1999

BD -- Literature and Literary Studies


Kindlers neues Literaturlexikon [The New Kindler's Literature Lexicon]. Ed. Walter Jens and Rudolf Radler. München: Kindler. 25 cm. Vol. 1-20. ISBN 3-463-92034-4: DM 3,360.00 [99-1/4-151]

Vol. 21. Supplement A-K. 1998. xxxv, 811 p. ISBN 3-463-43021-5: DM 199.00

Vol. 22. Supplement L-Z. xxxv, 815 p. ISBN 3-463-43021-5: DM 239.00

This updated version of the venerable Kindlers Literaturlexikon (KLL) was reviewed at its completion with volume 20 (1992) in IFB 93-1/2-057. Thus, a short mention will suffice for these two supplementary volumes to Kindlers neues Literaturlexikon (KNLL). According to the preface, the volumes contain "nearly 1,200 analyses of works (by some 1,000 authors)." They have two main functions with respect to KNLL: updating it with the addition of newly published authors and works, and supplementing it with older authors and works which do not appear in KNLL. A sampling of the forty-nine authors under the letter A yielded thirty-six authors appearing for the first time (largely contemporary authors, with only two from the nineteenth century), and supplemental entries for thirteen authors already included in KNLL, cross-referenced by volume and page number. The supplemental entries include titles of new works by the authors, as well as new secondary literature. Both volumes include indexes of authors and their works, and of titles, as well as a necrology.

All those who own the KNLL­one of the core reference works for literature scholarship­will want to order these supplementary volumes. They might also like to know that a CD-ROM edition has been published (although too late to review here): München: Systema-Verlag, 1999; ISBN 3-634 23231-5: DM 498.00. A suggestion: perhaps the time has come to make reasonably priced paperback editions of KNLL, as well as its predecessor KLL, available to the general public. Such an edition was printed after the publication of KNLL but could be purchased only by members of the book trade. [sh/akb]
 

Dichterhandschriften: von Martin Luther bis Sarah Kirsch [Authors' Handwritten Manuscripts: From Martin Luther to Sarah Kirsch]. Ed. Jochen Meyer, in collaboration with the Schiller-Nationalmuseum and Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach am Neckar. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1999. 235 p. ill. 26 cm. ISBN 3-15-010452-1: DM 98.00 [99-1/4-155] Facsimiles of handwritten manuscripts by 102 authors comprise this volume, in which illustrations and commentary are equally engaging. Many texts come from the manuscript collection of the German Literature Archive in Marbach (the editor of this book is the director of that collection). From the abundance of available material, Meyer has arrived at an admirably cohesive selection, representing a wide range of periods and literary figures and drawn from various genres. Poems and letters predominate, as would be expected in this type of publication, but other texts include a scene from Büchner's Woyzeck, Wilhelm Hauff's business contract with a publisher, Nikolaus Lenau's corrections to the new edition of a work, and a page pertaining to the second act of the Rosenkavalier, salvaged from Hofmannsthal's wastebasket. Of special note are manuscripts by Musil and Werfel found recently in Paris among some of Franz Kafka's papers long considered lost.

The four-color facsimiles are reproduced in their original size where possible. Accompanying each manuscript sample is a short essay, which includes a transcription of the text. The essays exhibit a refreshing diversity of approaches and are uniformly well-written. Where letters are used, the authors of the essays have included sketches of the letter writer and recipient, thus shedding light on the relationship between the correspondents. Among them are, for example, Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz and Charlotte von Stein, and Nelly Sachs and Alfred Andersch. Literary scholars familiar with the lives and works of the authors included will derive particular pleasure from this work. [hak/akb]
 

Die Nachlässe und Sammlungen des Deutschen Literaturarchivs Marbach [Literary Bequests and Collections held by the German Literature Archive, Marbach]. Ingrid Kussmaul. 3d completely rev. and updated ed. Marbach am Neckar: Deutsche Schillergesellschaft. 21 cm. (Verzeichnisse, Berichte, Informationen: Deutsches Literaturarchiv, 23) ISBN 3-929146-85-1: DM 120.00 [99-1/4-156]

1. Nachlässe und Sammlungen [Literary Bequests and Collections]. 1999. xxiv, 908 p.

2. Register [Index]. 1999. 257 p.

For all scholarship pertaining to German literature of the most recent centuries which attempts to trace works back to their original sources, the catalog of the German Literature Archive in Marbach has been an essential aid since its first publication in 1983 (a corrected but unrevised edition appeared in 1986). The 1983 catalog filled 600 pages; the current one requires 900 pages for the descriptive material alone. The growth in the Archive's holdings since 1955, the year it was established, bears testimony to the success with which it has fulfilled its mission "to preserve the handwritten and printed sources of modern and contemporary literature in the German language and to make these accessible through indexing, scholarship, exhibits and publications" (preface to the first edition). From 150 collections at its founding, the Archive grew to 570 at the publication of its first catalog, and to over 1,000 by the end of 1997 (the cut-off point for the current edition). Hardly an important name from the period of classical modernity and the postwar period is missing. Archives of publishing houses and of journals provide further valuable information, as do the papers of scholars who have worked on authors upon which the Marbach archive focuses.

The layout of the catalog retains its original organization and offers additional searching aids through a revised cross-referencing system. Outstanding editorial competency is apparent in the difficult selection of names and works chosen for indexing, where the editors follow an effective middle path between too much and too little. The index volume contains over 14,000 names of people, publications, and institutions.

In addition to the print version of the new catalog, an online version can now be searched on the Internet at <http://www.dla-marbach.de/kallias/hyperkuss. The Internet presentation is distinguished by a clearly organized layout and a user friendly overview of the searching options. In the future, the additions to the electronic catalog will be entered annually, an advantage that already has become clear with the recent addition of the archives of the Piper publishing company and the papers of authors such as Erich Kästner and Karl Kerény. However, despite the currency and other advantages of the online catalog, we would hope that the wonderful printed catalog would still continue to be published from time to time&shy;not least for its excellent typographical format and its fine illustrations. [hak/akb]
 

Grenzenlos: Literatur zwischen Ost und West von 1949 bis 1989; eine Bibliographie [Without Borders: Literature between East and West from 1949 to 1989. A Bibliography]. Antje Janssen Zimmermann and Elke Kasper. Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 1999. 736 p. 21 cm. (Literarhistorische Untersuchungen, 32) ISBN 3-631-33831-7: DM 148.00 [99-1/4-157] This bibliography compiles literary works published from 1949 to 1989 into two categories: those published in the German Democratic Republic by German-speaking authors of the western, non-socialistic countries, and those published in the old Federal Republic of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland by GDR authors. The works appear in chronological order according to year of publication, while maintaining the two categories "West 1949-1989" and "East 1949-1989," within which authors are listed alphabetically. The selection includes only independently published works (i.e., not works that appeared in anthologies) and lists only works by authors who published, in the "other" Germany, at least two relevant books during this time period.

