571 ; that Books I and II appeared in 1580; that Book III and about six hundred additions came out in 1588 ; that, be- ginning in 1588, correcting and enlarging a copy of the 1588 edition, Montaigne was preparing a new edition, which his death, on September 13, 1592, prevented his issuing. We possess this copy ('Exemplaire de Bordeaux'). It served as the foundation for the edition published in 1595 by Me de Gournay. Up to this point it is evident that ninety-four essays are anterior to 1580, that thirteen were written between 1580 and 1588, and that the additions to these one hundred and seven were prepared between 1588 and September 13, 1592. Wol. I, p. 281. 2 P. 282. CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 151 But we must go farther. Each group must be taken sepa- rately, and an attempt made to place chronologically every essay that it contains. 1 Processes and Methods Employed In order to assign a date to each of the Essais, Villey re- sorts to three sources of information : ( i ) allusions to precise facts of which the dates are known; (2) allusions to Mon- taigne's reading whenever it is possible to fix the date; (3) possibility of dating certain essays by their relation to others. 2 a. Allusions to precise facts. Villey collects every allusion to events of known date. He reaches results that vary in certainty. (1) Precise date. "Only fifteen days ago", says Mon- taigne, 3 "I completed my thirty-ninth year." Therefore the essay was written March 15, 1572. (2) Approximate date. Montaigne speaks 4 of the battle of Lepanto (October 7, 1571), and adds that "it was won a few months ago against the Turks". Therefore the essay belongs to the first months of 1572. (3) Double limit. The study of allusions proves, in quite a number of cases, that the essay could have been written 1 Villey points out that the question is especially important for the period 1571-1580. After 1580 Montaigne changes less, develops less definitely, the genre of the essay is established. 2 Is it necessary to call attention to the formidable mass of reading and erudition represented by such research? A minute knowledge of sixteenth- century history, a practically exhaustive perusal of everything printed before 1592, a familiarity with all the works of Greek, Latin, and Italian literature, not only through their texts but in the various annotated editions published in the sixteenth century, this is what Villey has acquired and accomplished. His effort will appear far more splendid, and his example more inspiring to our young workers, if they know that he has been blind since early childhood. 3 I, 20. 4 1, 32. 1 52 PROBLEMS AND METHODS neither anterior to a certain date nor posterior to another. It is thus inclosed between two chronological limits. (4) Single limit. Lastly, several chapters, from their al- lusions, cannot be anterior or cannot be posterior to a given date nothing more. In these last two instances, (3) and (4), the approxima- tion arrived at through the allusions may be narrowed down by other sources of information. b. Allusions to reading whenever it is possible to fix the date. As to Montaigne's reading, Villey's researches rest upon the following facts : 1 i ) We have in our possession today a considerable num- ber of books owned by Montaigne. Several bear the date of reading, and precious annotations in his hand. (2) Montaigne made great use of his books, and when he borrowed from them it was often verbatim. This last fact is particularly important with regard to ancient authors or translations. Whenever Villey is able to decide which six- teenth-century edition Montaigne used, and he decides this frequently, he knows that Montaigne cannot have borrowed prior to the publication of the edition. (3) We learn from Montaigne himself that the books he read are of two sorts. 1 On the one hand, there are those few that he makes constant use of (Virgil, Horace, Lucian, Seneca, Amyot's translation of Plutarch), books "that it would be harder to dispense with than any others". Borrowings from these books occur in the three editions and are of slight ac- count for chronology. On the other hand, there are the books that he studied for a time and then allowed to sleep in peace in his library, those, he says, "that I want to use only once". On these he "had a habit of recording the date on which he finished them, and his judgment of them as a whole". CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 153 These various indications enable Villey to reach a certain number of definite conclusions. 1 For instance : (1) Julius Ccesar. The library at Chantilly contains the copy of Caesar read by Montaigne, with the manuscript note that he read it "from February 25 to July 21, 1578". The essay 2 entitled " Observations sur les moyens de faire la guerre de Julius Caesar " includes many facts borrowed from the Commentaries, and criticisms directly developed from the jottings with which Montaigne has crowded the margins of his copy. This essay, therefore, dates from 1578, or at the latest from 1579. (2) Guicciardini. Villey begins by determining every pas- sage incontestably borrowed by Montaigne. There is a good chance that all these passages were en- tered in Montaigne's pages at about the same period : Guic- ciardini is one of the authors whom he studied "only for a time". The chapters in which they occur must, therefore, be very nearly contemporaneous, "forming a cluster". If it is possible to date one of these chapters by means of some allusion or statement, we shall learn the approximate date of the whole cluster. Now in the chapter "Des Livres" we find this sentence: "Here is the entry that I wrote in my Guicciardini about ten years ago". And we know, by other means, that this chap- ter belongs to 1580. Therefore the six essays in which Montaigne makes use of Guicciardini were probably written in 1571. c. Essays dated from their relation to others. On the one hand, certain essays allude to others. For instance, Mon- taigne, in Book II, chap. 10, mentions that "he has an in- first part of Villey's book (Vol. I, pp. 50-242) is given up to estab- lishing the chronology of Montaigne's reading. 154 PROBLEMS AND METHODS tense curiosity to become acquainted with the soul and the inmost opinions of his authors", and adds that "he has said this elsewhere". The remark is found in chapter 31 of the same book, which, in this wise, is proved to have been written before chapter 10. On the other hand, we may draw conclusions from the relative positions of the different essays and from their character. The dates that are conclusively established show how frequently essays belonging to the same epoch are ar- ranged consecutively. Without believing this rule infallible, we may take for granted that an undated essay is probably of the same date as those adjoining, if it is like them in con- ception or structure. In this way we reach not a certainty but, in many cases, a plausible presumption. Criticism and Limitations of this Method With fine scientific loyalty Villey himself points out the objections to his method and conclusions. (i) To chapters written long before, Montaigne, on com- pleting some new reading, may have added certain passages. If so, the reading is unavailing in dating the chapter. Answer. First, we must often be resigned to remain in doubt. Next, many essays placed by this means belong unmistakably to the beginning of Montaigne's literary activity and cannot have been composed much before the reading in question. Finally, a conclusion should be thought decisive only when the chapter is built round the reading, or, in other words, when the reading has obviously been the occasion not of ornamenting nor of amplifying the chapter but of writing it as a whole. ( 2 ) Several years after reading some work a long-forgotten phrase or idea may have recurred to Montaigne. CHRONOLOGY IN LITERARY HISTORY 155 Answer. Apart from the fact that this is not characteristic of all that we know of Montaigne, and that in many cases it is sufficient to place the essays within approximately three or four years, Villey shields himself from this objection by taking into account only such passages as Montaigne borrows word for word those that imply that he has the book open before him, and never those that contain more or less inexact reminiscences. (3) It is arbitrary to decide which authors Montaigne really read only once. In spite of his own testimony, he may perfectly well have turned to them again when his train of thought suggested them. Answer. This objection is indeed strong ; but it may be avoided by resting the demonstration, as far as possible, upon the books for which we can incontestably establish the date of reading and by rejecting those that may have been used more customarily and permanently. "Therefore", concludes Villey, "we should not lose sight for a single instant of the doubts that assail us. Neverthe- less, if our results are not characterized by absolute cer- tainty, they reach a high degree of probability" 1 and, as far as that goes, the results are considerable. Results The conclusion of this vast investigation is the establish- ment of a 'Table chronologique des Essais' where each of the one hundred and seven chapters is given its proper place in Montaigne's life and in the growth of his ideas. This chart is completed by synoptical tables showing the connec- tion between Montaigne's reading and the composition of the Essais. !P. 285. 156 PROBLEMS AND METHODS These results are set down in the second volume, where Villey examines "L'Evolution de la pensee de Montaigne," following, epoch by epoch, the development of this "romance of an intellect", but treading now on firm ground. This last instance 1 illustrates the close coordination and dependence between the work of general synthesis and philo- sophical interpretation, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, these patient, thorough, often dry researches that fur- nish material for the former and are their essential condition. 1 The examples studied in this chapter may be supplemented by many others, in particular by the following: P. Laumonier, Tableau chronologique de I'aeuvre de Ronsard (1911); P. M. Masson, "Questions de chronologic rousseauiste," Annales Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Vol. IX, p. 37; E. Rigal, "Sur les Contemplations de Hugo," Herrig's Archiv, Vol. 116 (1906), p. 327; F. A. Blossom, La Composition de Salammbo d'apres la correspondance de Flaubert, avec un essai de classement chronologique des lettres (Elliott Monographs, No. 3) (Baltimore, 1914). CHAPTER VII PROBLEMS OF AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION Modern literature is less fertile in problems of authen- ticity and attribution than are the literatures of antiquity or of the Middle Ages. The circumstances attending the pub- lication of most of the important works are known beyond the possibility of doubt or discussion. If anyone were to dispute the authenticity of Racine's tragedies, Balzac's novels, or Le Genie du christianisme, he would be sub- jected to the sort of ridicule that greeted the paradoxical critic who wrote a book to prove that Napoleon I had never existed. However, such problems do arise even for relatively recent works. 1 Rabelais, Montaigne, Pascal, Moliere, Bossuet, Vol- taire, Rousseau, Diderot, are involved, not to mention a great number of authors of memoirs and of correspondence. Sometimes it is a question of ascertaining whether the work handed down under a writer's name is not purely and simply an imposture (question of authenticity) ; 2 sometimes, of de- termining whether a work until now accredited to a certain author should not be reassigned to another (question of attribution). In the last few years these questions have many times been asked and answered in regard to important 1 For example, the discussion about the little book The Young Visiters, by Daisy Ashford, with a preface by J. M. Barrie (1919). 2 By way of introduction to the subject, read the chapter "Critique de provenance," in Langlois and Seignobos, Introduction aux etudes historiques, pp. 66-78. Some curious examples of falsification are found in E. Bernheim, Lehrbuch der historischen Methode, pp. 204-256. '57 158 PROBLEMS AND METHODS works of French literature. The best lesson in method is to examine the elements of the problems and the processes employed to settle them. I. THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE PARADOXE SUR LE COMEDIEN BY DlDEROT We have in the question of the Paradoxe sur le comedien one of the most curious among these problems of authen- ticity. Because of the variety of the arguments hurled into the discussion, because of the psychological elements brought to light in the controversy, and, finally, because of the suc- cess of strictly critical methods in arriving at the truth, this question is well worth a detailed analysis. HISTORY OF THE QUESTION The Paradoxe sur le comedien is published for the first time in 1830 forty-six years after Diderot's death (1784) by the Parisian publisher Sautelet, from a copy made at St. Petersburg of one of Diderot's inedited manuscripts. 1 Other of his works bought by Sautelet (the Correspondance avec M lle Volland, Le Reve de d'Alembert, etc.) have the same origin. Until 1902 the little work is reprinted in the various editions of Diderot without exciting any doubt as to its authenticity; it is read, admired, spoken of as a gem. The style is praised as brilliant and spirited. Diderot is recognized in all his glamor of new, arresting ideas, orig- inality, and wit. Now in one of those picturesque cubby-holes that line the old Paris quays, Ernest Dupuy has the good fortune to stumble upon a thin notebook, which is nothing else than 1 Diderot's personal library was bought by Catherine II, and after his death his unpublished manuscripts were sold to her by his daughter M me de Vandeul. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 159 the manuscript of the Paradoxe sur le comedien, not in Diderot's hand but in that of Naigeon, his friend, client, quasi-assistant and secretary, with whom Diderot, on his departure for Russia, left instructions to publish his inedited works in case he himself should die on the journey. Up to this point everything is quite natural ; but now the trouble begins. "The manuscript", says Dupuy, "although very neat in certain spots, in others is covered with erasures and with words written in above the text; the margins of some of the pages are almost completely filled with addi- tions to the original version. After studying the manuscript closely, I was convinced that I had before me a revised text by Naigeon." Indeed, its aspect is disquieting : these addi- tions, corrections, and alterations in the detail of the style and expression could not have been made by a copyist. It is certainly a ' working-copy/ an author's manuscript, and the Paradoxe sur le comedien, hitherto supposed to be a mas- terpiece by Diderot, appears to be the work of an impostor. Not entirely ; for the Paradoxe is only the development of an article published by Diderot in the Correspondance de Grimm,* under the title "Observations de M. Diderot sur une brochure intitulee Garrick ou les acteurs anglais," an article incontestably authentic. Yet everything added to the Observations in composing the Paradoxe must be Naigeon's ; of the Paradoxe, says Dupuy, "the greater part is grossly in- terpolated, the remainder as lacking in taste as in accuracy". Dupuy exhibits his discovery in a critical edition of the Paradoxe, 2 where, in parallel columns, he gives the text of the Observations and the text of the Naigeon manuscript. In his Introduction he indicates the sources that the 'inter- 1 October 15, 1770. 2 Diderot, Paradoxe sur le comedien, critical edition, with Introduction, Notes, and Facsimile, by E. Dupuy, 8vo, xxxiii +179 pp. Paris, 1902. 