ANTINOUS.—A Romance of Ancient Rome, by George Taylor, from the German by Mary J. Safford, in one vol. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts.
“One of the most thoughtful, feeling, and at the same time scholarly romances yet translated from the treasury of German literature. Although the story is laid in the midst of a Roman emperor’s court, it touches only a few characters, and those not of the higher and more aristocratic class. Located amidst scenes of almost fabulous wealth and extravagance, the story is severely simple in style; and although the author describes with the zeal of a well-informed archæologist the wonders of Rome and the enormous expenditures of Hadrian in architecture and landscape-manufacturing, there is no excess in the language which places these before us. The most remarkable thing about the book is that no love-making or love intrigues are found in its pages. In this respect it is even more unique than ‘John Inglesant.’ But like that romance its chief interest rests on the contrast of religious opinions. The age was one of change and doubt. The ancient cults of Rome and Greece had wholly lost their hold upon the minds of thinking men. Christianity, although not yet free from persecution, was gaining a wider influence, as men turned away dissatisfied from the ideal of their fathers and found in the spiritual religion of the despised Nazarene a comfort and a solace which no external rites could convey. It is the contrast between the subtle spiritual element and the various forms of idolatry adopted by Rome and Egypt, that constitutes the strength and fascination of this book.”—Utica Herald.
“The story of Antinous lends itself easily to philosophical romance: a hero who could be made unhappy but not corrupt by an emperor—who remained faithful to Hadrian after he had ceased to honor him, not from self-interest, but because in soothing the nerves of an imperial invalid, he added to the comfort of the world; and who sacrificed his life at last for a benefactor whom he no longer loved—is a hero such as is rarely found in literature.”—The Critic, N. Y.
“It has to the full that strange glamour which lends to romances their peculiar charm, and in many respects is comparable to Kingsley’s ‘Hypatia.’”—Yale Literary Magazine.
William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York.
CLYTIA.—A Romance of the Sixteenth Century, by George Taylor, from the German by Mary J. Safford, in one vol. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, 90 cts.
“If report may be trusted ‘George Taylor,’ though writing in German, is an Englishman by race, and not merely by the assumption of a pseudonym. The statement is countenanced by the general physiognomy of his novels, which manifest the artistic qualities in which German fiction, when extending beyond the limits of a short story, is usually deficient. ‘Antinous’ was a remarkable book; ‘Clytia’ displays the same talent, and is, for obvious reasons, much better adapted for general circulation. Notwithstanding its classical title, it is a romance of the post-Lutheran Reformation in the second half of the sixteenth century. The scene is laid in the Palatinate; the hero, Paul Laurenzano, is, like John Inglesant, the pupil, but, unlike John Inglesant, the proselyte and emissary, of the Jesuits, who send him to do mischief in the disguise of a Protestant clergyman. He becomes confessor to a sisterhood of reformed nuns, as yet imperfectly detached from the old religion and forms the purpose of reconverting them. During the process, however, he falls in love with one of their number, the beautiful Clytia, the original, Mr. Taylor will have it, of the lovely bust in whose genuineness he will not let us believe. Clytia, as is but reasonable, is a match for Loyola; the man in Laurenzano overpowers the priest, and, after much agitation of various kinds, the story concludes with his marriage. It is an excellent novel from every point of view, and, like ‘Antinous’ gives evidence of superior culture and thoughtfulness.”—The London Saturday Review.
William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York.