As promising as the enterprise appears, the execution is unsatisfying in several ways. In a comparative evaluation of relevant literary reference works, there are a number of glaring omissions. The authors have consulted neither Herbert Jacob's Literatur in der DDR: bibliographische Annalen 1945-1962, one of the most valuable sources of bibliographical information about literary publication in the GDR, nor, even more startlingly, Andrea Jäger's Schriftsteller aus der DDR: Ausbürgerungen und Übersiedlungen von 1961 bis 1989 (brought out by Lang, the publisher also of the work reviewed here), which offers by far more information for the period it covers. There are other serious deficiencies which become apparent in using this work and stem from the superficiality of its concept, not to mention imprecise and confusing use of terminology and minor inaccuracies. All things considered, this is not a work that can be recommended without reservation. [hak/akb]
 

Praxis der Literaturinformatik Germanistik [Bibliographic Sources in German Language and Literature Scholarship]. Carl Paschek. 2d completely rev. ed. Berlin: Weidler, 1999. 314 p. 21 cm. (Germanistische Lehrbuchsammlung, 48). 1st ed.: Praxis der Literaturermittlung Germanistik. Carl Paschek. Bern: Lang, 1986. ISBN 3-89693-348-5: DM 76.00 [99-1/4-158] Just by comparing the length of the first edition (410 p.) of this bibliographic work with that of the current one, it becomes apparent that considerable truncation has taken place. Despite the passage of twelve years (the cut-off point for this edition is 1998) and the emergence of new electronic formats, this edition compresses into one volume what was originally published in two separate volumes as textbook and bibliography. Whereas the original index included 1,436 titles, the present one has only 1,065. Considering the vast bibliographic publication in this field, this reduction cannot simply be explained by the formula "old minus obsolete plus new titles," but can only signify a decrease in information content. In corroboration of this, one notes the omission of such important works as Metzler's Geschichte der deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur seit 1945 from the list of literary histories and Wirkendes Wort from the list of journals.

There are other features of this work that detract from its usefulness. Names of authors often appear in the text and index with only an initial rather than the full first name. New editions of works are not always cited. The layout is not clear and user friendly. How much the change in publishers has contributed to the unwelcome changes from the first to the second edition is hard to gauge. While the first edition never really caught on among practitioners, it did offer a viable alternative to other reference works in the field. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the new edition. [hak/akb]
 

Studienbuch neuere deutsche Literaturwissenschaft 1720-1848: Basiswissen [Study Guide to German Literature from 1720 to 1848: Fundamentals]. Silke Müller and Susanne Wess. 2d ed. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 1999. 210 p. 21 cm. (Lern- und Arbeitshilfen für Schule und Universität) ISBN 3-8260-1713-7: DM 24.00 [99-1/4-159] One can only admire the spirit of the two authors of this volume, who sat down immediately after passing their own general exams to write a study guide for other students of German literature. The result is an instructive summary of the subject matter, including unabashedly positivistic tables of facts about the lives of important authors. The real usefulness of the book lies elsewhere, however, in a series of very well-formulated explanations of literary concepts (genre terms in all their variations and other terms of German literary scholarship). For all of these, the authors offer clear and unequivocal definitions, appropriate for students trying to grasp the essence of these concepts.

The book originated within the context of the courses and examinations given at the University of Würzburg but summarizes the material so superbly that many students of German literature studying elsewhere could profit from it. Typographic differentiation and cross-references add to the text's usefulness. Truly a vade mecum! The only defect is the sparse bibliography of secondary literature, which does not even include the most important bibliographic serials in the field, the Bibliographie der deutschen Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft and the review journal Germanistik. A new edition would profit from a brief annotated bibliography. One looks forward to the announced next volume of this handbook, for German literature from 1848 to the present. [hak/akb]
 

Internet für Germanisten: eine praxisorientierte Einführung [The Internet for Germanists: A Practice-Oriented Introduction]. Hartmut Schönherr and Paul Tiedemann. Darmstadt: Primus Verlag, 1999, xiii, 166 p. 24 cm. ISBN 3-89678-133-2: DM 34.00 [99-1/4-160] The Primus-Verlag in Darmstadt has discovered the Internet market for a humanities-oriented clientele, and is attempting to "occupy" this terrain. The concept on which they are basing this monographic series is as simple as it is problematic. Already in 1997, Paul Tiedemann published with Primus a small book with the title Internet für Philosophen: eine praxisorientierte Einführung (reviewed in IFB 98-1/2-070). At the time, this reviewer criticized the questionable concept of the small volume, the main part of which addressed itself to persons who stand perplexed before the Internet. Only the smaller subject-specific part of the work was directed to Internet users with specific interests in the field. The Primus Verlag has actually chosen a similar approach in its conception of this entire series, in which each volume contains the same general introduction to the Internet by Tiedemann. Specialists have been consulted only for the "extras." There are currently twelve volumes in the series, and only the middle portions of these books (ca. sixty-five pages) contain information that differs from volume to volume.

The content of Internet für Germanisten is somewhat more substantial, due to the contributions of Hartmut Schönherr. Divided into sixteen categories, it supplies 160 relevant Internet addresses. Adjectives describing the usefulness of these sites (e.g., informative, useful, content-rich, etc.) are given at the point of the links to them. Pointers are also supplied for useful Germanist sites such as the Düsseldorfer Virtuelle Bibliothek and the Germanist pages of the University of Konstanz Library. Under the rubric "Bibliographien" the usual confusion exists between bibliographies and catalogs. The listing of "Fachzeitschriften" (subject-based research journals) is helpful, although it lacks references to some interesting new initiatives, such as the online journal literaturkritik.de at URL <http://www.literaturkritik.de/home.html. Sites dealing with individual authors, such as Hölderlin, Kleist, and Karl May are also featured. The rubric "Literaturwissenschaft" (literary scholarship) has its strong and weak points. One can locate the Deutsches Literaturarchiv in Marbach through it, but references to other major sites, such as the Goethe- und Schiller Archiv and the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek in Weimar are missing.