160 PROBLEMS AND METHODS polator' has drawn from, pointing out that he has stolen from Grimm, Rousseau, and many others and particularly from Diderot himself. He believes he has discovered that certain of these additions are taken from works, such as De I'art de la comedie by Cailhava or the Memoires of Mil* Clairon, that did not appear until after Diderot's death. Therefore there is no longer room for doubt: the whole f fabrication ' of the Paradoxe is disclosed to us ; Naigeon is caught red-handed ; and the Paradoxe, that masterpiece by Diderot, is not by Diderot and is not a masterpiece. THE CONTROVERSY Immediately great agitation and excitement prevail in the camp of scholars and men of letters. During the next few months articles for and against appear in quick succession. Certain details in this battle are both instructive and amusing. 1 i. First, there is the attitude that Bedier calls "provi- sional doubt". This attitude Lanson adopts on the day after Dupuy's publication. In his article in the Revue universi- taire he enumerates the reasons for agreeing with Dupuy's argument. The aspect of the manuscript, above all, is dis- turbing. Still, in many passages that Dupuy assigns to !The essential contributions are Lanson, "Le Probleme des oeuvres post- humes de Diderot," Revue universitaire, May 15, 1902, pp. 460-465; and arti- cles by G. Larroumet, in the Temps, September i, 1902, and by Faguet, in the Journal des debats, September, 1902, the first favorable to Dupuy's theory, the second adverse to it. In the Revue d'histoire litteraire, July-September, 1902, articles by Brunei (for Dupuy) ; M. Tourneux (against Dupuy) ; Dupuy (against Tourneux); Tourneux (answering Dupuy's reply); G. Grappe, "A propos du Paradoxe snr le comedien," Revue latine, October 25, 1902 (against Dupuy) ; E. Faguet, "Diderot et Naigeon," Revue latine, December 28, 1902 (against Dupuy) ; A. Aulard, two articles in the Revolution jran$aise, Au- gust 14, 1902, and January 14, 1903 (favorable to Dupuy) ; R. Doumic, "Les Manuscrits de Diderot," Revue des Deux Mondes, October 15, 1902 (for Dupuy); J. Bedier, "Le Paradoxe est-il de Diderot?" in fitudes critiques, pp. 83-112. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 161 Naigeon, Lanson recognizes the ' touch' and the art of Dide- rot. Moreover, the argument based on the fact that every- thing that the Paradoxe adds to the Observations of 1770 is merely Diderot chopped up and then patched together may be reversed; as we know that Diderot frequently repeated and copied himself, comparisons with his other works might prove the authenticity as well as the falsity of the Paradoxe. However, Dupuy seems to have established with certainty that passages have been borrowed from works published after Diderot's death a very strong argument, so long as it cannot be proved that Diderot may have been acquainted with them before their publication. "What has resulted", Lanson concludes, "is our inability to feel confident that we are reading pure Diderot when we read the Paradoxe : all is doubt and suspicion." 2. Next, there is the camp of those who seem to say, "I told you so ! " those who, in spite of the general admiration aroused for nearly a century by the Paradoxe, affirm that they always have thought "something was the matter with it". Larroumet recalls that quite a while before he spoke dis- paragingly of its artistic worth. Another says : This celebrated work bristles with inaccuracies, improprieties, incoherences, which strike me only now that they have been pointed out to me. But, in truth, I have always considered it diffuse, tedious, overrated, and, to be frank, I am thankful that I shall no longer have to blush for my lukewarmness. 1 All these writers accept Dupuy's theory with satisfaction and do not hesitate to cross the Paradoxe off the list of Diderot's works. 3. At the other extreme is the camp of the "irreconcil- ables" those who, whether for Diderot's sake or for Nai- 1 Brunei, in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1902, p. 500. 1 62 PROBLEMS AND METHODS geon's, refuse to believe in the fraud. There is Tourneux, Diderot's well-informed and discriminating editor, who sets forth his arguments in the Revue d'histoire litteraire. Pass- ing in review the history of Diderot's manuscripts, he tries to prove that the process of borrowing from himself is habitual with Diderot, and that his borrowing from books such as the Memoires of M m e de Vandeul or of M lle Clairon is far from being certain, or, if so, can be accounted for. Finally, in order to ' explain' the famous manuscript, Tour- neux goes so far as to suppose that Naigeon made a copy duplicating every detail of Diderot's manuscript, putting the additions in the margins and reproducing and then erasing the passages written and then erased by Diderot himself. In short, he is convinced that the Paradoxe belongs, and can belong only, to Diderot. The same conclusion is reached by Grappe, who is espe- cially desirous to rescue the memory of the unfortunate Naigeon. He suggests that Naigeon wrote at Diderot's dic- tation, which would explain the aspect of the incriminating manuscript. 4. The quarrel is prolonged by an article by Faguet. 1 His fifty pages of criticism, common sense, and prudent, judi- cious reasoning, full of wit and malice, add to the debate a distinctive contribution of arguments from taste the most delicate and unerring taste. In literary criticism I know few cleverer or more ingenious pages. He wishes, as he says, to " filter" the whole discussion, and "to classify the arguments for and against in the fol- lowing fashion: (i) arguments from fact; (2) arguments partly from fact, partly from taste; (3) arguments from taste". 2 iln Revue latine, December 25, 1902. 2 P. 706. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 163 Arguments from Fact First argument. The condition of Naigeon's manuscript. Tourneux's hypothesis does not hold. The idea of dictation is far from probable. The manuscript has still to be ex- plained. Dupuy's position is very strong. Second argument. " The Paradoxe sur le comedien abounds in passages borrowed by Diderot from several of his own works. 'Proof that it is not his', cries Dupuy. ' Proof that it is his', cry Tourneux and, with less assurance, Lanson and Brunei. Ah! Ah! This is becoming diverting." 1 After discussing this argument Faguet concludes that, since Nai- geon as well as Diderot is imbued with Diderot's ideas and writings, the fact that a work is stuffed full of Diderot proves that it is either Diderot's or Naigeon's ; if the question is to decide between the two, the fact proves absolutely nothing. Third argument. The passages taken from the Memoires of M lle Clairon or M me de Vandeul or even from the Correspondance of Meister, with which Diderot is not ac- quainted. This is the pivotal point of Dupuy's demonstra- tion. Here Faguet, after a detailed examination, reaches the following conclusion : Since the manuscript sent to St. Petersburg in 1785 agrees with the Dupuy manuscript, it is clear that the latter was written before 1785. Therefore borrowings that cannot be explained by attributing the Paradoxe to Diderot are no less inexplicable if it is attributed to Naigeon. The argument would be tenable only if based upon a passage borrowed from some work that appeared between July 30, 1784 (death of Diderot), and October, 1785 (date of sending the manu- script to Russia), by an author personally unknown to Dide- rot. Proof of such a passage is lacking. IP. 711. 1 64 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Arguments Partly from Fact, Partly from Taste "Every idea contained in the Paradoxe is already in the Observations", says one of the partisans of Dupuy's theory. 1 "The Paradoxe is only a paraphrase in dialogue form, am- plified almost exclusively by means of examples." "That is not so", Faguet retorts. By a close analysis of the ideas in the Paradoxe he shows that there are several found nowhere in the Observations fresh, interesting ideas, disproving the statement that the Paradoxe is simply a dilution of the former writing. Next, it is said that "the Paradoxe bristles with inaccu- racies and carelessness of style". "This is not quite exact", replies Faguet. Considering one by one every criticism of the style, he points out that some of the inaccuracies are so slight and insignificant as not to justify attributing the Para- doxe definitely to Naigeon; 2 again, that there are no more inaccuracies in the Paradoxe than in any other of Diderot's writings, which statement he puts to the test by opening a volume of Diderot as he assures us "quite at random". Inaccuracy is the penalty Diderot pays for his offhand, im- provised style. Arguments from Taste There would be no need to appeal to arguments from taste, according to Faguet, if the arguments from fact were con- clusive, but they are not. In this contingency arguments from taste are perfectly legitimate. He uses these arguments in two ways: 1 Brunei, in Revue d'histoire littiravre, 1902, p. 501. 2 Example: "Diderot, it is said, would never have written, 'une portion de votre habilet6'. It is not good. It should be 'une part'. But to affirm that Diderot was incapable of using portion instead of part, absolutely incapa- ble of using portion instead of part, so incapable of using portion instead of part that a work containing portion instead of part cannot be by Diderot that seems to me too arbitrary." (P. 720.) AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 165 First, by means of examples thoroughly and shrewdly criticized, he demonstrates that the Paradoxe is neither des- ultory nor incoherent. He sees in the free, delightful swing of the dialogue Diderot's mind functioning quite character- istically ; he sees him turning once more to the Observations, warming up, extracting new ideas, and arranging them not in cold, logical array but in their natural, vivid sequence. Next, he shows that many of the alterations introduced into the text of the Observations by the Paradoxe are very happy ones, which perceptibly improve the text. Finally, in the last and most striking pages of his article, he passes judgment on the Paradoxe as a whole. "They in- sist", he says, "that the Paradoxe is so badly written, is so devoid of taste, in such poor taste! Diderot's? Never! Naigeon's? No difficulty there!" To this Faguet retorts that almost invariably the Paradoxe is very well written and full of taste of the best kind. Still, the real question at issue he defines as whether it is possible that Naigeon wrote it, whether Naigeon was capable of writing it. Then, for about fifteen pages, Faguet quotes, in turn, long fragments of the Paradoxe and passages from Naigeon's genuine writings the sparkling, sprightly, witty, brilliant pages of the Para- doxe and the insipid, tame, dull, heavy pages of Naigeon. Each time he maliciously adds : "This is how Naigeon writes when he writes the Paradoxe" ; "This is how he writes when he signs himself Jacques- Andre Naigeon". He winds up ironically : Thus there are two Naigeons: one, who is ridiculous writing as himself ; the other, who is admirable writing as Diderot. The idea of producing something by Diderot exalts him to such a de- gree that he is transformed, and confers upon him, in their perfec- tion, qualities precisely the reverse of his own. This is a very unusual phenomenon ! 1 66 PROBLEMS AND METHODS In conclusion, Faguet asserts that a. The Paradoxe is not by Naigeon, because Naigeon was incapable of writing it. b. The Paradoxe has "Diderot" stamped on almost every line. c. The Paradoxe is by Diderot, or by someone equally skillful, possessed of his ideas, of his manner of exposition and turn of phrase. d. In the Paradoxe what is of doubtful authorship amounts to about three pages out of sixty. This is all very well. But the manuscript? "I do not try to explain it", says Faguet: "I pause before it. The arguments pointing to Diderot as the author of the Paradoxe have more weight with me than those based upon the Nai- geon manuscript." This, then, is where Bedier finds the question when in his turn he undertakes to explain the famous manuscript. With- out recourse to history, bibliography, or arguments from style or taste, he is going to probe the manuscript for its secret. "The dispute must necessarily centre round the Naigeon manuscript", says Dupuy; "that is the crux of the affair." Therefore Bedier concentrates upon it his attack, using for his preliminary study only the six pages reproduced by Dupuy in facsimile. On January 20, 1903, in his seminary at the Ecole normale superieure, he examines them closely with his students. His examination results in three observa- tions and a hypothesis: First observation. Every page is covered with erasures. The document looks like the manuscript of an author who has had difficulty in expressing his thought. But in the frequent additions in the margins there are no erasures. "What is this favorable influence that margins exert on Naigeon's talent ? " AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 167 Second observation. There are many corrections or additions written in over the text between the lines of the manuscript. The lines themselves are, therefore, constantly crossed out, but the cor- rections or additions between the lines never show an erasure. If Naigeon has trouble in rinding a definitive form for his idea while he is writing on the line, he discovers it immediately when he begins to write between the lines. What is this magical effect of interlines ? Third observation. There are numbers of corrections but never any repentirs; that is to say, Naigeon invariably writes a com- plete word or sentence before he corrects it. He fills his sheet first with an unbroken text, showing no indecision; then he scratches out certain words or parts of sentences and between the lines substitutes others, which also run off his pen without the least hesitancy. A weird and almost pathological way of working ! Thus Naigeon "is revealed to us as a writer who never decides upon a correction until he has filled out his line to the end; who is often dissatisfied with his first wording but delighted with the second; and whose style improves when he writes on the margins". How can these marvels be accounted for ? By a very simple hypothesis. Hypothesis. The manuscript is not the work of an author but of a copyist. Naigeon first makes a copy of the Paradoxe. Later he becomes possessed of a second text of the work, revised by Diderot. "He might have written out a brand-new copy . . . [but] he notices that the alterations can be made on the copy he already has without damaging it too much. To save trouble he dispenses with rewriting the whole, and, minutely erasing letter by letter the readings that Diderot has sacri need, he contents himself with correcting." 1 68 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Thus everything is clear : "Why should Naigeon, alone among writers, never correct in the lines but always between them?" Because the lines represent the first text; the additions above the lines, the second. "Why should Naigeon, alone among writers, never correct himself twice?" Because his variations represent only the second form of the text. "Why should Naigeon, alone among writers, never correct the marginal additions ? " Because they reproduce the read- ings of the second text that were too long to fit between the lines. You must bear in mind that Bedier forms his hypothesis solely upon the six pages of facsimile in Dupuy's edition. Therefore, in forming it, he makes "a triple wager that never in the thirty other pages of the manuscript will there be found (i) an erasure in the margins; (2) a double correc- tion in the interlines; (3) a repentir that may not and should not be explained as an accident in copying". Corroboration of the hypothesis. The next day, January 21, Bedier goes to the Bibliotheque nationale to see the manuscript, which Dupuy has deposited there. What answer does the manu- script give to these three questions ? 1. Are there erasures in the marginal additions? Never. 2. Are there double corrections in the interlines? Never. 3. Are there any repentir s? Never, except a few tiny mis- takes that can be only slips of the pen. 1 Moreover, the manuscript strengthens the hypothesis in an unlooked-for manner : the text in its original form is writ- es a matter of fact, there is one repentir or, at least, a correction having the appearance of one. For the sake of brevity I have not reproduced Bedier's discussion, which is a masterpiece of ingenuity and discernment. For the de- tails, see Etudes critiques, pp. 93-94 and 102-107. