| + − | Outlook. 86: 118. My. 18, ’07. 200w. |
Segur, Marquis de. Julie de Lespinasse; tr. from the French by P. H. Lee Warner. *$2.50. Holt.
7–37963.
The letters of Mademoiselle de Lespinasse not only form a human document that reveals a tortured existence but are a symbol of the revolution accomplished in contemporary thought during her period, viz., “the change of the age of reason into the age of passion and sentimental license.” The author had access to archives heretofore unattainable which cleared up facts regarding the early life of Mademoiselle Lespinasse, her education, relations with the Marquis de Mora, and the public and worldly side of her character. The sketch embodies its negative lesson chiefly in this intense woman’s blind adoration for Count de Guibert. Her suffering strikes the universal note, and she pays the full retributive price for her wrong-doing.
“The book is a model of wise biography. The translation is on the whole, good and clear; but it is marred by occasional lapses which should certainly be amended before the second edition is produced.”
| + + − | Acad. 72: 265. Mr. 16, ’07. 770w. |
“[The translation] is characterized ... by inelegance, and not infrequently by mis-representation of the original.”
| − | Ath. 1907, 2: 177. Ag. 17. 190w. |
“At last we have an authoritative, and, it would seem, a definitive life of that most interesting [Julie de Lespinasse].” S. M. Francis.