William James Harris

“ Geoffrey also drew from the older history of Nennius, but there still remains a large portion of his work which has not been traced beyond his own pen.
The 'Historia' is looked upon as an epoch-making book, owing to the impulse it gave to the literature of Romance. Legends afloat among the natives of Wales and Bretagne were now given a literary garb which rendered them sufficiently attractive to awaken the interest of the world in general, and the imagination of the mediæval poet was aroused by the chivalric glamour which the historian threw over his descriptions of Arthur's Court. ”

“ As a brooding poet, a mystic, and a contemplative spectator of the comedy of death, whose work is couched, almost by a sort of accident, in dramatic form, Maeterlinck will probably find a place in literature'. ”

“ TARTUFFE; or THE FRENCH PURITAN; a comedy (1667) . Tr. by M. Medburne, 1670.
WORKS; The first collected works were translated by J. Ozell, 6 v. 1714.
The writings of Molière were greatly influenced by the dramas of Plautus. His 'L'Avare' is from the 'Aulularia', and his 'Amphitryon' from 'Amphitruo'.
Molière was also influenced by the writings of Terence, and his 'Ecole des Maris' is from the 'Adelphi', and his 'Les Fourberies de Scapin' from the 'Phormio' of Terence. ”

“ The most important of the Anglo-Saxon, etc., romances have been included in this Bibliography and appear generally under their titles. These have played a very important part in the development of our literature, and many may be considered as foreign, having derived their origin from foreign sources.
No one is more conscious than the compiler of the difficulties this little work has entailed, and no one is more conscious of its imperfections. ”

“ This bibliography has been compiled with the view of supplementing existing text books on English literary history, and assisting students in preparing for examinations in Bibliography and Literature. It will also be found of service to those who are working for the professional examinations of the Library Association.
Students of literature, more particularly of English literature, experience much difficulty in tracing the outside influences which at various periods, or, perhaps, speaking more correctly, at all periods, have affected or moulded our literature. ”

“ The effect of his Faust begins most clearly in Byron's "Manfred"'. He has influenced English ballad and lyrical poetry, as is seen in Scott and Coleridge.
'The influence of such a man must be vast. Byron and Shelley owned it and showed it. Carlyle, as stern a critic as ever played the pedagogue, is unmixed in his admiration for the man Goethe, who is to him divine. In his own country his "Werther", despite its frequent morbidness and its longueurs, determined the feeling of every sentimentalist. Outside that country his "Wilhelm Meister" has become almost a textbook in æsthetic philosophy'. ”

“ A SATIRE [Translation of the Eighth Satire of B. on man] . 1801.
SATIRES. Tr. 1808.
THE WORKS OF MONSIEUR BOILEAU MADE ENGLISH BY SEVERAL HANDS. To which is prefixed his life by Mr. Des Maizeaux. (Tr. by J. [27] Ozell) and some account of this translation by N. Rowe. 1712-13.
Roscommon's 'Essay on Translated Verse' is derived from Boileau's French 'Art de Poetique'. One of the 'correct' school. Pope and Addison were largely influenced by B. The former's 'Essay on Criticism' is inspired by him. Boileau himself was influenced by the 'De Arte Poetica' of Horace. ”

“ In England the effect of the picaresque novel first appears in the 'Jack Wilton' of Nash. In France the type passed through the hands of Scarron and Le Sage, whose 'Diable Boiteau' and 'Gil Blas' were destined to eclipse the fame of the Spanish originals. From the examples of France this species broke out in England with the 'Moll Flanders' and 'Colonel Jack' of Defoe, the 'Joseph Andrews' of Fielding, the 'Roderick Random' and 'Peregrine Pickle' of Smollett. In the nineteenth century it finds its congeners in the 'Three Musketeers' of Dumas and in the works of several minor English novelists. ”

“ The great foreign classics have exercised a direct and decided influence upon English literature and the object of this bibliography is to give in concise form the authors and titles, translations and dates of the first English translations of the chief foreign authors, and incidentally to enable students to note the effect of such translations on the works of many of our great imaginative writers. ”

“ Largely influenced Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, Pope and Shakespeare.
'In and before the poems of Chaucer, the poems of Ovid upon love and its cure were much drawn upon by writers of romance and allegories. They were the direct inspiration of much of the troubadour poetry of Provence, [111] and thence of the mediaeval lyric verse of Europe in general. Ovidian borrowings are manifest in the "Romance of the Rose". Chaucer himself was a student of Ovid, Lucan, Virgil, "Stace" and also Livy. From Ovid's "Metamorphoses," and love-elegies in particular, he took much matter. ”