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 169 ten from beginning to end with the same ink; everything inserted above the lines, and all the marginal additions, are written with another, paler, more diluted ink. Conclusions. The conclusions are various and precise. 1. The Dupuy manuscript furnishes no argument that casts a doubt on the authenticity of the Paradoxe. Bedier's contribution leaves things just where they were before its discovery. 2. Diderot, the 'improviser,' could on occasions remodel the same work three separate times ; here he has been caught in the full swing of composition and revision. 3. Naigeon is reinstated and "amends [are] made for [his] having been considered for several months an 'audacious hoaxer', an 'impudent plagiarist', and a 'stupid forger'". His reverence for Diderot and his probity as an editor are made evident. The Paradoxe, therefore, is restored to Diderot, no longer by reason of disputable impressions as to style but by a minute and exact critical process. We shall see that in many other cases the means of proof are far less precise and that we must turn almost entirely to external evidence. But the affair of the Paradoxe is so typical an example, and so clearly brings to bear every argument possible to employ in such a quarrel, that it deserves analysis. 1 1 An analogous question of authenticity, over which the discussion has been prolonged not for three months but for three centuries, is that of Book V of Rabelais. The question will repay a careful examination. The principal texts with which to begin the study are the following: MARTY-LAVEATJX'S edition of Les (Euvres de Maistre Frangois Rabelais, Vol. IV, PP- 309-314. 1870-1903. BIRCH-HIESCHFELD. Das junfte Buck des Pantagruel. Leipzig, 1901. LEFRANC and BOULENGER. L'Isle Sonnante, text of 1562 (published by the Societe des etudes rabelaisiennes) (8vo). Paris, 1906. TILLEY, A. "The Authorship of the Isle Sonnante," Modern Language Review, 1906-1907, pp. 14 and 129; and many other contributions found in the Revue des etudes rabelaisiennes or in the Revue du seizieme siecle. CONS, L. "Le Probleme du Ve livre de Pantagruel," Revue bleue, April 25, 1914? and the discussion in Revue du seizieme siecle, 1914, PP- 273 and 279. 170 PROBLEMS AND METHODS II. PROBLEMS OF ATTRIBUTION SOLVED THROUGH BIBLIOGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE Problems of attribution are often solved by means of an attentive study of bibliographical evidence. In these cases it is hardly possible to speak of method : it is merely a ques- tion of exactness in research, of minute sifting of material, with an element of luck sometimes thrown in that enables us to lay our hands on an unnoticed bibliographical fact. Such evidence occurs oftenest in connection with short pieces in prose or in verse that make part of a collection. Whether owing to the error of a copyist or the negligence of an editor, whether from ignorance or from a wish to deceive the reader, writings are introduced under an author's name and after- ward included in his collected works until such time as the necessary cleaning up shall be effected. This process is carried out in one of the following ways: 1 . Through the discovery and study of manuscripts hitherto unknown or overlooked, leading to the definite naming of the author of a work of uncertain origin. 2. Through a minute comparison of editions, leading to the recovery of the forgotten original printing of the piece that is handed down under the wrong author's name. 3. Through a close scrutiny of the collections brought out so frequently up to the end of the Romantic period, where many short writings, especially poems, appear before being incorporated, rightly or wrongly, in some author's works. 4. Through a search in correspondences, memoirs, literary or critical miscellanies, in which many small works see the light before being given to the public. There is hardly an editor of the literature of the fifteenth, sixteenth, or seventeenth century who has not had to make restitutions by one of these means. Kervyn de Lettenhove, AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 171 when publishing the (Eumes de Georges Chastellain? one of the fifteenth-century rhetoriqueurs, attributes to Chastellain certain rondeaux that H. Guy returns to their rightful au- thors, Guillaume de Bissipat and Jean Marot. 2 P. Jannet includes 3 in his edition of Marot's works a poem called Douleur et volupte, which Guiffrey's edition repro- duces 4 among the pieces "falsely attributed to Marot", with- out, however, assigning to it other parentage. Guiffrey rests his decisions on personal impression. He feels that neither the pure Platonism of the little poem, the style, nor the meter is in the least "marotique". The true authorship re- mains in doubt until F. Gohin finds in the Bibliotheque nationale a manuscript of the poem, under the title Epistre d'un amant prisonnier a s'amye par la Maison Neufve. Now "la Maison Neufve" is the other name of the poet Antoine Heroet, whose whole work, in tone, ideas, and workmanship, resembles exactly Douleur et volupte. Laumonier, in preparing his edition of the (Eumes of Ronsard, has to set many things to rights. The sixth volume 5 contains a group of poems "attributed to Ronsard", with notes giving the principal reasons for accepting or rejecting them. Two cases deserve special mention: the Dithyram- bes, 6 which the former editors, Blanchemain and Marty- a ln 8 vols., 8vo. Bruxelles (Vol. VIII in 1866). 2 Histoire de la poesie jranqaise au XV l e siecle (8vo), Vol. I (L'Acole des rhetoriqueurs) , 40, p. 30. 1910. 3 Vol. I, p. 117. 4 Vol. II, p. 503. Villey, in his "Tableau chronologique des publications de Marot," Revue du seizieme siecle, 1920, pp. 46 and 206, restores to Clement Marot, by the same kind of bibliographical evidence, several poems that are really his, and discards others that have been wrongly attributed to him. See also the articles by J. Plattard, "De Pauthenticite de quelques poesies inedites de Clement Marot," Revue des Etudes rabelaisiennes, 1912, p. 68, and Bulletin de la societe de I'histoire du protestantisme franfais, 1912, p. 278. 5 Pp. 447 ff. 8vo. Lemerre, 1914-1919. 6 Ibid. pp. 182 ff. 172 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Laveaux, denying to Ronsard, ascribe to Bertrand Berger, and Laumonier restores to Ronsard ; and, on the other hand, three sonnets and an elegy of three hundred and thirty lines by Amadis Jamyn, which Blanchemain and Marty-Laveaux have incorporated in Ronsard's works. 1 The restitution of the first two sonnets is a good example of the role that a minute study of editions can play in these questions of attribution. III. OPUSCULES AND FACTUMS OF PASCAL In 1657, after the eighteenth Provinciate, Pascal suddenly breaks off the series of letters. This cessation is explained by historians to their own entire satisfaction even by those most familiar with the heroic period of Jansenism on one of the following grounds: Pascal renounces literary glory; he gives in to the prayers of the friends that keep preaching the spirit of charity to him ; he has heard the voice of God himself in the miracle of the Holy Thorn, etc. In reality, on March 17, 1657, the Assembly of the Clergy decrees the strict enforcement of the bull of Pope Alexan- der VII which declares open war and no quarter on Jansen- ism and its supporters and obliges every priest to sign a formula pledging himself to adhere to the formal condemna- tion of Jansen. This is what so brusquely stops the sequence of the Provinciates. The time has gone by for discussing whether or not the Jansenists are heretics. It has become a question of transferring the struggle from the theological to the judicial field: of prevailing upon the Parlement to re- fuse to register the bull on the plea of the legal nullity, as 1 See the Introduction of Laumonier's critical edition (Soci6t6 des textes franqais modernes, 1914), p. xiv, and, for details of the facts and arguments, his article "Trois pieces attribuees a Ronsard, restituees a Amadis Jamyn," Revue d'histoire Htte'raire, 1906, pp. 112 ff. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 173 regards France, of the new pontifical act "to shield the Jansenist doctrine behind Gallican liberties". At this crisis 1 appears the Lettre d'un avocat au Parle- ment a un de ses amis, touchant I' inquisition que I' on veut etablir en France a I'occasion de la nouvelle bulle du Pape Alexandre VII. Who wrote it? Lanson discusses and estab- lishes the authorship in an article in the Revue d'histoire litteraire. 2 PREVIOUS ATTRIBUTIONS Early evidence is contradictory. Nicole is said to have attributed it to Pascal; Perier assigned it to Antoine Le Maitre. Again, in a manuscript used by Faugere for his edi- tion, the Lettre is inserted as a continuation of the eighteen Promnciales. To sum up, the attribution was uncertain, but the choice lay between Pascal and Le Maitre. What are we to think? INDICATIONS GIVEN BY AN ANALYSIS OF THE PIECE 1. General indications. The letter is full of canon law, which fact points to the lawyer Le Maitre but does not exclude Pascal, who shows in the Promnciales that he can make a fine display of learning, authorities, and references. 2. Particular indications. Lanson first irrefutably estab- lishes that two pages, at least, belong to Pascal. He dis- covers in the Pensees some notes that are clearly a rough draft, a skeleton, developed in the Lettre. Moreover, in the manuscript of the Pensees these notes are crossed off, which with Pascal is an habitual reminder that the material thus scored has been used elsewhere. Comparisons between other pages of the Lettre and notes in the Pensees prove that Pas- cal certainly wrote at least four or five pages of the work. ijune i, 1657. 2 "Apres les Provinciates," Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1901, pp. 1-34. 174 PROBLEMS AND METHODS 3. Arguments from style and skill. " It is here," says Lan- son, "that arguments based on style and on the general arrangement of the material, which are valueless when they stand alone, may reasonably be invoked. ... If a single page is by Pascal, the entire letter is by him, because of the perfect unity of tone, taste, and movement." Lanson is to prove this by a detailed analysis of the artistic processes used in the letter. He remarks that these arguments from taste have here a special force, for it is a question not of fleeting effects but of a method personal to Pascal, which his friends at Port- Royal could never have employed. If, therefore, in addition to the indisputable comparisons mentioned above, it is evi- dent that the same literary and artistic processes are used throughout the Lettre, its attribution to Pascal is fairly well assured. Now the Lettre shows a. Fictitious characters introduced as spokesmen for his arguments ; b. The irony, so familiar in Pascal, so foreign to the staid gravity of the Messieurs of Port- Royal ; c. The logic of his opponent used to reach an absurd and revolting conclusion ; d. The same characteristics of style as in the Provin- ciales. 1 The Lettre d'un avocat can thus with full security be assigned to Pascal. It is important to notice, in the second half of the article, how Lanson applies the same method to the nine Factums of the "Cures de Paris" addressed to the "Vicaires gene- x An argument that would be unconvincing, according to Lanson, if it were an anonymous work that was being assigned to Pascal, but one that has value because the choice lies between Le Maitre and Pascal. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 175 raux" against the Apologie des casuistes by the Pere Pirot. 1 The authorship of the Factums had been long disputed, in fact, since the seventeenth century. Some said that these short pamphlets were "the work of Arnauld, Nicole, and Pascal"; others, that Pascal wrote the second, third, and seventh; Sainte-Beuve, that "Pascal had a hand in all of them" ; still others, that his collaboration was limited to the fifth and sixth, or included the first. Lanson, in taking up the question, bases his discussion on intrinsic proofs. First, he accumulates comparisons of de- tail, which show that Pascal uses material from the Provin- ciates, from the Pensees, or from various notes; next, he searches for what he calls those "marks of authorship that are less visible and depend less than the general quality of the style upon the individual impressions and sensitiveness of the reader favorite processes of reasoning, logical treat- ment, method of proof"; finally, he draws his conclusion that the first, second, fifth, and sixth Factums are by Pascal and should have a place in editions of the great Jansenist's works. This short study is a model of rapid, sound, and convincing discussion. 2 x At the end of the year 1657. 2 Still more brilliant is Lanson's demonstration, in the French Quarterly, January-March, 1920, that the Discours sur les passions de I'amour is by Pascal. Without going into details here, the essential point that he makes is this: the Discours can belong only to Pascal, because, in comparing it with the Pensees, similarities are found between it and the text that the editors of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries took from Pascal's manuscript, a text unknown in the seventeenth century except to Pascal himself. If the Discours were the work of some imitator of Pascal, it would resemble the text of the Port-Royal edition ; as it reproduces words and phrases not discovered before the nineteenth century, its attribution to Pascal is the only possible solution. This solution displeases certains divots of Pascal, and it is indeed amusing to see them setting forth arguments of mere 'feeling' which, of course, do not hold against well-established facts. 1 76 PROBLEMS AND METHODS IV. PROBLEM OF THE ATTRIBUTION OF THE DISCOURS DE LA SERVITUDE VOLONTAIRE Is the Discours de la servitude volontaire also known as the Contr'un written wholly or partly by Montaigne's friend La Boetie, or is it not ? If he did not write any of it, who is the author ? If he wrote only a part, who is respon- sible for the additions and alterations? May it be Mon- taigne himself? This is the problem raised by a recent polemic. 1 STATEMENT OF THE QUESTION The facts are as follows : 1. Etienne de la Boetie dies in 1563, leaving his books and papers to Montaigne. 2. In 1571 Montaigne publishes the (Euvres diver ses of La Boetie, not including in this edition, however, the Dis- cours de la servitude volontaire. He explains that he does not give the book to the public because he finds its "fagon 1 The principal documents of the controversy are as follows : The offensive is taken by Dr. Armaingaud, "Montaigne et La Boetie," Revue politique et par- lementaire, Vol. XLVII (March, 1906) , p. 499, and Vol. XLVIII (May, 1906) , p. 322. The replies come thick and fast: P. Villey, in Revue d'histoire littiraire, 1906, p. 727; P. Bonnefon, in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1906, p. 737, and in Revue politique et parlementaire, Vol. LI (1907), p. 107; Strowski, "A pro- pos de Montaigne," Revue philomathique de Bordeaux et du sud-ouest, 1907, p. 59 ("Montaigne et 1'action politique"), with a rejoinder by Dr. Armain- gaud, "Le Discours de la servitude volontaire," same volume, pp. 193 and 303 ; R. Dezeimeris, " Sur 1'objectif reel du Discours d'Etienne de la Boetie," Actes de I'Academie de Bordeaux, 1907, with a reply by Dr. Armaingaud, "Le Tyran du Discours de la servitude volontaire est-il Charles VI?" in Revue philomathique de Bordeaux et du sud-ouest, 1907, p. 547. Also an article by Barckhausen, " A propos du Contr'un," Revue historique de Bordeaux, March- April, 1909, and a book by J. Barrere, Etienne de la Boetie contre Nicolas Machiavel (Bordeaux, 1908). Dr. Armaingaud gathers most of his articles, more or less revised, into one volume, Montaigne pamphletaire : L'Enigme du Contr'un (8vo) (Paris, 1910). AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 177 trop delicate et mignarde pour 1'abandonner au grossier et pesant air d'une si mal plaisante saison". 1 3. In 1574 the Reveille^matin des jranqais et de leurs voi- sins, a Protestant polemic of extreme violence and brutality, prints long passages in Latin and in French from the Discours. 