Despite its shortcomings, this resource can be recommended for those students and faculty who have had little experience with the Internet. But one can profit just as much from the website Internet für Germanisten maintained for Germanists by Hartmut Schönherr: <http://members.aol.com/artefact/germanlinks.html. [fsr/tk]
 

Germanistik im Internet: eine Orientierungshilfe [German Language and Literature Studies on the Internet: An Orientation Aid]. Ed. Frank Simon-Ritz. Berlin: Deutsches Bibliotheksinstitut, 1998. 149 p. 24 cm. (Informationsmittel für Bibliotheken (IFB), Beiheft 8). Electronic version: <http://www.dbi-berlin.de/dbipub/einzelpu/ifb-bh8/ifb00.htm. ISBN 3-87068-548-4: DM 32.00, DM 24.00 (subscription) [99-1/4-161] In all areas of scholarship, new electronic aids are assuming a growing acceptance alongside printed sources. In the German-speaking countries, where some scholars in the humanities still harbor anti-digital reservations, there has been an increase since 1996 in the offerings of various "introductions" to humanities Internet resources. Most consist of about one-third general information on the Internet and two-thirds subject-specific annotated links. But this "orientation aid" of the Deutsches Bibliotheksinstitut has chosen a different approach. Actually two works are involved: the print publication Germanistik im Internet and a corresponding Internet publication of the DBI, to be found at <http://www/dbi-berlin.de/dbi_pub/einzelpu/ifbbh8/ifb_00.htm. The electronic version has the great advantage that the many links contained in the footnotes can be pursued immediately. One certainly hopes that this IFB publication will be continued.

In ten short essays Internet sites are described with respect to German authors, German studies, research institutes, bibliographies, and electronic journals. Mailing lists are also discussed, as are literary archives, libraries, museums, and research institutes. The radical growth in the number of literary societies that now have a presence on the Internet is noted, currently eighty-seven (out of a total of 134). In addition, the dynamic text form, or so-called "Netzliteratur," is discussed, as are the simplified possibilities of publishing outside traditional paper modes, characterized in part as "liberation from the publisher." Also noted, however, is the question concerning the quality level of texts published in this fashion. Evaluation criteria for web sites are proposed. This work itself illustrates that there are no uniform standards for citing Internet addresses (URLs). Frequently mentioned in the work are OLLi (Olivers Links zur Literatur), the Web site Germanistik im Internet from the University of Erlangen <http://www.phil.uni erlangen.de/~p2gerlw/ressourc/liste.html, the periodical Computerphilologie, and Internet Resources for Germanists at the University of Wisconsin <http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/german/links.html.

This book and, even more, its Internet version are well-suited for libraries, and also for teachers and students of literature, philology, and medieval studies. [be/tk]
 

Das KLG auf CD-ROM: kritisches Lexikon zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur [The KLG on CD-ROM: Critical Lexicon of Contemporary Literature in German]. Ed. Heinz Ludwig Arnold. München: Edition Text + Kritik [99-1/4-167]

1999, 1st. ed. 63d installment. 1999. 1 CD-ROM. ISBN 3-88377-623-8. DM 460.00, DM 360.00 (for subscribers to the print ed.); 3 additional installments annually on CD-ROM @ approx. DM 38.00. ISBN 3-88377-624-6: DM 710.00 (loose-leaf ed. and CD-ROM)

The Kritisches Lexikon der Gegenwartsliteratur (KLG) has established a reputation as an excellent reference tool for contemporary literature, based on articles about individual authors. Since its inception, it has grown to over 600 articles, and until the present it has existed only as a loose-leaf print version, published in installments that are supplemented regularly and are usually kept in a ring binder. Since fall 1999 the KLG is also available on CD-ROM. All of the advantageous features of the print version are to be found in the new electronic version as well, including regular updating.

Comparing the print version with the CD-ROM, one can easily predict that anyone who wishes to use the KLG for precise and thorough searching will turn to the latter. The search functions are easy to use and allow for a quick retrieval of information that was not possible before. Indexes give the user access to all the information about authors found in the print version: biography; prizes; texts of articles; a listing of the author's works; translations (i.e., done by the author, not of the author's works); lists of works for theater, film, radio, multimedia projects, interviews, and secondary literature. The search system allows for highly detailed queries, within individual articles as well as in all articles, using fields such as: names of authors, birth and death dates, countries of origin, titles of works, institutions and organizations of literary life, prizes and years of awards. Within some of these categories, even more precise searching can be done. For example, under secondary literature, one can find specific information about reviewers, editors, newspapers, journals, and dates of reviews.

By using the CD-ROM database, the researcher can address certain kinds of questions which could not easily be answered before, such as which critics have written about which authors, and which directors have staged the works of which playwrights. One should keep in mind, however, that while the KLG CD-ROM has a definite advantage over the print version in terms of searching for specific information, the essays still deserve to be read thoroughly. Thus, one hopes that the market can sustain both versions over the long run. [hak/akb]
 

Reallexikon der deutschen Literaturwissenschaft: Neubearbeitung des Reallexikons der deutschen Literaturgeschichte [Lexicon of German Literary Scholarship: Revised Edition of the Lexicon of German Literary History]. Ed. Harald Fricke and Klaus Weimar. Berlin [et al.]: de Gruyter. 25 cm. [99-1/4-169]

Vol. 1. A-G. 1997. xxi, 754 p. ISBN 3-11-010896-8: DM 248.00

Dictionaries of literary terms have proliferated in recent years. Some of these competing works are cited in the review which follows this one.

The three existing versions of the Reallexikon mirror the changes that have taken place in the field of German literary scholarship in this century. The original four-volume Merker/Stammler Reallexikon (1925-1931) reflects the state of scholarship at the time. The second edition (1958-1984) came into being during a period of radical change in the 1960s, under the hand of several different editors, with the result that some of the entries in the final volume of that edition present a completely different approach to German literary scholarship, both in theory and terminology, than the entries in the first volume. For the current third edition, three volumes are planned, but as of November 1999, only volume 1 had been completed.