“ These stories enjoyed a wide vogue in France and England, and formed matter for the exploitation of every class of our Elizabethan dramatists or writers of fiction. They have a particular interest to students of English literature as having furnished, whether directly or indirectly, the plots of 'Measure for Measure', and 'Othello'. ”

“ WORKS OF PLATO, abridg'd, with an account of his life, philosophy, morals and politics, together with a translation of his choicest dialogues. By M. Dacier. Tr. from the French, 1701.
The 'Republic' is the model for all ideal commonwealths, e.g. More's 'Utopia', Bacon's 'New Atlantis', etc. Berkeley's 'Alciphron' is based on the 'Dialogues'.
The philosophy of P. influenced the poetry of Shelley, and Wordsworth's 'Intimations of Immortality'. ”

“ The plays of M. were imitated by Wycherley and Farquhar and the post-Restoration dramatists. Meredith in his 'Essay on Comedy' admits his profound and salutary influence on English fiction.
Molière was copied, adapted, translated by English writers, and that not merely for reading, but for acting purposes. Dryden translated 'L'Etourdi' as 'Sir Martin Mar-All'; Vanburgh turned 'Le Dépit Amoureux' into 'The Mistake'; Wycherley offered 'The Plain Dealer' as a version of 'Le Misanthrope'; Fielding's 'Mock-Doctor' is 'Le Médecin Malgré Lui', his 'Miser' is Molière's 'L'Avare' ”

“ The most famous speech in Swinburne's 'Atalanta in Calydon' is a translation from A.
ÆSOP. 6th century B.C. Fabulist.
Here begynneth the book of the Subtyl Historyes and Fables of Esope.... Translated out of the French into Englysshe by William Caxton, 1484.
The fables of Æsop are among the very earliest of their kind, and probably have never been surpassed for point and brevity.
Nearly all subsequent fables are based upon Æsop. Has affected all European literature. All educated or even intelligent Greeks were supposed to know Æsop, hence their important influence. ”

“ Boccaccio directly borrowed his 'Teseide' from Statius' 'Thebaid', A.D. 70. Introduced the octave stanza. The 'Knight's Tale' and 'Troilus and Cressida' of Chaucer are from the 'Teseide' of B., as also is Shakespeare's 'Troilus and Cressida' from the 'Filostrato.' 'All's Well that Ends Well' is also from B. Chaucer borrowed very freely from him.
The 'Decameron' suggested to Chaucer his plan for the 'Canterbury Tales', and also some of the 'Tales' themselves, and its influence on the development of the English novel was enormous. ”

“ The anthologies, collections, folk and fairy tales, poetical and traditional literature have been placed in their national order under French, German, etc., many important minor works have been published in these forms, and many important poems have been first translated in these anthologies, often long before they have appeared in the author's translated works. ”

“ ARTHUR OF LITTLE BRITAIN. THE HYSTORY OF ARTHUR OF LYTELL BRYTAYNE, translated out of Frensshe in to Englishe, by the noble Johan Bourghcher, Knyght, Lord Berners. 1493.
Not the Arthurian legend, but irresponsible adventures like the Amadis. Said to have had a great influence on Spenser's Faerie Queene. ”

“ French historian and poet.
Here begynneth the First Volum of Sir J. Froissart: of the chronycles of Englande, Fraunce, Spayne, Portyngale, Scotlande, Bretayne, Flãunders: and other Places Adioynynge. Translated by J. Bouchier, Knight, Lord Berners, 1523-25.
Froissart's 'Chronicles' deals with the period between 1326-1400. It is mainly occupied with the affairs of France, England, Scotland and Flanders, and he also supplies much information in regard to Germany, Italy and Spain. The work has greatly influenced our literature. ”

“ CANZONIERE, including the Poems of the Vita Nuova and the Convito, Italian and English. Tr. by Charles Lyall, 1835.
Dante utilized the epic of Virgil as the basis for his poems. Influenced Milton's 'Paradise Lost'. 'House of Fame' and 'Parliament of Fowles' by Chaucer show borrowings and translations from D.
'Dante set modern Europe a great example, a model of sublimity in literature; though he did indeed supply English writers with many a thought and phrase, nevertheless his influence is chiefly indirect'. ”

“ The tragedies of Æschylus have affected English drama chiefly through French and Italian dramatists. 'Samson Agonistes,' by Milton, and 'Prometheus Unbound,' by Shelley, are unmistakable echoes, and the latter was intended to be a sequel to Æschylus' 'Prometheus Bound'. 'Manfred' and 'Cain', by Byron, are modelled upon A. Influenced also Racine and Corneille. ”