4. In 1576, thirteen years after La Boetie's death, appears the Memoires de I'Estat de la France sous Charles le Neu- fiesme, containing in the third volume, complete but still anonymous, the Discours de la servitude volontaire. 5. In 1580 Montaigne publishes the first edition of the Essais. The chapter "De 1'amitie" 2 is a touching and im- mortal tribute to the tender affection that united him and La Boetie. At the beginning of the chapter Montaigne speaks of his intention to print in that very place the Discours de la servitude volontaire, u si gentil et tout plein de ce qu'il est possible". However, after writing his admirable pages on friendship, when on the point of adding the text of the Discours he changes his mind and declares point-blank that he is not going to print it : Parce que j'ai trouve que cet ouvrage a depuis ete mis en lu- miere, et a mauvaise fin, par ceux qui cherchent a troubler et changer Petat de notre police sans se soucier s'ils 1'amenderont, qu'ils Font mele a d'autres ecrits de leur farine, je me suis dedit de le loger ici. Here we have Montaigne about to print the manuscript and then abandoning his purpose; protesting against the pub- lished text and the use it has been put to, yet not attempting to counteract the effect by releasing the correct version; finally, keeping his own counsel as to how a copy fell into Protestant hands. ^'Avertissement au lecteur," August 10, 1570. 2 I, 27. 1 78 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Such are the historical data. Until 1906 the Discours or Contr'un is reprinted without question both among La Boetie's works and separately under his name. But in 1906 a revolutionary theory is advanced, defended with learning and eloquence, and the battle begins. THEORY OF DR. ARMAINGAUD The theory abruptly brought forward by Dr. Armaingaud may be summarized thus : 1. It is an error to believe, as has always been believed, that the Contr'un is simply a rhetorical exercise, an eloquent declamation against tyrants in general, which the Protestants take possession of because they can apply it more or less aptly to the Catholic king, their natural enemy. 2. It is an error to suppose, with the historian De Thou, that the Contr'un is a controversial paper written by La Boetie against Montmorency and Henri II on the occasion of the revolt of the Bordelais in 1548. 3. The truth is that the Contr'un is a political pamphlet explainable only if it is considered as directed against Henri III, king of Poland in 1573, king of France in 1574. 4. Therefore the most important pages of the Contr'un cannot be the work of La Boetie (this is the negative side of the thesis). 5. The alterations in the text, the inflammatory additions to La Boetie's vague schoolboy eloquence, are the work of Montaigne himself (this statement, subversive of every tra- dition, is the positive side of the thesis). IMPORTANCE OF THE QUESTION Is it necessary to dwell upon the importance of the ques- tion? If this daring thesis can be justified, all our ideas of La Boetie and of Montaigne must be revised. La Boetie AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 179 must be stripped of his chief claim to glory, the pages that have found an echo in France whenever the people have made a stand for liberty against an increasingly tyrannical autocracy. Worse than this, Montaigne's image, the product of three centuries, must ruthlessly be effaced. We have thought of him, not as indifferent to truth, but as possessing a slightly skeptical and detached wariness which held him aloof, un- scathed by the fray ; respectful to the established government and to the State religion ; not antipathetic to the persecuted Protestants, but hostile to the idea of taking part in the fight. Now we discover him actively involved in the political and religious struggles of his time, aggressive and in fighting mood, indignant at the massacre of St. Bartholomew, vio- lently aroused against the "tyrant" and ready to proclaim his contempt, to incite the people of France to revolt, if not to regicide. Our idea of Montaigne's personal character as well is hopelessly upset. The delightful chapter on friendship, "Je 1'aimois parce que c'etait lui, parce que c'etoit moy", filled with a charm so touching that few read it without tears, cloaks one of the basest acts that a writer can commit. If Dr. Armaingaud's theory is correct, Montaigne, with craft and dissimulation, charges to the account of a friend, for whom he professes the warmest and most delicate affection, passages that he himself has written, and that at the time cannot help injuring his friend's reputation. He combines deceit with baseness. It is easy to understand the excitement caused by such hypotheses, the violence with which Montaigne's friends con- tradict and fight them. Let us see how Dr. Armaingaud presents and sustains his position. i8o PROBLEMS AND METHODS ARGUMENT OF DR. ARMAINGAUD The negative part of the thesis consists in proving that the allusions contained in the Contr'un apply, and can apply only, to Henri III. To this end Dr. Armaingaud chooses first the important and celebrated passage of the Discours in which La Boetie describes the tyrant: Voir un nombre infini . . . souffrir les paillardises, les cruautez, non pas d'une armee, . . . mais d'un seul, non pas d'un Hercules ni d'un Samson, mais d'un seul hommeau, et le plus souvent du plus lasche et du plus femelin de la nation : non pas accoustume a la poudre des batailles, mais encore a grand peine au sable des tournois"; non pas qui puisse par force commander aux hommes, mais tout empesche de servir vilement a la moindre femmelette. This portrait suggests to him a remark and a question: It is far too detailed to be a portrait of the traditional tyrant. If it is the portrait of an individual, whose portrait is it? It cannot be, as De Thou will have it, an allusion to Henri II, a cruel but brave prince, a gallant knight, intrepid in tournaments, who by his amours with Diane de Poitiers and others gives the lie to the last trait mentioned by La Boetie. However, "there is a Valois in whose character all these blemishes are found Henri III". 1 Hereafter Dr. Armaingaud, in his efforts to prove that every important allusion can refer only to Henri III and to his reign, finds two fields of investigation open to him : 1. "An analysis of the qualifications by which the author characterizes his tyrant, and a comparison between them and the well-known moral and physical traits of the Due d'Anjou, later Henri III." 1 2 . An application of the same method to the deeds, events, and policies that the tyrant is responsible for. iRevue politique et parlementaire, Vol. XLVII, p. 504. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 181 This task Dr. Armaingaud undertakes equipped with a sound knowledge of history. At the end of his long pages of proof, the details of which it is useless to reproduce here, he is satisfied that he has established his thesis. Up to this point, in the negative part of the thesis, Dr. Armaingaud applies only the entirely natural method of historical allusions. 1 In establishing his positive thesis that every passage denied to La Boetie must be attributed to Montaigne, he uses in succession three sorts of arguments: a. Arguments of psychological probability drawn from the conditions of the publication of the "Contr'un" Dr. Ar- maingaud finds Montaigne's attitude suspicious and his sin- cerity open to doubt. Montaigne is La Boetie's heir, the trustee of his thought. He denies having had anything to do with publishing the Contr'un ; but can he implicate him- self without danger of death ? His testimony is, then, value- less ; his volte-face in the course of the chapter on friendship is disquieting. Besides, argues Dr. Armaingaud, no one else alludes to the Discours until 1574, no one except Montaigne knows of its existence, no one possesses the text; if, there- fore, the text is given to the Protestants, who can have given it to them ? If it contains incendiary passages that La Boetie cannot have written, who if not Montaigne can have written them? b. Arguments of psychological probability drawn from Montaigne's political attitude. Dr. Armaingaud attempts to place the personal character and political record of Montaigne in such a light that what La Boetie cannot have written in the Contr'un only Montaigne can have added. The latter is in Paris, after the peace of Saint-Germain, from August, 1570, 1 He does add one appeal to reason : The Discours, as De Thou says, vio- lently roused its contemporaries. Would this be possible for a writing that dealt with the preceding reign, with events of sixteen years before ? 1 82 PROBLEMS AND METHODS to March, 1571 ; at court he finds tolerance in the air; he is ready to accept honors, perhaps a place in the government. Then suddenly he leaves the court and Paris for the soli- tude of his chateau in the heart of Perigord. Why? Is it not because he foresees the end of this tolerant policy, the approaching triumph of the fanaticism of Catherine de Medicis? In 1572 the Saint-Barthelemy, and the terrible massacres of Bordeaux and of Guyenne almost under his chateau windows, are sinister justifications of his move. Again, what at this date are Montaigne's affiliations ? Who are his associates? Protestants or 'tolerants.' Dr. Armain- gaud carefully makes out a list with descriptive details. Now at this moment (as Dr. Armaingaud explains) the Protestants are pulling themselves together, multiplying their appeals against tyranny. The Contr'un, one of their appeals, a polemical treatise against the reigning tyrant, appears anonymously when Montaigne, sole possessor of the text, is precisely in the frame of mind to write such a paper. What follows if not that Montaigne, sick at heart, rebellious, sym- pathizing with the vanquished, takes the occasion to publish La Boetie's dissertation touched up to further the desired end ? In this way he can without too much risk express his feelings and serve the cause that is secretly dear to him, "mais jusqu'au feu exclusivement, si je puis", as he liked to say. c. Arguments taken from Montaigne's personal attitude. Dr. Armaingaud believes that Montaigne gives us good rea- son to doubt his veracity. (1) Montaigne tells us some fine tales about his ancient lineage, and certain episodes of his travels in Italy. (2) He contradicts himself as to La Boetie: he first says that he composed the Contr'un at the age of eighteen, but later he corrects this to sixteen. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 183 (3) The very way in which Montaigne announces that he is going to publish the Discours de la servitude volontaire, and then that he has changed his mind and is not going to publish it, is "an evident, intentional contradiction implying lack of sincerity". (4) If it is true that the Contr'un has been published "a mauvaise fin", and that the work is of a sort "a troubler et changer Petat de notre police", Montaigne finds himself in the following dilemma : if at any time during the ten years from 1571 to 1580 he intended to publish the Discours in his book, it can have been only "a mauvaise fin" and in order to cause a disturbance ; if he had no such intention, he deceives us by saying that he had and that he renounced it later. Finally, if the text of the Discours has been mixed with "autre farine, altere, falsifie", Montaigne's plain duty is, by publishing the genuine text, to reestablish the facts. By not publishing it he defames the character of La Boetie, and out of this discreet, respectful magistrate of the established order he makes the revolutionary that posterity has thought him. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS OF DR. ARMAINGAUD 1. The essential parts of the Contr'un are not by La Boetie. 2 . That Montaigne has an understanding with the Protes- tant editors of the Contr'un is evident not that he adopts the new religion, but that, after the massacre of St. Bartholo- mew, touched by "the unhappy and desperate cause", ill- content to "look on with an ironical smile", he actively enters the political arena. 3. Montaigne rewrites the Contr'un to make sure that La Boetie says nothing that he does not want him to say. 1 84 PROBLEMS AND METHODS THE COUNTERATTACK Such a theory is bound to stir up vehement opposition, which comes without delay. I need not go into details here. What interests us especially is not the contents of these ar- ticles but the methods we find in them ; it is on this aspect only that I shall dwell. i . The reply of P. Bonnejon. The adversaries of Dr. Ar- maingaud naturally attack each half of his thesis separately, in order to prove, first, that the Contr'un is not aimed at Henri III, and, next, that Montaigne cannot be held re- sponsible for the additions and alterations imputed to him. Bonnefon replies to Dr. Armaingaud with the following arguments : a. No established fact justifies the affirmation that the tyrant in the Contr'un is Henri III rather than any other contemporary prince rather than the traditional tyrant. Dr. Armaingaud, becoming hypnotized by certain tempting resemblances, wants to twist everything to fit his hypothesis. Doubtless the Discours, infected with the general tone of the collections in which it has been published, has been open to interpretations and in places takes on a precise and specific sense; it is possible to read into its lofty pages an appeal against the power of the Valois ; but it must be proved that these pages can be aimed at Henri III only, that they refer to events posterior to 1574 only. This, according to Bonnefon, Dr. Armaingaud does not do. He confuses possible applica- tions of the text to certain historical events with indisputable allusions to these events. b. As a matter of fact, the passages against the tyrant seem on close analysis like a rhetorical exercise conforming exactly to school traditions; the famous sentence supposed to describe Henri III is nothing but a long balancing of AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 185 antitheses, where each clause suggests another. The literary analysis of the text, if carried out without prejudice, goes against Dr. Armaingaud's thesis. c. If the Protestants add the Contr'un to their literature, it is as a piece of polemic against tyranny in general. They rearrange and elaborate the text but slightly here and there. If they wished, and if Montaigne wished, to make the Contr'un a deliberate attack against a given person, they would not fail to accumulate definite grievances, allusions clear enough to be understood by everyone ; it is not effective propaganda to make allusions so vague that it is neces- sary to wait three hundred years until the coming of Dr. Armaingaud to discover in them open attacks on the king of France then on the throne ! Probability, logical and psychological, is against Dr. Armaingaud's thesis. d. Nor is strict chronology favorable to him. He con- tinually mentions the Contr'un as a work published "in 1574 and 1576", which, broadly speaking, is true. But we know definitely through other channels that the Reveille- matin, containing the famous sentence about the tyrant, the corner-stone of Dr. Armaingaud's entire argument, is printed before March 22, 1574. Thus every allusion must pass muster not only for Henri III but for the Due d'Anjou, as he is known before that date, and such is not the case. Before March, 1574, the Huguenots do not show any special hatred for the Due d'Anjou, who has not yet mounted the "tyrant's" throne; on the contrary, they base their hopes on him. Chronology is, therefore, against Dr. Armaingaud's thesis. e. Montaigne's contradictory statements, his volte-face, which seem so suspicious to Dr. Armaingaud, remain to be explained. In the collection of La Boetie's (Euvres that Montaigne publishes he is reluctant to include the Contr'un, whose dangerous nature he recognizes; he intends to join it 1 86 PROBLEMS AND METHODS to the beautiful chapter consecrated to the memory of his friend and withholds both chapter and manuscript until the first volume of the Essais shall be published. This day comes (1580); but, as the Contr'un has already been printed by the Protestants, Montaigne, vexed, refuses to harbor it in his book. The chapter, however, is already written and well written ; the plan of it pleases him ; and so he leaves it just as it is, explaining in a few additional lines why he does not keep his promise. In the Essais there are other instances of this practice; there is no need to look for diabolical or Machiavellian intentions. "The text", as Bonnefon wisely remarks, "makes perfectly good sense without distortion; the best thing to do is to stick to it, and not to search too curiously for all sorts of cabalistic meanings. Sometimes we are tricked through fear of being tricked." 