The stated aim of RLW (the official abbreviation chosen by the editors) is to provide a complete and systematic representation of the usage of literary terms in German without promoting any one particular theoretical approach to the study of literature. Each entry has the same strict pattern: a basic definition is followed by (1) an explication, attempting a historically based suggestion for usage, (2) history of the word, (3) history of the concept, (4) history of the subject area, (5) history of research, and (6) a list of bibliographic citations concerning the topic. This consistency of approach has some merit; however, the categories overlap closely, and some of the distinctions seem forced and artificial. Furthermore, the intensive editorial input required to achieve this uniform scheme may well be a contributing factor to the slow progress being made toward publication of the two remaining volumes of the work. [sh/akb]
 

Sachwörterbuch zur deutschen Literatur [Dictionary of Terms in German Literature]. Volker Meid. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1999. 571 p. 16 cm. ISBN 3-15-010459-9: DM 29.80 [99-1/4-170] Volker Meid is already known as the author of a number of important reference works for students and scholars of German literature. His Metzler-Literatur-Chronik (1993) is a chronologically arranged description of works of literature in German. He is also the editor of the two-volume Begriffe, Realien, Methoden in Walther Killy's multiple-volume Literaturlexikon (1992). Meid's Sachwörterbuch enriches the already crowded field of lexica for scholars of German literature with a reference work that has its own distinctive character. Among the reference works of smaller format with which this work competes are: Gero von Wilpert, Sachwörterbuch der Literatur (1989); Otto F. Best, Handbuch literarischer Fachbegriffe (1994); and Horst Brunner and Rainer Moritz, Literaturwissenschaftliches Lexikon (1997).

The articles in Meid's dictionary are somewhat lengthier than those in Wilpert's but, unlike the latter, do not include any citations to secondary literature. Best (the one handbook which no student of German literature should do without) also gives no bibliographical citations, but an outstanding feature of his work is that he consistently provides at least one literary text as an illustration of the term being discussed. By contrast, Meid does not. Brunner/Moritz include the most important research problems related to each term along with an explanation of the term; in this sense, the latter is the most ambitious of the smaller reference works.

The feature that makes Meid's new work so useful to students of literature is that it defines a relatively large number of key terms, originating from all areas of literary scholarship (aesthetics, genre studies, periodization, metrics, and so on), and it explains these terms with utmost clarity. Another useful feature is that he gives many alternative terms to the keyword, from the narrowest to the broadest usage. One is impressed by the pragmatism that has guided the author in building up his thesaurus, based on a well considered mix of both broad and specific terms. Throughout, one senses the attempt to explain to the student of literature those terms most in need of clarification. Although there are no bibliographic references in the individual entries, one does find a two-and-a-half page listing of basic reference works of German literary scholarship and related disciplines at the end of the volume. [hak/akb]
 

Bibliographie Willi Bredel [Willi Bredel Bibliography]. Brigitte Nestler. Frankfurt am Main; Bern [et al.]: Lang, 1999. 709 p. 21 cm. (Hamburger Beiträge zur Germanistik, 27) ISBN 3-631-32809 5: DM 148.00 [99-1/4-171] Sometimes the publication history of books makes a fascinating story in itself. This excellent personal bibliography of Willi Bredel (1901-1964) is an example. According to the preface, the GDR publisher who had originally intended to publish the work decided not to do so after the reunification of Germany, in order to avoid entering the free market economy with a publication dedicated to a proletarian revolutionary author from the Weimar period who fled to the Soviet Union from Nazi Germany, settled in Soviet-occupied Germany in 1946, and became a popular GDR author. Publication of the bibliography was finally made possible with financial support from the Senate of the city of Hamburg, where Bredel was born and to which he often paid literary homage in his works.

The publications of Willi Bredel comprised not only fiction but also works that resulted from his extensive involvement in the literary life of the GDR, where he was active as a theorist of socialist literature and as president of the Academy of the Arts. The bibliography aims to provide as complete a record as possible of Bredel's published works, as well as publications about him. For her research the editor was able to consult the holdings of the Willi-Bredel-Archive at the Academy of the Arts in Berlin, the collections of the former Department of the History of Socialist Literature at the Academy of the Arts in Leipzig, and the joint holdings of the former Academy of the Arts of the GDR and the German Library in Leipzig.

The selection, organization, and presentation of the material meet the highest standards. The chronological arrangement by date of publication makes it easy to follow Bredel's journalistic career. A useful feature is a forty-page listing of translations of Bredel's publications into other languages. Brigitte Nester (formerly Melzwig), already well-known for her many outstanding bibliographical works, deserves praise for providing scholars access to the works of an author who exercised a great deal of influence on the literature of the German Democratic Republic. [hak/akb]
 

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach: eine Bibliographie [Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach: A Bibliography]. Carsten Kretschmann. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1999. 226 p. 24 cm. (Kritische Texte und Deutungen, Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Supplementary volume, 1) ISBN 3-484-10797-9: DM 126.00 [99-1/4-172] Already in the preface to this personal bibliography of the author Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) one encounters an erroneous statement&shy;that her first work was published in 1858. In fact, the correct year is 1857. This is only the first indication of other problems. By contrast, Herbert Jacob's eighteen-page contribution concerning Ebner-Eschenbach's works, that can be found in Deutsches Schriftstellerlexikon: 1830-1880; Goedekes Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung: Fortführung (1998), short as it is, far surpasses Kretschmann's work in terms of accuracy and completeness and sets a standard against which other bibliographic works about Ebner-Eschenbach have to be measured.

In comparing the two sources, one finds that Jacob offers much more detailed and accurate information about the publication history of texts than does Kretschmann. For example, some of Ebner-Eschenbach's early works were published anonymously, but this is not noted in Kretschmann, and the latter also gets some of the dates of first publication wrong. Jacob mentions numerous reviews by contemporary critics which Kretschmann misses.

The material has been divided into two categories, In vita and Postuma, listing primary and secondary publications that appeared during the author's life and after her death separately&shy;an unusual editorial practice in bibliographies of this sort and one that has no particular merit. On the positive side, the title listings are complete and accurate, and the two indexes to works and persons provide access to the material. Unfortunately, the bibliography does not list translations of Ebner-Eschenbach's works into other languages, which would have provided valuable information for the study of her reception and influence.