“ Ronsard and Du Bellay are the two most important names of the 'Pléiade'. The followers of R., through the Italian school introduced the 'classical' style of verse into England. 'The English poets also read Du Bellay, who finally established the sonnet and at the same time served as a pattern for English writers. One writer of the Ronsardist School, Du Bartas, was a writer of real religious conviction, and his "Semaine" or "Week of Creation", translated by Sylvester, gained no small currency in England'.
ROUSSEAU, JEAN JACQUES. b. 1712, d. 1778. Philosopher and eminent writer. ”

“ EPICTETUS. 1st century A.D. Stoic philosopher.
THE MANUELL OF EPICTETUS, translated out of Greeke into French, and now into English, conferred with two Latin translations. Hereunto are annexed annotations, and also the apothegms of the same author, by J. Sanford, 1567.
He left no written books, but his doctrines were recorded by his disciple Arrian, in eight books, four of which have come down to us.
EPICURUS. B.C. 342-270. Greek philosopher.
MORALS. Tr. John Digby, with an Essay by John Johnson, 1712.
EPICURUS MORALS. Tr. W. Charlton, 1656. [Collection] . ”

“ WORKS OF G. DE LA V., SURNAMED THE PRINCE OF CASTILIAN POETS. Tr. with a critical and historical Essay on Spanish Poetry and a life of the Author by J. H. Wiffen, 1823.
ISABEL ... WITH OTHER POEMS. Tr. [by R. Walpole] . 1805.
Acquired a wide and durable reputation by his pastoral and lyrical poems. Reformed, with Boscan, Spanish poetry by introducing the Italian measure, which forms an epoch in the literary history of Spain. G. has been styled the 'Spanish Petrarch'.
GARCILASCO DE LA VEGA. Surnamed 'The Inca'. b. 1530, d. 1568. Spanish historian.
He is esteemed for his fidelity and accuracy. ”

“ MONTAIGNE, MICHAEL E. DE. b. 1533, d. 1589. French philosopher and essayist.
THE ESSAYS, (ESSAIS) or, MORALL, POLITIKE AND MILLITARIE DISCOURSES OF LO: M. DE MONTAIGNE ... now done into English by J. Florio, 1603.
The first model of the essay. To Elizabethan England the 'Essays' of M. were well-known either directly or through the translation of Florio. The 'Essays' of Bacon are clearly indebted to his example. How far his influence has extended is incalculable.
MONTALBAN, PEREZ DE.
THE SPANISH BAWDE. Tr. 1631. [Attached to Aleman's 'Spanish Rogue'] . ”

“ This work is the fountain-head of medieval romance, the principal source of the legends of Merlin and Arthur, which were amplified by the romancers by material from Celtic tradition. Geoffrey's work is the basis of Wace's 'Roman de Brut' and of Layamon's 'Brut'.
GERMAN ANTHOLOGIES: COLLECTIONS. Poetical, Fairy Tales, Folk-Tales, and Traditional Literature.
AIKMAN, C. M. Tr. POEMS FROM THE GERMAN. 1892. ”

“ LECTURES ON EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION. Tr. by P. M. Beckwith, 1837.
SHAKESPEARE AND HIS TIMES. Tr. 1852.
GUY OF WARWICK. Ed. Turnbull, Abbotsford Club, 1840.
Ed. E.E.T.S., 1883-91.
Very popular among the Elizabethans, and is referred to by Beaumont in his 'Knight of the Burning Pestle'. Quoted by Chaucer as celebrated in his time, and fragments are preserved in Garrick's Collection of Old Plays. It appeared in French in 1525.
HAFIZ (SHEMS-ED-DÍN MUHAMMED) . b. 1300, d. 1388, or 9. Persian poet.
A SPECIMEN OF PERSIAN POETRY: or, ODES OF HAFIZ; with an English translation and Paraphrase. ”

“ THE MORALL PHILOSOPHIE OF DONI—drawne out of Ancient Writers ... Tr. by Sir T. North, 1570.
THE INSTRUCTIVE AND ENTERTAINING FABLES OF PILPAY made English (for the Duke of Gloucester) , 1679.
[1] [This celebrated Arabian fable-book, 'Calilah i Dumnah' (q.v.) is better known in Europe as 'Pilpay's Fables'.]
Several European fabulists, including Æsop, La Fontaine, have drawn largely from the fables of P.
PINDAR. b. 522, d. 442 B.C. Greek lyric poet.
ODES: Selected; with several other pieces in Prose and Verse by Gilbert West, 1749.
THE ODES OF PINDAR ... Tr. ... including those of Mr. West. ”