2. The reply of Villey. To these common-sense and schol- arly arguments Villey 1 adds others of even greater force, which once more show his fine critical sense. He aptly de- fines the attitude of mind of scholars who, like Dr. Armain- gaud, have but "one idea": "They accumulate a mass of insignificant facts which, crystallizing round their ruling idea, give it apparent solidity." This is an excellent sugges- tion of method. Like a clever lawyer, Villey, in the statement of his thesis, makes all possible concessions to his adversary : Either La Boetie's text has not suffered glaring corruption, or else Montaigne is the author of the interpolations or a party to them. Let us accept the latter concjusion : if indeed there are in the Contr'un important additions directed against Henri III, Montaigne is responsible. But it is just this first point that has not been established: nothing shows that La Boetie's text has been fundamentally altered, metamorphosed by the first editors. 1 Revue d'histoire litttraire, 1906, pp. 727-736. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 187 a. Criticism of the allusions. Villey begins by attacking the point that Dr. Armaingaud finds most striking : "non pas qui puisse par force commander aux hommes, mais tout empesche de servir vilement a la moindre femmelette". No one but Henri III, according to Dr. Armaingaud, can be in- tended; on this assumption he builds his proof. "The lan- guage of the sixteenth century", Villey replies, "leads the most wary into temptation"; Dr. Armaingaud, yielding to the temptation, has mistranslated. Empesche de does not mean "incapable of", but "engrossed by", "absorbed in"; other examples prove this. The question is settled, however, by the Latin translation, published simultaneously with the text : "qui impudicae mulierculae servitio totus addictus sit". Thus Henri III is eliminated; the argument built on the supposed allusion is unsupported. Dr. Armaingaud next ransacks the character of Henri III for every other feature of the portrait; doubtless with diligence some of them can be found, but all are found with equal or greater certainty in the traditional idea of the tyrant. The real sources of the Contr'un are not the life or the reign of Henri III : they are Rome, Greece, the Orient. One by one, Villey discusses the different allusions tracked down by Dr. Armaingaud, showing either that they do not tally with history or that they would have been unintelli- gible to the public which in a polemical pamphlet is un- heard-of. Since all portraits of tyrants are alike, it is possible for the Protestants of 1573 to appropriate La Boe tie's Dis- cours. "But we must not conclude that, because it is ap- plicable to one epoch, it is inspired by the events of that epoch. The multiplicity of the possible allusions proves that there is no precise allusion to be found." b. Uncertainty of its attribution to Montaigne. To de- molish Dr. Armaingaud's second position Villey uses methods 1 88 PROBLEMS AND METHODS of great interest, founded upon a detailed comparison of the language and the habitual processes of Montaigne with those of the author of the Contr'un. Villey proceeds as follows : (1) When Montaigne quotes Plutarch, whether or not verba- tim, he uses Amyot's translation ; when the author of the Contr'un quotes Plutarch, which he does frequently, he never uses Amyot. (2) When Montaigne cites the Latin poets he gives the exact Latin text: he never translates; above all, he could not have brought himself to translate into verse, for he cannot, as he says, "se souffrir en vers". In a parallel case the author of the Contr'un translates into French verse. (3) Montaigne preserves the Latin form of ancient proper names: he writes "Darius", "Caecilius", "Pyrrhus", "Tacitus" or "Cornelius Tacitus"; "he does so on principle". The author of the Contr'un follows an exactly opposite principle: he writes "Daire", "Cecile", "Pyrrhe", "Tacite". Dr. Armaingaud has the "impression" that the Contr'un is written in the same style as the Essais. Villey does not claim that his counterarguments are "absolutely decisive"; "nevertheless", he says, "placed in the opposite balance, I think they outweigh the argument that Dr. Armaingaud bases on a very subjective impression". To me they seem to sink the scales unhesitatingly. I should be sorry not to quote here the last lines of Villey's article, in which he puts us on our guard, for deli- cate questions like these, against brilliant but precipitate hypotheses, and daring but ruinous conclusions. If, with all his learning, Dr. Armaingaud has been able to advance so far without encountering a single obstacle that shat- ters his ill-founded hypothesis, do we realize with what circum- spection we should test the ground we build on, and make sure of our corner-stones? 1 1 Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1906, p. 736. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 189 I shall break off my account of this endless polemic at what I believe to be the victory of the Bonnefon-Villey party. The dispute spreads over more than three years, without contributing anything really new, without having recourse to any method that deserves careful consideration. 1 V. METHODS IN QUESTIONS OF AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION How shall we define and classify the methods and proc- esses that we have seen operating in the solution of these widely different problems? "The instinctive tendency of the human mind is to pin its faith to any existing sign of author- ship." 2 A name on a title-page, an attribution in a catalogue, are strong inducements to accept the authorship or the at- tribution without further discussion. Naturally, it would be ridiculous to doubt for an instant a work whose genuineness is beyond question; but when it is a matter of secondary works, unknown works, posthumous works added to the writ- ings of an author long since dead, works published anony- x To all the examples discussed here, add among others the following: H. Chamard, "La date et 1'auteur du Quintil Horatian," Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1898, p. 54; P. Martinon, "Note sur le Philandre attribue a May- nard," ibid. 1908, p. 495; C. Beaugrand, "Est-ce un madrigal de Bossuet?" ibid. 1901, p. 35 ; G. Ascoli, "Bayle et I' Avis aux rejugies" ibid. 1913, p. 517, an excellent article in which the discussion of the various internal and external proofs is managed with much skill. Finally, quite recently in an article in the Temps (October 16, 1919) Pierre Louys, the author of Aphrodite and of the Chansons de Bilitis, defended the thesis unexpected, to say the least that Corneille is the author of most of Moliere's great comedies. His argu- ments do not seem to have made much impression on the world of scholars; nevertheless, it is interesting and amusing from the point of view of method to follow the discussion that this question provoked. See, in particular, A. Poizat, in Revue bleue, 1919, p. 682 ; P. P. Plan, in Mercure de France, Vol. CXXXVI (1919), p. 603; H. Lyonnet, mNouvelle Revue, May i, 1920, p. 33; H. Bidou, in Revue critique des idees et des livres, Vol. XXVII (1920), p. i. 2 Langlois and Seignobos, Introduction aux etudes historiques, p. 67. PROBLEMS AND METHODS mously or pseudonymously, our first attitude should be one of prudence if not of mistrust. If we look at the subject as a whole, the analyzed examples teach us certain definite lessons. 1. Beware of evidence too hastily gathered; do not an- nounce a victory too soon ; avoid premature conclusions : on a first reading, the famous Naigeon manuscript, for example, apparently leaves no room for doubt; Dr. Armaingaud's arguments have a disturbing force. Besides, do not statistics prove that attempts to deprive an author of some work that is universally attributed to him often result, when all is said, in restoring it to him with doubts removed ? 2 . In every case confine yourself to the text, without pre- conceived ideas, without the desire to prove at all costs its authenticity or lack of authenticity. You have watched Bedier, Lanson, Villey, and the rest reach their most decisive conclusions solely by close application to the text. 3. The process that seems to recommend itself in prob- lems of this kind is the following: (i) after separating the facts sharply one from another, analyze and arrange them (compare Bedier 's statements about the Naigeon manuscript, and Villey 's study of the working-methods and mannerisms of the author of the Contr'un) ; (2) form a hypothesis as to the authenticity of a part or of the whole; (3) verify the hypothesis by returning to the text the hypothesis, if cor- rect, should allow you to explain every fact singled out in your preliminary work. The arguments that arise in these problems in literary his- tory resemble those found in the critical investigations of general history. They are of two sorts : arguments from in- ternal analysis ; arguments from external analysis. 1 1 See Introduction aux itudes historiques, chap, iii, "Critique de prove- nance," pp. 66-78. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 191 INTERNAL CRITICISM 1. For such problems internal criticism or analysis con- sists first in collating all indications, information, and evi- dence bearing on the author and the origins of his work : the handwriting; the manuscript itself (its appearance, its pe- culiarities) ; the first edition or any interesting reprints, in short, all bibliographical evidence as defined in another part of this chapter. 2. Next should follow the arguments we call ' philologi- cal ' : arguments based on the language, the vocabulary, the syntax; on mannerisms of expression and of style. Every great writer often in proportion to his greatness has turns of phrase, of expression, that belong only to him; personal tricks of style that may be sufficiently marked to enable us to identify him. Again caution is needed: a few isolated facts prove nothing ; peculiarities may be seized upon by someone else and successfully imitated. Under the title A la maniere de . . . two humorists have published a collec- tion of pastiches of the best French writers, into which all the tricks of these writers are cleverly introduced; Voltaire knows so well how to imitate the style of one of his enemies that in after years the latter is deceived himself. Moreover, the language and the style of a writer are not fixed; in an early work they may not be definitely formed. At times the style varies with the work: Montaigne's Voyages seems in many places to be by a different hand from the Essais. Ac- cumulated in sufficient numbers, however, these philological arguments, carefully studied and criticized, have great weight. 3. A third class of argument is drawn from the facts or names mentioned in the work the allusions of every kind that it contains (we have seen such an argument used in the quarrel over the Contr'un). Chronology is of powerful as- 192 PROBLEMS AND METHODS sistance here, not infrequently betraying the forger or the untrustworthy editor. Nevertheless, once more you must guard against unjustified conclusions : an historical allusion that chronologically cannot be attributed to a writer may reveal an interpolation, an addition, without condemning the whole work ; allusions to works published after the one un- der discussion may mean only that the books mentioned were known and read before their publication, as often happened a few centuries ago. 4. It is only if we can produce some dependable argu- ments from internal analysis that we may safely add to them considerations of taste or personal impression. The latter should not be neglected : they may reenforce the proof (though they do not furnish it). Faguet guesses correctly about the Paradoxe sur le comedien, but others are deceived about Book V of Rabelais and about Montaigne. The best writers have their off moments, in which they produce pages unworthy of themselves. Or they may systematically affect different mannerisms (compare Montesquieu's style in the Lettres persanes with his style in some parts of the Esprit des lois). Finally, a writer may try to disguise his own style. In no case should the reader's subjective impression decide a question of attribution. EXTERNAL CRITICISM To the arguments from internal analysis should be added the information gained through external criticism. a. The connection between the work and the life of the author, studied particularly in his correspondence and auto- biographical documents. b. The conditions under which the book is printed: if there is an editor, his worth and personality, the degree of confidence he inspires, etc. AUTHENTICITY AND ATTRIBUTION 193 c. References made to the document by contemporary witnesses or subsequent writers. This testimony should be criticized and studied with an eye to whether it follows a single tradition or represents different sources. Rare are the texts that, subjected to an impartial ex- amination, do not eventually give up their secrets. In every case the methods used in problems of attribution or of au- thenticity are those that need the keenest critical sense, those that connect most closely the historical study of literature with general history and its successful processes. CHAPTER VIII QUESTIONS OF VERSIFICATION To describe in detail the methods used in the study of versification a thick volume would be needed: metres and rhythms constitute nowadays just as special branches as language or as literature itself, requiring a careful, complete technical preparation. If this preparation is too much to expect of a young student, he should at any rate gain a certain familiarity with the domain of versification ground often touched upon by the works of literary history and sown with difficulties and obstacles. He should be able to prepare an intelligent commentary on a poem, to write with- out absurd heresies a chapter on the versification of an author, or to supply the introduction and annotation to a critical edition of a poetic work. The aim of the following pages is to help him in these undertakings. The important and valuable aid furnished today to the study of versification by experimental phonetics will not be included. This, again, is a field for trained specialists work- ing with an equipment and along lines of which it is impos- sible to give here a detailed account. Those who desire to initiate themselves may read with advantage works such as G. Lote, L'Alexandrin franfais d'apres la phonetique experi- mentale 1 ' E. Landry, Theorie du rythme 2 ; P. Verrier, L'Isochronisme dans le vers fran$ais. 3 They will find in them descriptions of instruments, and accounts of experi- ments and of the resulting conclusions. *2d ed., 3 vols. Paris, 1914. 2 Paris, 1911. 3 Paris, 1912. 194 QUESTIONS OF VERSIFICATION 195 For our purpose it will suffice, first, to make known the implements, the works essential to an understanding of the structure and the artistic elements of French poetry; next, to draw up an outline of research, a list of questions to be raised in studying a text in verse. By this means it will be easy to find the points that call for remark or discussion and to reach the literary and aesthetic conclusions that are their natural consequences. I. IMPLEMENTS The acquisition of bibliographical information regarding French verse is greatly simplified today by Hugo P. Thieme, Essai sur I'histoire du vers frangais.