This bibliography by Kretschmann appears as a supplementary volume in the series Kritische Texte und Deutungen, which would seem to provide highly favorable conditions for producing a good bibliography. However, this expectation is not met, and anyone who is interested in conducting research on Ebner-Eschenbach is far better served in consulting Jacob's entry about the author in the Deutsches Schriftstellerlexikon. [hak/akb]
 

Eichendorff-Bibliographie: Forschungsliteratur zu Leben und Werk Joseph von Eichendorffs 1926-1995 [Eichendorff Bibliography: Scholarly Literature about the Life and Work of Joseph von Eichendorff, 1926-1995] Thomas Lick. St. Katharinen: Scripta-Mercaturae-Verlag, 1998. xi, 259 p. 23 cm. ISBN 3-89590-053-2: DM 48.00 [99-1/4-173] In 1927, Eichendorff's nephew Karl von Eichendorff published a bibliography of works by and about his uncle, the Romantic writer Joseph Baron von Eichendorff (1788-1857). The 1927 bibliography represented the enthusiastic work of a layman, who lacked professional training in bibliography. The uncounted titles of both primary and secondary literature were organized by subject and listed chronologically within the forty-two groups, without any indexes.

A continuation of this bibliography appeared in 1998 with Thomas Lick's work here under review. Lick's bibliography does not adequately reflect the Eichendorff literature, and the information that is provided is often inaccurate. The organization of the new bibliography, with its chronological listing of entries without subject subdivisions, is a disappointment. In addition, the six indexes that are included are so sloppily constructed (and reveal Lick's lack of knowledge of Eichendorff and classification) that they are no substitute for a classified list of entries.

Lick's effort demonstrates that a bibliography about an individual writer must be created by someone knowledgeable about the person's life and work. One has the impression that Lick has simply compiled a listing of already known titles, without checking the references himself. This is affirmed by the varying bibliographic information provided for different titles&shy;obviously dependent on the source of the reference.

Many relevant regional periodicals were not systematically checked during the preparation of this bibliography, consequently as many as 500 titles about Eichendorff were missed. Numerous typographical errors indicate that citations were scanned without adequate proofreading afterwards. Above all, Lick leaves out significant aspects of Eichendorff studies represented in many often highly informative contributions.

In summary, the bibliography is filled with so many inaccuracies and nonsense that it can be useful only for the Eichendorff specialist who is in a position to recognize the numerous inconsistencies. Horst Meyer's analysis of Lick's dissertation (see IFB 95-3-319)&shy;that it should be considered a quarry rather than solid documentation&shy;holds true for this work as well. This bibliography is not recommended for libraries. [mh/msc]
 

Lion Feuchtwanger: A Bibliographic Handbook = Lion Feuchtwanger. John M. Spalek and Sandra H. Hawrylchak. München: Saur. 25 cm. ISBN 3-598-11377-3 [99-1/4-174]

Vol. 1. German Editions. 1998. xxviii, 392 p. ISBN 3-598-11378-1: DM 180.00

With two large reference works about German exile literature in the U.S. (Deutschsprachige Exilliteratur seit 1933 and Guide to the Archival materials of the German-speaking Emigration to the United States after 1933 = Verzeichnis der Quellen und Materialien der deutschsprachigen Emigration in den USA seit 1933) and many additional relevant publications behind him, John M. Spalek has long been considered an expert in the area of German exile literature. In collaboration with Sandra Hawrylchak, Spalek has now brought out this first part of a four-volume, comprehensive bibliography of publications by and about Lion Feuchtwanger. He was able to build on several earlier works, including Gertrude Goetz's A Bibliography of Lion Feuchtwanger's Major Works in German (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Southern California, 1971) and Lion Feuchtwanger, edited by Ewald Beir and Hilde Wiesel (1974). This first volume includes all German-language editions of separately published works; the others will cover Feuchtwanger's contributions to newspapers, translations, and adaptations of his work (volume 2), as well as secondary literature (volumes 3 and 4). In addition to the alphabetical listing of 309 Feuchtwanger editions, the bibliography includes a brief introduction in German and English and an index of names. The volume covers works from 1905 (the year of the earliest publication) through 1997. Entries are detailed and include, in addition to the standard bibliographical data, information on collation, typography, paper, printer, binding, and book jackets for each edition. Included also is information about libraries holding copies. Information from the title page, cover, and jacket is reproduced in conformance with standard transcription guidelines, with "/" indicating line breaks, and information about unusual typographical features such as color, underlining, etc., noted in square brackets.

Contrary to the prevalent impression in Germany, the editors demonstrate that Feuchtwanger's works were widely published and read in both eastern and western Germany between 1945 and 1989. Although additional indexes would have without doubt increased the usability of the work, this extensive bibliography provides a solid foundation for future critical editions and research about the history and reception of Feuchtwanger's works. It will also be a boon to institutional and private collectors of Feuchtwanger's works. From the holdings information included in the work it becomes apparent that, along with the Deutsche Bibliothek (German National Library) in Frankfurt, the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library at the University of Southern California (USC) holds a major research collection of Feuchtwanger's works. It comprises the bibliographic and working library and archive of the writer, bequeathed to the University by his widow, Marta Feuchtwanger. Information about the Feuchtwanger Library and USC's other archival collections of German exiles (Hanns Eisler, Heinrich Mann, Ludwig Marcuse) is available by contacting Marje Schuetze-Coburn, curator of the collection, at schuetze@usc.edu or from the Feuchtwanger Library website: <http://www.usc.edu/isd/locations/ssh/special/fml. [ab/msc]
 

Goethe-Handbuch : in vier Bänden [Goethe Handbook in Four Volumes]. Ed. Bernd Witte. Stuttgart; Weimar: Metzler. 25 cm. ISBN 3-476-00923-8 [99-1/4-181]

Chronologie, Bibliographie, Karten, Register [Chronology, Bibliography, Maps, Index]. Ed. Bernd Witte. 1999. viii, 344 p. ISBN 3-476-01590-4: DM 98.00

A fifth, unnumbered, volume has been added to the four-volume Goethe-Handbuch (reviewed in RREA 3:144 and RREA 4:109). It provides the various additional information and access points indicated in its title. The Chronology section details Goethe's life; its continuation past his death would have been desirable, particularly in view of reception history. The Maps section is rather limited: six of the seven colored maps concern themselves mainly with Weimar, the seventh is an (almost illegible) reproduction of Goethe's route on his first journey to Italy, drawn by Stieler, a well-known artist of the time. The select bibliography (scope and selection criteria are not spelled out) is well-organized but lacks a section on individual works. The Index (p. 181-344) contains separate sections on personal names and works by other authors, Goethe's works, mythological and biblical names, place names, and subjects. [sh/rs]
  Metzler-Goethe-Lexikon [Metzler's Goethe Dictionary]. Ed. Benedikt Jeßing, Bernd Lutz and Inge Wild. Stuttgart; Weimar: Metzler, 1999. 583 p. ill. 22 cm. ISBN 3-476-01589-0: DM 59.80 [99-1/4-182] Dictionaries were important tools for Goethe, yet the word "dictionary" does not merit an entry in this Goethe dictionary. This is just one of its many shortcomings. Significant items are either entirely omitted, difficult to find because of insufficient cross-references, or dealt with all too briefly. Important aspects of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century intellectual history are ignored or misrepresented. Comparatively trivial facts are treated in considerable detail while items of much greater importance receive short shrift. Raphael merits a bare eight lines while a discussion of Goethe's private parts takes up twenty-two.

