HOLBERG LITERATURE AND HOLBERG STUDENTS.
(Brief Summary.)
Notwithstanding the many highly interesting works both in Norwegian and Danish bearing upon the importance and the position of Holberg, no completeLife of Holberghas as yet been written in either language. We are entitled to ask the question: Will there ever be an adequate one?
As far as Norway is concerned, the most important Holberg students of the nineteenth century are: Olaf Skavlan (1838-1891); Ludvig Daae (1834-1910), and J. E. Sars (1835-1917), all of whom were professors in the University of Christiania. In the same connection may be mentioned Henrik Jæger (1854-1895), the author of the well-knownIllustreret Norsk Literaturhistoric, in the first volume of which there is a valuable outline of Holberg's life and works along with a short reference to the Holberg literature (down to 1896), not only in the Norwegian, Danish and Swedish languages, but also in German.
Among the Norwegian Holberg students of to-day, Mr. Viljam Olsvig, M.A., holds the most conspicuous place. In a number of works published within the last twenty odd years, largely bearing upon the connection between Holberg and England, he may fairly be said to have given a new impetus, and even a new turn, to the study of Holberg. Messrs. Francis Bull, Ph.D., and Sigurd Höst, M.A., have, within the last few years, thrown new light on Holberg as an historian; at the same time, the Rev. Ludvig Selmer has subjected Holberg's moral and religious conception of life to a close and interesting examination. Messrs. Just Bing, Ph.D., and Nordahl Olsen, a Bergen editor, have added valuable information to our former knowledge of Holberg in connection with his native town.
The contributions of Denmark to the Holberg literature are entitled to a fair acknowledgment on the part of Norway, and we certainly are greatly indebted both to the Danish Holberg students of the middle of last century (above all, E. C. Werlauff, 1781-1871) and the Holberg students of to-day (including Professor Georg Brandes and Professor Vilhelm Andersen) for the excellent way in which they have explained Holberg to us from a Danish point of view.
A complete list of Holberg's works (original and translations) is contained in the British Museum'sCatalogue of Printed Books(Vol. XXIX.), 1889.
HOLYWELL PRESS
FOOTNOTES:
[1]Epistola ad virum per illustrem.An English translation of this work under the title ofMemoirs of Lewis Holberg, written by Himself in Latin, and now first translated into English, was published in London (Hunt & Clarke), 1827.
[1]Epistola ad virum per illustrem.An English translation of this work under the title ofMemoirs of Lewis Holberg, written by Himself in Latin, and now first translated into English, was published in London (Hunt & Clarke), 1827.
[2]In 1733 Holberg published a brief "Synopsis" in Latin, partly based on this work. In 1755 the Synopsis was translated into English by Gregory Sharp, LL.D., Fellow of the Royal Society, the translation being dedicated to the then Prince of Wales, afterwards George III. (A second edition, "corrected and enlarged," appeared in 1758.) In 1787 a new revised English edition of the Synopsis was published by William Radcliffe, A.B., of Oriel College, Oxford. Both translators are unanimous in their praise of the original, Radcliffe describing it asa work which by its disposition and arrangement in the matter of history has been eminently useful to young students and is approved by the highest Orders of literature.
[2]In 1733 Holberg published a brief "Synopsis" in Latin, partly based on this work. In 1755 the Synopsis was translated into English by Gregory Sharp, LL.D., Fellow of the Royal Society, the translation being dedicated to the then Prince of Wales, afterwards George III. (A second edition, "corrected and enlarged," appeared in 1758.) In 1787 a new revised English edition of the Synopsis was published by William Radcliffe, A.B., of Oriel College, Oxford. Both translators are unanimous in their praise of the original, Radcliffe describing it asa work which by its disposition and arrangement in the matter of history has been eminently useful to young students and is approved by the highest Orders of literature.
[3]The complete title of the later translation is:Journey to the World Underground, Being the subterraneous Travel of Niels Klim. Translated from the Latin of Lewis Holberg, London. Published by Thomas North, 66 Paternoster Row, 1828.
[3]The complete title of the later translation is:Journey to the World Underground, Being the subterraneous Travel of Niels Klim. Translated from the Latin of Lewis Holberg, London. Published by Thomas North, 66 Paternoster Row, 1828.
[4]Voltaire, in hisSiècle de Louis XIV., Chap. II (1752), says: "Cromwell ... portant l'Evangile dans une main; l'épée dans l'autre, le masque de religion sur le visage ... couvrit des qualités d'un grand roi tous les crimes d'un ursurpateur." In hisEssai sur les Moeurs, Chap. clxxxi. (1757), Voltaire speaks of Cromwell as a man who "parvint a se faire roi sous un autre nom par sa valeur, secondée de son hypocrisie." Hume, in hisHistory of England, Chap. lx. (1754) describes Cromwell as a man who, "transported to a degree of madness with religious ecstasies, never forgot the purposes to which they might serve ... secretly paving the way by artifice and courage to his own unlimited authority."
[4]Voltaire, in hisSiècle de Louis XIV., Chap. II (1752), says: "Cromwell ... portant l'Evangile dans une main; l'épée dans l'autre, le masque de religion sur le visage ... couvrit des qualités d'un grand roi tous les crimes d'un ursurpateur." In hisEssai sur les Moeurs, Chap. clxxxi. (1757), Voltaire speaks of Cromwell as a man who "parvint a se faire roi sous un autre nom par sa valeur, secondée de son hypocrisie." Hume, in hisHistory of England, Chap. lx. (1754) describes Cromwell as a man who, "transported to a degree of madness with religious ecstasies, never forgot the purposes to which they might serve ... secretly paving the way by artifice and courage to his own unlimited authority."
[5]The essay, from which the above is a quotation, was published for the first time in English in theEnglish Historical Review, vol. xxxii., page 412-415 (1917), with an introduction by Mr. R. Laache, M.A., Christiania.
[5]The essay, from which the above is a quotation, was published for the first time in English in theEnglish Historical Review, vol. xxxii., page 412-415 (1917), with an introduction by Mr. R. Laache, M.A., Christiania.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:
Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original.Punctuation has been corrected without note.Obvious typographical errors have been corrected as follows:Page 34: duplicate word "a" removed