* The title might have been more judiciously chosen : it should be, rather, Introduc- tion bibliographique a la versification jranqaise. The work has obvious faults, which the reviews in the special periodi- cals have emphasized without mercy. Indeed, there is little of importance in the first two hundred pages, which, com- menting upon the references given in Part II, merely rear- range them ; but in this second part there is a valuable and systematic enumeration of everything or almost everything that has been printed on French verse and related subjects. First, there is a comprehensive Bibliographic chronologique et analytique, extending from the documents of the early fourteenth century to works published in 1914, and com- pleted by references to periodicals in every language, from the Journal des savants in 1665 up to 1914. Next follow Tableaux analytiques, where all references given elsewhere are reassembled under such headings as "Accent," "Alexan- drine," "Assonance," "Ballad," "Caesura," "Rhyme," "En- jambement," "Ode," "Quarrels and polemics," "Sonnet." 1 8vo, Paris, 1916. 1 96 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Lastly, an Index chronologique arranges each text in its place in the bibliographical history of French verse. A few moments spent in glancing through this book will give an idea of what a help it may be. As has been justly said of Thieme's Guide bibliographique, it will always be possible to indulge in criticizing it and pointing out its errors, but it will never be possible to do without it. For some of our students, nevertheless, Thieme's book has another shortcoming, for which the author this time is not responsible. He takes for granted that the reader knows the essential principles and terminology of versification as well as the allied problems of metre and rhythm. For those who feel this drawback the following works will serve as the necessary preparation: 1 i. GRAMMONT, M. Petit Traite de versification fran^aise. 2 LE GOFFIC and THIEULIN. Nouveau Traite de versifica- tion jranqaise* These two treatises are elementary but full of information and general ideas. They supplement each other so satisfac- torily that to read them is an excellent initiation to the study of French verse. In Grammont's book the best chapters are those on rhythm (pp. 47-66) and harmony (pp. 104-125), and the conclusion (pp. 127-133) a short but keen analy- sis of the evolution of French poetry from its origin. In the Nouveau Traite I recommend the chapters on the counting of syllables (pp. 10-31), on rhyme and its varieties (pp. 41-68), and on poems of fixed form (pp. 106-131). Perhaps it is well to warn the reader of the slightly oversystematic tend- ency of some of Grammont's opinions, especially concerning the rhythms of the classic Alexandrine (pp. 60-61). 1 Here it is a question of versification only after the beginning of the sixteenth century. 2 Paris, 1908. 3 Paris, 1890. QUESTIONS OF VERSIFICATION 197 2. DORCHAIN, A. L'Art des vers.* Dorchain's book is an exoteric work, but intelligently exo- teric and written by a poet. The general rules of versifica- tion are clearly set forth, and the artistic value of French verse is analyzed with finesse and simplicity. It forms an excellent introduction to the subject. 3. GRAMMONT, M. Le Vers frangais. Ses Moyens d' ex- pression, son harmonie. 2 The Petit Traite by the same author, mentioned above, is only a summary of this important work. Owing to the abun- dance of examples, the clearness of arrangement, the preci- sion of analysis, Grammont's Vers frangais is the vade-mecum for every study of versification, especially for rhythms and the expressive value of vowels and consonants. As was the case with the Petit Traite, one should distrust certain narrow or too systematic views of the author on the rhythm of classic lines or the expressive value of sounds, and understand that his theories are neither definitely established nor universally accepted. It is also well to remember that Grammont's Vers jranqais should be read in the second edition, much enlarged and improved. 4. BECQ DE FOUQUIERES. Traite general de versification jranqaise? If Becq de Fouquieres's book contained only his ingenious but unfounded hypotheses concerning the origin of the Alex- andrine, it would not be worth recommending. But once the first chapters are left behind, there follow the most able, the most artistic, analyses of rhythmic accent, with long series of well-chosen, well-arranged examples. In this respect he com- pletes, and on many points helps to modify and correct, Grammont's conclusions. 1 Paris, 1905. 2 2ded. Paris, 1913. 3 Paris, 1879. IQ8 PROBLEMS AND METHODS 5. TOBLER. Vom jranzosischen Versbau. 1 Tobler's Versbau is a standard work, not because it is perfect but because of its clear treatment of the metrical mechanism of French verse. On this point it is still of great use, although in the treatment of rhythms the two works just mentioned completely supplant it. 6. KASTNER, L. E. A History of French Versification. 2 Although Kastner's work is slightly out of date on ques- tions of rhythm, its chapters on the counting of syllables, on rhyme, and on fixed forms of poetry should be highly recom- mended. The great number of examples given makes it particularly valuable. It should be well understood that these few references are intended merely as .an introduction to the questions of versi- fication. They will acquaint the student who has had little or no experience in this field (i) with the terminology 3 and (2) with the principles, and the technical and artistic proc- esses, of French verse. II. PLAN AND METHODS OF THE STUDY OF VERSIFICATION "We are always compelled, we Frenchmen, to tell for- eigners, confident of their learning and judgment, that there are some things in the French language and in French litera- ture that only a Frenchman perceives, and that only he is qualified to appreciate." 4 It is certain that to understand French poetry, and, above all, to feel with precision its rhythm and harmony, presuppose an intimate familiarity 1 ist ed., 1880; sth ed., 1910; French translation, 1885. 2 Oxford, 1903. 3 See Kastner, "Histoire des termes techniques de la versification," Revue des langues romanes, 1904, pp. 1-28. 4 Lanson, preface to Hugo P. Thieme's Essai sur I'histoire du vers jran- fais, p. Lx. QUESTIONS OF VERSIFICATION 199 with the very spirit of the language ; and it is unhappily cer- tain also that many works on French versification written by foreigners show, together with much conscientious labor, a sad if not a ridiculous inability to grasp what constitutes French poetry. This remark should not be the cause of dis- couragement but of prudence. I fully believe that an Amer- ican student can acquire a* deep feeling for the beauty of French poetry and can comment upon it with insight and accuracy. Experience has proved this. Two indispensable conditions, however, are implied : first, the precise, technical apprenticeship already insisted on; next, and even more necessarily, a long training of the ear, a practiced sense of the harmonies and the accents of the French language. Without this training he runs the risk of preparing dry, tedious, profitless statistics, like those Germans who count rhymes and csesuras in Antoine de Montchrestien or fill over a hundred pages with charts of Rostand's rhymes in Cyrano de Bergerac ; or perhaps and this is even more to be feared he exposes himself to random conclusions about things he cannot understand. Let us suppose, then, that the necessary preparation is completed. How should a study in versification be carried on ? What questions should be raised ? What arrangements chosen ? A general division should first be laid down: (i) Each line should be studied separately, and (2) the lines should be considered in their mutual relations. There will remain a third series of questions, the most important of all, those on the relations between the poetic expression and the subject treated. 1 x The plan of study outlined here seems, barring certain more or less fundamental modifications, to be generally adopted in recent works on ver- sification. Here are varied examples, chosen from many, that may be examined 200 PROBLEMS AND METHODS LINES CONSIDERED SEPARATELY Each line taken by itself gives rise to three sorts of re- marks, varying in importance with the instance. 1. Syllabic structure: description oj the line. How many syllables has the line ? Should it be given a particular name ? A word or a figure usually suffices to answer these questions. The only point that may present any difficulty is the number of syllables. Lines exist where either the presence of a mute e or of a word in which the number of syllables is uncertain raises a problem. It is, however, almost always simple to collect the material and examples necessary for the kind of historical or logical explanation required. 1 2 . Rhythmical structure. It is when undertaking the com- mentary on rhythm that the real perplexity of the student is likely to begin. It is here, besides, that he specially needs definite ideas. The treatises and manuals, in offering him information, are liable to confuse him further. In them occur the words "caesura," coupe, "pause," "rhythm," "ac- and discussed before undertaking researches in this field: L. Clement, "La Versification de La Fontaine," Revue universitaire, Vol. II (1892), pp. 282- 302; M. Souriau, L'Evolution du vers jranc.ais au XVII' siecle (Paris, 1893) (see Brunetiere's critical contribution, in Revue d'histoire litteraire, 1894, p. 497) ; P.Nebout, Le Drame romantique (1895) (interesting for the study of the influence on versification exerted by the new dramatic forms) ; M. Souriau, "La Versification de Lamartine," Revue des cours et conferences, Vol. VII (1899), pp. 841-860; A. Beaunier, "Le Vers libre," Mercure de France, 1901, pp. 613-633; Jasinski, Histoire du sonnet en France (Douai, 1903) ; Chatelain, "Le Vers libre dans Amphytrion" Melanges de philologie oflerts a M. Brunot (1904), pp. 41-55; A. Cassagne, Versification et metrique de Ch. Baudelaire (Paris, 1906) ; D. Mornet, L'Alexandrin franfais dans la deuxieme moitie du XVlIl e siecle (Toulouse, 1907) ; A. Rochette, L'Alexandrin chez Victor Hugo (Paris, 1911) ; P. Martinon, "La Versification de Corneille," Revue des cours et conferences, Vol. XXII (1913), pp. 198-205. 1 See Thieme, p. 372, for references on the question of the mute e, and the opening chapters of Le Gome and Thieulin or of Kastner for those on the number of syllables in doubtful words. QUESTIONS OF VERSIFICATION 201 cent," " measure," defined in twenty ways sometimes dif- ferentiated, sometimes used nearly synonymously. He will find contradictory interpretations and theories; he will see that German scholars have based on syllabic quantity and on accent a theory of rhythm in French verse that French theorists have in general energetically disclaimed. Among French theorists themselves there are as many doctrines as treatises ; the same line, quoted as an example in two works, may be scanned in different ways. If he opens the Vers frangais of Grammont, he will read a very acceptable theory of the Romantic trimeter and, in turning to Rochette's thick volume entitled L' Alexandria, chez Victor Hugo, he will notice that the author practically denies the existence of this trime- ter. The Reflexions sur I'art des vers of Sully-Prudhomme. who was a good poet, is radically contradicted by the writings of Verlaine, Gustave Kahn, Souza, and many other poets belonging to the younger schools. Even the so-called scien- tific conclusions of experimental phonetics do not seem to be unanimous : Landry, in concluding his enormous Theorie du rythme, apparently reaches a definition on an essential point the equality of the intervals between stresses that dis- agrees with that reached by Lote at the end of his still more gigantic work entitled L'Alexandrin frangais d'apres la pho- netique experimental. Indeed, "grammatici certant . . . m Face to face with this chaos of definitions, of ideas, and of doctrines, nothing can equal the bewilderment of the stu- dent who is obliged to handle these questions, unless it is that of the professor whose duty it is to explain them to him. And this is precisely the difficulty that delays us now. It would be unacceptable dogmatism to set up one more system and to attempt to thrust it upon my readers. Doubt- x An idea of the complexity of the question may be had from Thieme's his- torical outline of it, chap, ix, pp. 154-196. 202 PROBLEMS AND METHODS less it seems to me that a certain number of points have been established, on which I base comments in the classroom and opinions as to my personal reading. I follow the majority of the theorists of the present day in believing that poetic rhythms may be defined as the recurrence at approximately regular intervals of stress, or rhythmic accent. I believe that, through a gradual evolution, French verse, purely syllabic at the start, with pauses or caesuras in fixed positions, has pro- gressively grown into a verse whose artistic effect is based on a rhythm produced by accents, or stress. The duration of the rhythmic measures varies only slightly; the number of syllables contained in these measures may vary considerably. It is necessary, then, for the delivery to be retarded or hastened so that the last tonic syllable of the group inclosed in a measure shall coincide with the stress that marks the end of the measure. If to this we add the expressive, me- lodic, and harmonic value of vowels and consonants, we have every element necessary to the analysis and aesthetic ap- preciation of French verse. The existence of the trimeter, which, although found in all our great poets since the six- teenth century, is called Romantic a line of three metrical units instead of the four contained in the so-called classic Alexandrine seems to me an established fact. It must be understood, however, that this, as well as many other de- tails that might be added, is neither indisputable nor uni- versally admitted. How, then, shall the student be guided and advised ? His effort, it seems to me, should be successively directed toward three points : first, the acquisition of an intimate familiarity with French poetry; next, the building up of a technical knowledge of the various terminologies and doctrines offered to him ; lastly, the adoption of a personal attitude that will enable him to judge, feel, and comment intelligently. QUESTIONS OF VERSIFICATION 203 I do not hesitate to insist once more upon the necessity of a personal and prolonged acquaintance with French poetry before attempting either commentary or discussion. It is the same with poetry as with music : ear-training is the in- dispensable preliminary condition of any technical appren- ticeship. It is superfluous to teach harmony or counterpoint to someone who does not know whether a chord is in tune or a measure in time. Although it is true that Beethoven became deaf, he was not deaf during the years when his genius was forming. When the ear feels the rhythm of the line, then, and then only, is it possible to theorize and to comment on this rhythm. Next, the student must look up the question of terminol- ogy and the principal systems involved in the discussion. Many of the obscurities that he encounters come from the fact that the same word is used for different things : "caesura" is a good example of this. If the caesura is defined as "a rest for the voice, marked in the interior of the line by a tonic syllable more strongly accented than the other tonics in the line", 1 this definition, which is exact for the ancient French line, is found to be already less applicable to many of the classic lines, and difficult to apply at all to Romantic verse. If it is defined as synonymous with the rhythmic coupe, this explains neither the ancient line nor the classic Alexandrine. The student should, then, first of all be clear in his own mind, and oftener than not it is the history of French verse that will enlighten him. What was the condition of versifi- cation at a given epoch ? What were its canons and its tech- nique? In what sense would the poet he is studying have understood the terms that seem to him vague and confused ? It is his own affair, through research and reading, to form a technical vocabulary in which each word shall finally assume 1 Le Goffic and Thieulin, Nouveau Traitt de versification Jran$aise, p. 69. 