The dictionary shows all the signs of a publication hastily put together with scissors and paste for the Goethe anniversary in 1999 (Goethe was born in 1749). It is unfortunate that this severely flawed work was brought out by the same publishing house that has recently commenced a critical edition of Goethe's diaries. The CIP subtitle (dropped before publication) promised "everything about Goethe" in 2,200 articles, but this dictionary delivers a lot less than Gero von Wilpert's Goethe-Lexikon (reviewed in RREA 4:110). In addition to much superior factual information, Wilpert provides bibliographic references for further research, a feature lacking in the Metzler dictionary. [sh/rs]
 

Taschenlexikon Goethe [Pocket Dictionary on Goethe]. Friedemann Bedürftig. München: Piper, 1999. 316 p. 19 cm. (Serie Piper, 2,669) ISBN 3-492-22559-8: DM 16.90 [99-1/4-183] This dictionary is intended for the lay person, and should be of help to readers of unannotated Goethe editions. Entries on people, places, works and subjects provide useful but often incomplete information. Anyone willing to invest in the much more expensive Goethe-Lexikon by Wilpert (reviewed in RREA 4:110) will not need to acquire this dictionary. [hak/rs]
  Bibliographie Helmut Heißenbüttel [Helmut Heißenbüttel Bibliography]. Armin Stein. Bielefeld: Aisthesis-Verlag, 1999. xxxviii, 363 p. 21 cm. (Bibliographien zur deutschen Literaturgeschichte, 7) ISBN 3-89528-173-5: DM 58.00 [99-1/4-185] Given the wide range of his oeuvre (from radio plays to poetry to watercolors, etc.) an author bibliography for Helmut Heissenbüttel presents many challenges. The compiler of this work, who has already published a listing of Heissenbüttel's radio broadcasts, is to be congratulated on his achievement. The bibliography lists some 1,800 items which are divided into nine broad categories: (1) books and portfolios; (2) prose and poetry texts and contributions to journals, newspapers, and radio programs; (3) essays, lectures, and reviews; (4) unpublished lectures and speeches; (5) letters; (6) interviews; (7) broadcasts and other audio materials; (8) translations (by Heissenbüttel); (9) editions. Section 3 contains by far the most items and is in turn subdivided into sections on literature; fine arts, film and photography; music; and philosophy. Precise publication dates are as a rule based on personal examination by the compiler, and any absence of such examination is clearly indicated. Indexes of names, titles, newspapers and journals provide access to the volume's rich contents. [hak/rs]
  Uwe-Johnson-Bibliographie 1959-1998 [Uwe Johnson Bibliography, 1959-1998]. Nicolai Riedel. Stuttgart; Weimar: Metzler, 1999. xiii, 600 p. 24 cm. (Personalbibliographien zur neueren deutschen Literatur, 3) ISBN 3-476-01680-3: DM 258.00 [99-1/4-187] From a well-known Johnson expert (and the leading bibliographer of this author) comes a tool that lays an extremely solid foundation for future research. It sets a high standard for accuracy and completeness and provides unusually extensive annotations, including at times information about physical attributes of editions as well as forthcoming publishing projects. The structure of this bibliography reflects both a comprehensive approach and an organizing principle not all users will appreciate: all kinds of Johnson's writings, including letters, reprints, excerpts, translations and interviews, are grouped together, followed by a section on secondary literature, followed by sections on biographical and reception documentation and press reports. The user trying to locate everything pertaining to a particular work is thus ill-served, despite commendably extensive indexing. The inclusion of reminiscences of contemporaries in the section on the author's own works also seems odd. Even so, this bibliography is an excellent addition to an important series from Metzler. [hak/gw]
  Friedrich Georg Jünger (1898--1977): kommentiertes Verzeichnis seiner Schriften [Friedrich Georg Jünger (1898--1977): Annotated Inventory of his Writings]. Ulrich Fröschle. Marbach am Neckar: Deutsche Schillergesellschaft, 1998. 326 p. ill. 21 cm. (Verzeichnisse, Berichte, Informationen: Deutsches Literaturarchiv, 25) ISBN 3-929146-88-6: DM 64.00 [99-1/4-188] Either using this work for reference or reading it in depth is likely to incite profoundly mixed emotions. On the one hand, one would like to see this level of accuracy and scholarship in many more publications; on the other, it brings the reader into close contact with a literature and a world of ideas one would much rather see buried and forgotten. F.G. Jünger's works document a kind of German conservatism that, while real enough and of undeniable historical importance (as well as present-day influence in certain circles), is profoundly distasteful, especially in its depersonalization of war. The compiler, fortunately, is not in the business of promoting Jünger's questionable ideas. This becomes clear in the introduction, which shows considerable awareness of their social and political context. The selection of texts and Fröschle's commentaries on them likewise serve to encourage distance from Jünger's way of thinking. They may also contribute to research on Jünger's older brother, the writer Ernst Jünger.

