Tales of the ancient days of De Danaan gods and heroes—of Angus and Midyir and Lugh and the Gobhaun Saor. Told in rhythmic and musical language and with much beauty of expression, but most of the tales are altered quite out of their antique and primitive form by a strong flavour of modern mysticism and symbolism of the school of Yeats and A. E. “Conary Mor,” the finest (we think) of the tales, is perhaps freest from this. The first two or three are most influenced by it. Tales like “A Good Action,” “The Sheepskin,” strike a different and, as it seems to us, a discordant note, viz., broadly comical episodes, in which the actors are gods. Includes The Children of Lir and the Children of Turann (under title “The Eric Fine of Lugh”), and the Coming of Lugh. Original and artistic Celtic cover design, head-pieces, and tail-pieces. Four coloured illustr. The first two are mystic and symbolic. Most Catholics would consider them very much out of place here. The book is beautifully produced.
APPENDIX A.
SOME USEFUL WORKS OF REFERENCE.
1. IRISH LITERATURE. Ten Vols. 4126 pp., exclusive of introductory essays, which average over 20 pp.
Originally published by John D. Morris & Co. Afterwards taken over by the De Bower Elliot Co., Chicago, and brought out in 1904.
Edited by Justin M’Carthy, M.P., with the help of an advisory committee, including Stephen Gwynn, M.P., Lady Gregory, Standish O’Grady, D. J. O’Donoghue, Douglas Hyde, LL.D., J. E. Redmond, M.P., G. W. Russell (“A. E.”), J. J. Roche, LL.D., of the Boston Pilot, Prof. W. P. Trent, of Columbia University, Prof. F. N. Robinson, of Harvard, H. S. Pancoast, and W. P. Ryan; with Charles Welsh as Managing Director.
Scope and Object: To give a comprehensive, if rapid, view of the whole development of Irish Literature from its earliest days. In the words of the Editor, it is “an illustrated catalog of Ireland’s literary contributions to mankind’s intellectual store.”
The Choice of Extracts is determined by two canons: literary value and human interest. The Library gives examples of “all that is best, brightest, most attractive, readable, and amusing,” in the writings of Irish authors. There is no dry-as-dust. The extracts comprise mythology, legend, folklore, poems, songs, street-ballads, essays, oratory, history, science, memoirs, fiction, travel, drama, wit, and humour. The vast majority are chosen as being specially expressive of Irish nationality. Choice is made both from the Gaelic and the Anglo-Irish literatures, but the ancient Gaelic literature is given solely in translation. A volume (the tenth) is given to modern Gaelic literature, the Irish text and English translation being given on opposite pages. This volume also contains brief biographies of ancient Gaelic authors. The extracts are never short and scrappy, but nearly always complete in themselves.
Other Special Features: Three hundred and fifty Irish authors are represented by extracts. Of these one hundred and twenty are contemporaries, the great modern intellectual revival being thus very fully represented.