204 PROBLEMS AND METHODS a distinct value ; this is why I refrain, in these questions of rhythm, from giving any ready-made definitions. The same may be said of systems and doctrines. Through reading, reflection, attentive and open-minded study of the texts, the student who at first will feel at sea, and buffeted about from system to system, will notice that gradually certain ideas are taking shape in his mind. By using elemen- tary works as a starting-point, verifying definitions, distin- guishing from among the different theories those that are dangerous hypotheses, excessive systematization, or the ex- clusive creed of a single school, he will succeed in con- structing a system for himself, not original, of course, but coherent, clear, well-assimilated. And on this foundation he will base his personal studies and commentaries. Thus, when the occasion arises, he will possess the elements with which to answer the necessary questions as to the rhythmical structure of a line : a. Where do the rhythmic accents occur ? b. From the number and place of these accents how should the line be described ? For instance, if it is an Alexandrine, is it a tetrameter or a trimeter? Is the coupe usual, rare, traditional, original, etc.? c. What is the aesthetic and expressive value of the rhythmic structure in this line? What effect is produced (majestic slowness, balance, rapidity, lightness, etc.) ? Is it necessary to add that it is, above all, in this commen- tary on rhythm that the student's accuracy of ear and depth of artistic feeling are disclosed ? 3. Harmonic structure. There remains to be studied the question of "sounds considered as means of expression". 1 Without doubt, in the work of real poets there is a relation between the sound of the words and the ideas or the feelings 1 Title of the second part of Grammont's Vers fran$ais (2d ed.), P- 193. QUESTIONS OF VERSIFICATION 205 they express. Poetry has analogies with music: "Vowels are kinds of notes." Combined with consonants they form groups of sound whose tone, brilliance, softness, and dura- tion are infinitely varied. Assonance, repetition, alliteration, skillfully used and artistically combined with certain sounds, are the means that poets use to give their lines melody and harmony. These delicate shades are brought out, analyzed, and explained by the study of the poetic text. Now into the study itself must be put much delicacy and many shadings. There is great risk of drying up everything that is touched and of crushing the poem under a weight of commentary. Such clumsiness gives rise to a certain ironic skepticism in regard to minute studies of this kind. We hear people say: "Do you suppose that the poet thought of all those things when he wrote his lines? Do you believe that he said to himself: 'Here I am going to use alliteration with m', here, multiply the gr's and cr's, so as to obtain a harsh effect; here, construct my line on the sound of & to make it clear and light'? You do not give him credit for spontaneous inspiration." To this objection the reply is simple. On the one hand, it is primarily a question of explaining the why of the impres- sion produced in a line: as sounds have much to do with that impression, it is legitimate to analyze the sounds. "It is these details", said Theophile Gautier, in his study on Baudelaire, "that make poetry good or bad and that make a poet good or bad". On the other hand, I am convinced that frequently these effects are intentional on the part of the author : he is well aware of the expressive value of sounds and wants to profit systematically by them. The best proof of this is found in his corrections in the manuscript. It is there that we trace the effort to interweave the sounds little by little so as finally to express the inner melody heard by the 206 PROBLEMS AND METHODS poet. One day Jose-Maria de Heredia, commenting to a friend on an admirable sonnet that he had just written, said : "Here I first put je ne sais ; but how much better j'ignore is ! How well that o sounds with the other o's in the next line 1" In many cases it is not defaming a poet to credit him with very definite intentions, even when the perfect, easy form of the finished line seems to exclude all idea of preliminary reflection. Therefore the harmonic structure of each line may in- deed, should be studied with minute care. On this point the best guide seems to me to be Grammont, whose analyses are extremely detailed and are followed by abundant exam- ples. If you make allowance for his too great love of sys- tematizing, you will learn easily from him how to establish with accuracy this important part of the commentary. GROUPS OF LINES When the commentary on each separate line has been completed, the lines must be studied in their mutual rela- tions and groupings. Three series of questions arise here: rhyme, enjambements, arrangement of lines in strophes or in poems of fixed form. i. Rhyme. The study of rhyme offers no great difficulty, after the few technicalities connected with it have been thoroughly mastered : the difference between assonance and rhyme; the various sorts of rhyme (poor, sufficient, rich) ; the various possible arrangements of rhyme (rimes con- tinues, plates, croisees, embrassees, tiercees, melees, etc.). 1 You will have treated the subject amply in a given poem if you have defined the quality of the rhymes used, the arrange- 1 Questions relative to rhyme are treated with special clearness by Le Goffic and Thieulin and by Kastner. QUESTIONS OF VERSIFICATION 207 ment adopted, and lastly when occasion arises the artis- tic effects produced by their combination. 2. Enjambements and re jets. Enjambement and rejet are not two different things: "When a phrase is begun in one line and ended in the next, without completely filling the second, we call this 'enjambement,' and the end of the phrase that has run over into the second line is the ' re jet'." 1 Attention should be paid to the following points: (i) the frequency of the enjambements and their proportion to the total number of lines in a poem; (2) their purpose and the effects produced by them. Enjambement is one of the details of French versification that have varied most in the course of time: rare in ancient poetry, used with growing discrimination in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, for- bidden by Malherbe and by Boileau, it assumes new im- portance with Chenier and becomes one of the favorite means of expression of the Romanticists, especially of Vic- tor Hugo. It will be wise, therefore, in commenting on the rejets, to state what is the usage of the poet compared with the general usage of his time. 3. Grouping of the lines. The rhythmical combinations according to which lines may be grouped remain to be con- sidered. Three cases occur : First, there may be a succession of lines of the same kind ; if so, the question is much simplified. How does the poetic phrase develop ? What advantage has the poet taken of the rhythmic resources of his line ? Has he framed long periods that spread over several lines, or does he cut the monotonous cadence by frequent, unexpected, bold breaks? In short, the adaptation of the poetic form to the general movement of inspiration and thought should be described. 1 Grammont, Petit Traite, p. 20. 208 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Next, the text may be what is called a poem of fixed form : rondeau, ballade, chant royal, lai, virelai, villanelle, sonnet, etc. 1 In this case it is important first to gain a clear idea of the rules and traditions of the form used and then to decide to what extent the text conforms to accepted canons or breaks away from them. The form chosen may, besides, be well or ill adapted to the feeling or the thought that the poet wishes to express and this suitability should be closely analyzed. Lastly, lines may be grouped in strophes. The ground here is more difficult; the student may come face to face with somewhat contradictory definitions and theories. He will find a wise guide though one not always easy to fol- low in the huge work by Martinon on Les Strophes. 2 An historical introduction treats the development of every va- riety of strophe since the time of Marot. There follows a detailed study of each strophe, with many examples ; finally, a Repertoire general des strophes makes comparison easy by giving with the necessary references a list of the poets who have used each form of strophe. The general method adopted by Martinon points the way for special studies on the strophes of a given author or work. We see that there are three series of questions to ask : ( i ) the number of lines (the most evident and superficial characteristic); (2) the order of the rhymes (the arrangement determines what may be called the rhythm of the strophe, and clearly indicates the type of the strophe in the category to which its length as- signs it); (3) the nature of the lines that make up the strophe, and the order in which they are arranged whether a Le Goffic and Thieulin, as well as Kastner, explain with precision and simplicity the various poems of fixed form. In Thieme, pp. 350-387, will be found the essential bibliography for each form. 2 P. Martinon, Les Strophes. Etude historique et critique sur les formes de la poesie lyrique en France depuis la renaissance (8vo). Paris, 1911. QUESTIONS OF VERSIFICATION 209 one kind of line only is used (strophes isometriques} , or whether there is a combination of lines of various lengths (strophes heterometriques} . Thanks to Martinon's list and tables, it will always be simple to classify any variety of strophe. The use to which the poet has put his means of expression will remain to be shown. ESTHETIC COMMENTARY All that has been said up to this point is but the technical study preliminary to what should be the real and essential aim of all commentary on versification the artistic and aesthetic analysis. The line is only the harmonious covering for thought and emotion; it is the delicate instrument touched by the true poet, whose music in its turn touches our hearts. But the poet succeeds precisely because he em- ploys the processes that we have just been studying. There- fore how and why he succeeds must be made clear. I do not refer to declamatory effusions full of vague admiration. Nothing is worse. I ask, first, that the student understand and feel, fully and sincerely, what the poet has in his mind or in his heart ; that he share these ideas and feelings ; then, that he trace the poet's attempts at expression, through rhythms, harmonic values, interplay of rhymes, coupes, and strophes ; that he show whether the poet, through inspiration or through patient toil, has indeed found the most expressive, the most suggestive, the most moving forms. In this way he will have accomplished a task infinitely more worth while than the piling up of laudatory epithets and exclamation points. He will have learned to understand, to appreciate, to feel. CHAPTER IX TREATMENT OF BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL IN THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE There is scarcely a work on the history of literature that does not devote a certain space to biography. In a mono- graph on a writer its place will be large. In the study of some particular work, even of some genre or of some cur- rent of ideas, biographical elements of varying importance must often be introduced. Indeed, the relation between a book and the personality of its author is of necessity so close that a knowledge of the work presupposes complete acquaintance with the antecedents and the life of the writer. It is therefore indispensable to reflect for a time upon the treatment, and more particularly upon the collecting and selecting, of biographical material in literary history. I purposely restrict myself to this aspect of the question. It is the province of special books to develop a theory of biography and to analyze its principal characteristics and regulations. My aim is to point out to the student from what angle, in a literary essay, it is well to treat biography ; what type of material is especially suitable; and on what features it is important to throw the strongest light. 1 1 An excellent treatment of the question discussed in this chapter is found in D. Mornet, "Les Methodes de 1'histoire litteraire 6tudiees a propos d'une oeuvre: LaNouvelle Heloise," Revue des cours et conjerences,Vol. XXII 1 and XXII 2 (1913-1914). But a familiarity with Sainte-Beuve's works is un- doubtedly the best training in the handling of literary biography. Some pages of great interest are found in Nouveaux Lundis, Vol. Ill, article on Chateau- briand; Portraits litteraires, Vol. I, pp. 29 ff. ; Port-Royal, Vol. I, chap. i. See also the following works dealing with Sainte-Beuve's methods: Faguet, TREATMENT OF BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL 211 In one of Pailleron's comedies an author, engaged in pre- paring a book, takes every occasion pompously to announce its title: "Murillo : sa vie, son ceuvre." Life and Works how many theses have been ruined in advance by the adoption of this stereotyped plan, which, by arbitrarily separating the biography from the historical and critical study of the works, condemns the author either to a series of useless and fatiguing repetitions (if he wishes to refer to the biography in his explanation of the works) or else to a biographical narrative in which the facts and dates, isolated from the study of the works, lose a large part of their interest ! For the historian of literature the final and essential aims should be the interpretation of the literary work and the analysis of the literary personality of the writer. These aims determine the spirit in which the biographical researches should be undertaken: they should be the means not of satisfying a predilection for anecdotes but of elucidating the writer's work and personality. William Mathews has writ- ten a clever page denouncing the futility of these infinitesi- mal researches on which the efforts of biographers are often expended a page that doubtless was not hard to write or to make entertaining. "What matters", he says, "if a book charms, inspires, or instructs us, whether the author smoked or drank stimulants; or borrowed money, or forgot to pay Politiques et ntoralistes du XlX e siecle (third series, 1900), pp. 185 ff.; Lanson, Avant-Propos of Hommes et livres. It will be helpful to read F. S. Stevenson, Historic Personality (London, 1893) ; L. Stein, "Zur Methodenlehre der Bio- graphik," in Biographische Blatter (herausgegeben von A. Bettelheim, Berlin), 1895, Vol. I, pp. 22-39; L. Arnould, "La Methode biographique de Sainte- Beuve," Correspondant, December 25, 1904, and his "La Methode biogra- phique en critique litteraire," which prefaces the volume Quelques Poetes (Paris, 1907) ; S. Lee, Principles oj Biography (Cambridge, 1911) ; W. H. Dunn, Eng- lish Biography (London, 1916), especially chap, ix, "Problems and Tendencies of the Present" ; W. R.Thayer," Biography in the XlXth century," North A meri- can Review, May-June, 1920, and published in book form (New York, 1921). 