Developed as the first phase of a comprehensive study of Jünger's writings, this work does not claim to be a complete bibliography. But with 951 entries, five indexes, a logical and user-friendly arrangement by type of work, and a solid critical apparatus, it is a valuable guide to an author whose well-crafted expressions of largely antihumanitarian ideals cannot be safely ignored. [mb/gw]
 

Otto Ludwig: das literarische und musikalische Werk. Mit einer vollständigen Otto-Ludwig Bibliographie [Otto Ludwig: Literary and Musical Output; with a Complete Bibliography]. Ed. Claudia Pilling and Jens Dirksen. Frankfurt am Main [et al.]: Lang, 1999. 567 p. 21 cm. (Historisch-kritische Arbeiten zur deutschen Literatur, 25) ISBN 3-631-33149-5: DM 138.00 [99-1/4-191] Ludwig, known today as a critically neglected and undervalued storyteller from the school of nineteenth-century German realism, also produced a considerable body of poetry, drama, and even music, as this collection of essays with bibliography richly attests. The bibliography takes up nearly half the volume, appears to be complete up to 1990, and is well-done aside from a few small problems (such as the lack of extent-of-publication information in the entries). There is no index, but an extensive table of contents provides access to individual titles. The notes to the essays follow the bibliography in a separate appendix, which is itself followed by the (annoyingly incomplete) key to abbreviations within the volume. Such inconveniences aside, the bibliography and the essays represent a carefully worked and valuable contribution to the study of an artist deserving of more attention. [hak/gw]
  Thomas-Mann-Bibliographie [Thomas Mann Bibliography]. Georg Potempa. Morsum/Sylt: Cicero-Presse. 29 cm. [99-1/4-192]

Übersetzungen, Interviews [Translations, Interviews]. In collaboration with Gert Heine. 1997. xvi p., p. 911--1,607. ISBN 3-89120-017-1 (incorrect): DM 400.00

With apologies for the undue delay, this reviewer is pleased to call attention to the second and concluding volume of Potempa's authoritative bibliography of Mann's writings. In particular, the section devoted to translations, with 2,260 entries representing some 3,500 editions in fifty-one languages, is a major contribution not only to Thomas Mann bibliography but also to the bibliography of translations in general. Separately appearing works are fully represented, works within volumes somewhat less so; around eighty percent were personally examined. The "Interviews" section contains 484 annotated entries, many including reprints, arranged by type of interview. Six indexes provide well-rounded access to the entries. In sum, Potempa's work can be expected to replace Hans Burgin's worthy bibliography of 1959 (Das Werk Thomas Manns: eine Bibliographie). [sh/gw]
  Schiller-Handbuch [Schiller Handbook]. Ed. Helmut Koopmann in collaboration with the Deutsche Schillergesellschaft Marbach. Stuttgart: Kröner, 1998. xviii, 966 p. 18 cm. ISBN 3-520-83001-9: DM 78.00 [99-1/4-193] A worthy addition to the series of author guides from Kröner, the Schiller-Handbuch offers a wide range of information about its subject in forty-four chapters that, to a remarkable degree, avoid repetition and overlap amongst themselves. They are grouped in sections on historical setting and biography, the cultural environment, aesthetics, individual works, and reception/influence. The highlight of the volume is the editor's 120-page research review, extending through 1996, and packed with fresh insights and balanced judgments. German literature desperately needs more such guides through an increasingly dense forest of research. [hak/gw]
  Bibliographie Arno Schmidt [Arno Schmidt Bibliography]. Karl-Heinz Müther. Bielefeld: Aisthesis-Verlag. 26 cm. (Bibliographien zur deutschen Literaturgeschichte, 1) [99-1/4-194]

Suppl. 4. 1999. 122 p. ISBN 3-89528-249-9: DM 36.00

The compiler's original intention to issue annual supplements to his Schmidt bibliography long ago gave way to two- or three-year intervals, on the premise that there has not been enough research to justify annual updates. This development, however, is less annoying than that supplements continue to be issued instead of a cumulated edition, which would be much easier on the researcher. Also an update of the 1995 CD-ROM would be welcome. Nevertheless, the compiler's long-term commitment to keeping up-to-date his work on a highly regarded author is laudable and helps to reconcile the user to the complicated arrangement of the bibliography. [sh/gw]
  Reclams Romanlexikon [Reclam's Dictionary of the Novel]. Ed. Frank Rainer Max and Christine Ruhrberg. Stuttgart: Reclam. 25 cm. (Universal-Bibliothek) [99-1/4-195]

Vol. 1. Deutschsprachige Vers- und Prosadichtung vom Mittelalter bis zur Klassik [German-language Verse and Prose Literature from the Middle Ages to the Classical Period]. 1998. 462 p. (Universal-Bibliothek, 18,001) ISBN 3-15-018001-5: DM 20.00

Vol. 2. Von der Romantik bis zum Naturalismus [From Romanticism to Naturalism]. 1999. 558 p. (Universal-Bibliothek, 18,002) ISBN 3-15-018002-3: DM 22.00

Vol. 3,1. 20. Jahrhundert [The Twentieth Century]. 1999. 574 p. (Universal-Bibliothek, 18,003) ISBN 3-15-018003-1: DM 22.00

This work is less for researchers than for those who read for pleasure and want a systematic overview of German narrative texts. Entries range in length from one to several pages, and are in chronological order by date of the author's birth. Written by specialists, they summarize the content, and include a bit of history and criticism. There are no bibliographical references, except for citations of first editions. The reference in the title to the genre of the novel is somewhat misleading, as in fact many kinds of narrative texts are covered, including verse tales, novellas, fables, fairy tales, and travel writing.

The selection of works in the first volume follows the accepted canon; the second and third volumes are much more inclusive. The articles are shorter than those in Kindlers Neues Literaturlexikon, but much longer than those in Wilpert's Lexikon der Weltliteratur. Browsing though this work yields much interesting information. [hak/mrh]
 

Bibliographie Science-Fiction & Fantasy: Buch-Erstausgaben 1945-1995; 50 Jahre alternative Weltentwürfe in Deutschland [Bibliography of Science Fiction and Fantasy: First editions 1945-1995; 50 Years of Alternative World Views in Germany]. Horst Illmer. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1998. 363 p. 25 cm. (Bibliographien: Buch, Bibliothek, Literatur, 1) ISBN 3-447-04069-6: DM 178.00 [99-1/4-197] This volume is useful because it covers an area of German-language literature on which little bibliographical work is available. Listed here are first editions of bound volumes of science fiction and fantasy published in German between 1945 and 1995. Excluded are paperbacks, picture books, pseudoscientific works, pure fantasy, and works published serially and numbered. There are two long sections: fiction arranged by author, and anthologies arranged by editors, with a title index. Both sections begin with anonymous works. If this book were a reasonably priced paperback it would be easier to recommend. [sh/mrh]
  Hessische Erzählerinnen und Erzähler: 1800-1900; Leben und Werke [Hessian Writers: 1800-1900; Lives and Works]. Heinz-Lothar Worm. Fernwald: Litblockín. 21 cm. ISBN 3-932289-30-7 [99-1/4-198]