212 PROBLEMS AND METHODS his tailor and his washerwoman ; whether he quarreled with his wife, separated from his wife, was divorced from his wife, or kept out of the matrimonial noose altogether ? To know the vices and weaknesses of a great writer, his oddities and eccentricities and manner of life; to know that Pope had a voracious appetite for stewed lampreys, Dr. Parr for hot lobsters with shrimp sauce, and Johnson for a leg of mutton ; . . . that Byron shaved his brow to make it look higher, and found his inspiration in green tea, tobacco, and semi- starvation; that within the Chateaubriand of Atala there was an obscene Chateaubriand that indulged in the coarsest talk, to know all these petty details is pleasant, and grati- fies a natural curiosity ; they give picturesqueness and charm to biography; they may help occasionally to explain the growth and prominence of some idiosyncrasy, or some char- acteristic sentiment or idea ; but how a knowledge of them is necessary to a just estimate of the literary productions of these authors, it is hard to see." 1 This is, however, too casual a dismissal of the question. If the biographer has the "exquisite tact" and the "appreciation of nuances" so dear to Renan, he will know how to discriminate and choose ; he will know how to show that many of these details, which are so easy to make fun of, are very useful, if not indispensable, for a just estimate of the character and the art of the writer. After all, a knowledge of Lamartine's pecuniary difficulties explains many shortcomings in his style. Victor Hugo's walks on the rocks at Guernsey, La Fontaine's habit of tak- ing daily strolls, help to explain their feelings toward nature. And to know when and how Alfred de Musset began to drink is not superfluous for fathoming his later works. Even if it is quite true that we can "pronounce upon the beauty and 1 Introductory essay to the translation of a selection of Sainte-Beuve's Cauteries du lundi ("Monday Chats"), pp. Iviii-lx. Chicago, 1877. TREATMENT OF BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL 213 perfume of a rose without analyzing the soil whence it sprang", it is no less true that the real rose-lover, he who wants not only to enjoy the flower momentarily but to know all about it and, if need be, to reproduce it, must consider the question of the soil and will not be satisfied until he has solved it. Of this sort is the legitimate curiosity of the his- torian of books and authors : he realizes that he can under- stand neither the book nor the author if he separates his life from his work. There are, besides, excellent reasons of another kind for adopting this policy. Numerous examples remind both the historian and the critic of the wise rule that biographical precision should be the basis of psychological conclusions. He knows that the most ingenious analyses, the most seem- ingly logical deductions, may be shattered by fresh bio- graphical details duly established. He thinks of the number of pages that become obsolete as more accurate information brings out salient biographical facts. Are examples neces- sary? Take Moliere and Tartuffe: the biographical docu- ments unearthed within the last fifteen years have certainly changed the traditional interpretation of the comedy. And how about Moliere's distant ancestor, the Pierre Gringore whose legendary figure fills the pages of Notre-Dame de Paris and Banville's delightful play? Up to within a scant dozen years it has been difficult to think of Gringore in any other light. But historians have been at work ; successively Oulmont and Guy, stripping the legend from Gringore, have disclosed the real man. It is indeed regrettable that the real Gringore bears no resem- blance whatever to the Gringore conceived by the Romanticists. Nothing in him recalls either the proud, independent artist with heroic, chivalrous soul that Theodore de Banville has drawn, or the starving "Gringoire" in Notre-Dame de Paris. . . . Yes, pic- 214 PROBLEMS AND METHODS ture to yourself a person no longer young, lacking in enthusiasm, a stodgy, humdrum bourgeois, a Joseph Prudhomme armed with proverbs, a petty official reflecting the opinions of his superiors, a model of circumspection, a dealer in poetic wares who never leaves his counter, and you will see before you the real Gringore. 1 There has been the same readjustment of ideas relative to the poet Nicolas Gilbert. In his case it is not only Vigny's touching pages but the entire tradition that had to be revised when well-informed biographers brought to light, in place of the romantic Gilbert dying on a straw pallet in an unheated garret, u au banquet de la vie infortune convive", a poet in easy circumstances, possessed of a fairly disagreeable nature and a knack of finding useful patronage. 2 Finally, much that has been written about the exotism of Chateaubriand in his role of traveler, his powers of observa- tion, and the sincerity of his descriptions, was seriously im- paired when Bedier's precise researches 3 established, for the writer's stay in America, his itinerary almost day by day. Was it not Stendhal who remarked that the cleverest and wittiest man alive stands agape before the blockhead who knows a date ? Such is the vital importance of biographical precision in the deductions of literary history. How can it be attained ? I believe that here we can find, if not rules and recipes, at least a trustworthy, attractive guide I mean Sainte-Beuve. There is no surer training than to read and reread the best *H. Guy, Histoire de la poesie franfaise au XV l e siecle, Vol. I, pp. 278 ff. See also C. Oulmont, Pierre Gringore (1911). 2 See, on the one hand, Alfred de Vigny, Stella, chap, xi, "Un Grabat"; and, on the other hand, H. Potez, L'Elegie en France avant le romantisme (1897), or Johann Weiss, Nicolas Gilberts Satiren (1896), corrected by the documents published by H. Druon, in Correspondant, August 25 and September 10, 1897, and by Laffay, Le Poete Nicolas Gilbert (1898). 3 " Chateaubriand en AmSrique," tudes critiques, 1903. TREATMENT OF BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL 215 of his Portraits litteraires or of his Causeries du lundi, with attention to the way in which he makes biographical infor- mation the very basis of his literary criticism. Little by little the true technique of literary biography evolves itself, made up not of mechanical devices but of a combination of curios- ity, perspicacity, and intuition that no one has achieved in the same degree as Sainte-Beuve. First of all, he defines with force both the aim and the difficulty of the biogra- pher's task. We should invade an author ; take up our abode with him ; set him in motion under various conditions ; make him live, act, speak, as was habitual to him ; penetrate as far as possible into his inner and domestic life ; attach him on all sides firmly to that earth and to those daily habits upon which great men no less than others depend. . . . We should study an author ; revolve him round and round ; question him at our leisure ; or persuade him to pose be- fore us. One at a time the features are added and fall auto- matically into place in the physiognomy. . . . With the vague, abstract, general type by degrees is blended and fused a concrete individuality. We have found the man. 1 In this extract an entire programme is contained, which presents at least two distinct parts: (i) collection of bio- graphical documents; (2) treatment, arrangement, and in- terpretations of these documents. I. COLLECTION OF THE DOCUMENTS The sources of information naturally vary with the writer, his epoch, the place of his activity, and the social class to which he belongs. Yet, in a general way, it may be said that the principal fields to be explored are the following : i . Archives and official documents of every kind : manu- script and printed genealogical records, public and private ; ^Portraits litteraires, Vol. I, p. 29. 216 PROBLEMS AND METHODS attorneys' files; parish and civil registers (dossiers de no- taires, registres de paroisse, registres d'etat-civil). 1 2. Works by the author himself, with particular insist- ence upon his correspondence and upon all works directly or indirectly autobiographical in character. 3. Literature relative to the author: contemporary mem- oirs and correspondence; allusions to the author in other literary works ; newspapers and reviews ; works of erudition and research, among which books edited in the heart of the provinces, or the smaller, local reviews, though difficult in many cases to find in even the best-equipped libraries, should not be neglected. A fact to be remembered is that the enor- mous series Ln 27 of the Catalogue de I'histoire de France at the Bibliotheque nationale is devoted to Biographies indivi- duelles. Interesting data may often be found by glancing through the tables of the Catalogue des manuscrits des bibliotheques des departements. Lastly, the contributions of all local and provincial societies are also important. 2 4. A visit to the spot where the writer has lived may leave a valuable impression. To become familiar with the house where he was born and brought up, the landscape at which he gazed (especially during his childhood) ; to be a Breton with Chateaubriand or Renan, a Genevese or Savoyard with Rousseau; to seek Pascal in the valley of Port- Royal, Vol- taire at Ferney, or Lamartine by the Lake : this is not merely to accomplish a pious literary pilgrimage it is to fit our- selves, as well, to understand and know these men more thoroughly. 1 The Manuel de bibliographic historique, by Langlois, gives detailed de- scriptions of these various sources and tells how and where to find them. 2 An essential work for references of this kind is R. de Lasteyrie and A. Lefevre-Pontalis, Bibliographic generate des travaux historiques et archeo- logiques publics par les sotietes savantes de France (4 vols., 4to (1888-1905), and a continuation). TREATMENT OF BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL 217 5. In the case of many modern authors the oral tradi- tion should not be overlooked. Descendants, collaborators, friends, more or less direct witnesses, may furnish helpful information, provided the facts thus obtained are carefully verified and accepted at their true value. 1 II. TREATMENT OF DOCUMENTS ESSENTIAL POINTS OF LITERARY BIOGRAPHY Now, with attention to exactness and authenticity, we must learn how to use and combine the documents in con- structing a biography. It is at this point that the special characteristic assumed by biography in literary history ap- pears most clearly. It is not, so to speak, disinterested biog- raphy ; the aim is not to find as many facts as possible and to weave them into an appealing, moving, brilliant narrative. The aim is to shed light upon the development of the author's literary personality and the inspiration of his work. There are, then, special points doubtless attractive to any biographer that become real centres of interest to the his- torian of literature. Sainte-Beuve will still be our guide in enumerating the following topics of paramount importance : 1. Native country, physical environment, scenery of child- hood and youth. 2. Racial conditions and general heredity. 3. Ancestry, both direct and collateral, as far back as it can be traced. Sainte-Beuve rightly dwells on the importance and the influence of the mother, "the most direct and certain parent". He also advises that if there are brothers and sisters they receive special consideration, believing that in 1 With all the documents assembled, and according as the biographical re- search advances, every incident in the author's life should be recorded on a series of cards, as on a calendar, day by day, .week by weei, or month by month, as suits the particular case. 2i8 PROBLEMS AND METHODS them the hereditary strain and family traits will be disclosed, undimmed by the disturbances of genius. "We discover in these relatives", he says, "some essential lineaments of character that in the great man himself are often masked through extreme concentration or a too intimate union with other qualities. The elements of the man are exhibited in his kindred with less concealment and less disguise; we profit by an analysis that nature alone has been at the pains of making." 1 4. Formation of personality through education and study : early education in the family; schools or colleges; masters and fellow students; curricula of instruction; certain or probable reading; general tendencies of the education re- ceived (for instance, the Jesuitical leaning toward Latin, the Greek bias of Port-Royal, the influence of some eminent teacher). 5. Physical and physiological conditions active in mould- ing a writer : scientific data as to his health, physical defects or weaknesses, etc. This is a field fertile in interesting and curious discoveries, but dangerous for the layman who trusts himself to use a medical vocabulary and to deal with the results of medical experiments. On this question books such as Toulouse, Entile Zola, 2 Dumesnil, Flaubert, son heredite, son milieu, sa methode, 3 or Lauvriere, Alfred de Vigny* may be profitably studied. 6. Moral and intellectual environment: his friends and comrades; the groups or sets among which he reached maturity. 6 *Nouveaux Lundis, Vol. Ill, article on Chateaubriand. 2 Paris, 1896. 3 Paris, 1905. 4 Paris, 1910. Researches of the same kind are found in his Edgar Poe, sa vie et son ceuvre (2 vols.) (Paris, 1904). 5 There are talents that partake of several groups at once, and never stop traversing successive surroundings, perfecting, transforming, or deforming TREATMENT OF BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL 219 7. Publication of the first masterpiece or of the first work of real importance. Sainte-Beuve sees in this the "essential point" of a great author's life; he wants to " seize, compre- hend, and analyze the entire man at the instant when, by a more or less gradual cooperation, his genius, education, and circumstances have combined in such a fashion that he pro- duces his first masterpiece". 1 8. Publication of each work, with its date and all perti- nent biographical details. 9. Period of deterioration, at times of decadence, during which the writer evidences an exhausted or deflected in- spiration; causes, personal or historical, psychological or physical, immediate or indirect, of this sterility or deviation. Such in outline are the tactics to be followed when we would "lay siege" to an author. We must now, to continue Sainte-Beuve's military metaphor, launch the attack and storm the position. "It is impossible", he says again, "to try too many ways of becoming acquainted with a man, which means something very different from becoming acquainted with a pure spirit. So long as you have not asked yourselves a certain number of questions about an author, and answered them, if only for your private benefit, and sotto voce, you cannot be sure of possessing him completely. This is true, even though these questions seem altogether foreign to the nature of his writ- ings. What were his views on religion ? How was he affected by the spectacle of nature ? How did he behave in regard to women ? in regard to money ? Was he rich or poor ? What was his daily mode of life from the standpoint of hygiene? themselves. It is important to note, even in these slow or rapid variations and conversions, the hidden, unalterable spring, the persisting motive power. Sainte-Beuve, loc. tit. 1 Portraits litteraires, Vol. I, p. 31. 220 PROBLEMS AND METHODS Lastly, what was his besetting vice or weakness? Every man has one." 1 You should, therefore, in the course of your researches keep ever before your mind this list of questions suggested by Sainte-Beuve. You should be fired with the tireless curi- osity that never deserted him; you should force yourself to develop a little of his extraordinary psychological finesse and divination. You will then see the results of your bio- graphical quest take shape almost automatically: your anal- ysis will lend to each detail psychological significance at the same time that its own foundation is rounded out and solidified by every added fact. 2 It is especially on the arrangement of these biographical elements that a work of literary history depends for attrac- tion, interest, and charm. There is no field, however, that demands more intelligence and skill. 1 Nouveaux Lundis, Vol. Ill, article on Chateaubriand. 2 For examples of French biography, I should first have to cite, with few exceptions, Sainte-Beuve's complete works. Besides these there are biographies of every length, of every type, of every style, from the eight volumes in which Desnoiresterres traces Voltaire's life, to the sixteen pages in which Baldensper- ger, prefacing his edition of Vigny, has condensed into definite and vivid form all that is essential in the poet's career. It is solely as samples, and knowing well that for each of these titles another might be substituted, that I mention here a few works that will repay a close study : E. Eire, Victor Hugo avant 1830, Victor Hugo apres 1830, distinguished by admirable documentation but marked hostility to the poet; E. Dupuy, La Jeunesse des romantiques, and other works on Vigny, models of intuitive, artistic biography; E. Faguet, Vie de Rousseau, a perfect example of the way to disentangle complicated ques- tions ; G. Michaut, Sainte-Beuve avant les