Vol. 1. A-E. 1999. 363 p. ISBN 3-932289-31-5: DM 78.00

Including authors who were born in Hesse, the former Hesse-Nassau, and Waldeck, this work is largely based on Kosch's Deutsches Literaturlexikon. Brief biographical information is followed by summaries of the contents of the works. Bibliographic information is limited to author, title and imprint of first editions. Some works are scarce and will be hard to find; it would have been helpful if the author had included the holding libraries for those works he inspected personally. An index of place names is planned, which will reference their presence in novels. [sh/mrh]
 
Dictionnaire des lettres françaises [Dictionary of French Literature]. Paris: Fayard; Paris: Le Livre de Poche. 19 cm. (Le livre de poche: Encyclopédies d'aujourd'hui: La pochotèque) [99-1/4-211]

Le XXe siècle [The Twentieth Century]. Ed. Martine Bercot. 1998. x, 1,170 p. ISBN 2-253-13109-1: FF 185.00

This volume brings the venerable dictionary started by Georges Grente in 1951 up through the twentieth century. Among its more than 1,800 entries it includes not only French-speaking authors from France, but also Francophone authors who do not live in France and who have not published exclusively in French. Unique to this dictionary, which has many competitors, is its inclusion of basic information about literary periodicals and publishing companies.

Author entries are primarily limited to authors of belles lettres and focus as a rule on the work rather than on biographical information. Relatively unknown as well as famous authors are included. There are also entries for institutions such as the Académie Française, for literary prizes, for literary movements such as the theater of the absurd, for twentieth-century genres such as the comic book or historical novel, and for themes such as literatures of the Maghreb or contemporary theater. The article about translation is extensive.

This volume is recommended for libraries and for everyone who is interested in contemporary French literature. [bk/mrh]
 

Catalogo dei premi letterari italiani [Catalog of Italian Literary Prizes]. Milano: Editrice Bibliografica. 25 cm. [99-1/4-213]

1999. v, 587 p. ISBN 88-7075-521-5: Lit. 70,000

Previous editions of this work appeared in 1991 and 1995 (the latter was reviewed in RREA 2:113). Although there are 1,022 entries in this edition as opposed to 686 in the last one, it is still not complete, according to the introduction. Given the limited interest in local prizes, this may not be important for foreign readers.

A section giving details about each prize, arranged alphabetically by "significant" words and not by the official names of the prizes (making it difficult to use) is followed by a section giving the same information arranged by subject. A subject index could have served the same purpose and halved the length of the book. An index of jurors and another one of prizes no longer given come at the end. [sh/mrh]
 

Nuevo diccionario bibliográfico de Pliegos Sueltos poéticos, siglo XVI [New Bibliographical Dictionary of Poetical Chapbooks: Sixteenth Century]. Antonio Rodríguez-Moñino. Rev. ed. Arthur L.F. Askins and Víctor Infantes. Madrid: Castalia, 1997. 1,021 p. 25 cm. (Nueva biblioteca de erudición y crítica, 12) ISBN 84-7039-758-3: $113.87

An RREO Original Review 

Twenty-seven years after Antonio Rodríguez-Moñino's monumental Diccionario de Pliegos Sueltos was published in 1970, two accomplished scholars, Arthur L. F. Askins and Víctor Infantes, offer us an enhanced edition. The editors, or new authors, have reviewed the entries and contributed 250 new titles. They have also increased the number of indexes to six (provenances, printers, names of persons and places, incipits, accompanying tunes, and concordance of library shelf marks) and, more importantly, added a rich section of bibliographical references to an already established number of sources.

"Pliego suelto" literally means loose leaf. Rodríguez-Moñino's definition refers to a piece of regular size paper, folded twice to obtain eight leaves. As time went by, the concept of the pliego suelto was extended to include notebooks or chapbooks of thirty-two pages or more. Peddlers, blind beggars, and street people made the pliegos accessible to the public, generally, on street corners, plazas, markets, and shops. The pliegos were bound with a string that held them in the middle and were quite affordable.

Rodríguez-Moñino intended his unique compilation to provide accurate and complete access to primary texts of cultural importance for the study of Spanish popular literature of the sixteenth century. For those whose interest is poetry, history, music, or sociological disciplines, the Diccionario de Pliegos Sueltos contributed to a greater comprehension of a protean literary form that included verse, theater, prose, songs, and historical narratives. Rodríguez-Moñino considered the pliegos as literature for the masses. In his original 110-page introduction (reprinted here), he explains: there are "...libros gruesos y caros, para minorías; pliegos sueltos, literatura para las masas" [thick and expensive books for the élite; pliegos sueltos, literature for the masses] (p. 16).

Askins and Infantes continue Rodríguez-Moñino's work and build upon his ground-breaking research. They consider Rodríguez-Moñino's 1970 edition to be the fundamental study that synthesizes questions and problems of real interest to scholars in the field. In their research Askins and Infantes have followed Rodríguez-Moñino's steps in visiting libraries and private collections around the world. The only major deviation from the first edition of the dictionary is the new authors' belief that pliegos can vary in length, whereas Rodríguez-Moñino imposed a limit of twenty pages. For instance, the item described in record 1,056 is twenty-four pages long; Askins and Infantes include it because it was folded differently from a normal pliego. They do not include pliegos Catalans (Catalan pliegos), but promise to publish a separate source for these works.

Askins and Infantes' outstanding bibliographic work extends Rodríguez-Moñino's reconstruction of the literary history of each pliego. The authors are aware of the abundant research generated after the first edition and acknowledge these scholars for their contributions to pliegos research.

The Nuevo diccionario retains the organization of the original, which was divided into the following four sections: Pliegos de autores (nos. 1-646), Pliegos anónimos (nos. 47-1109), Las series Valencianas del Romancero nuevo (nos. 1110-1165), and Pliegos poéticos fragmentarios (nos. 1166-1179). Askins and Infantes have added 145 new records to the Pliegos de autores, ninety-five to the Pliegos anónimos, one to the Series Valencianas del Romancero nuevo, and nine new items to the Pliegos fragmentarios included in the section "Versos sueltos." Askins and Infantes use Rodríguez Moñino's numbering system but modify it by adding a decimal to an old number for intercalated entries. In this way, the authors can keep cross-references to older records and leave space for new entries. Revisions are written directly in the text of Rodríguez-Moñino's entries; other explanations are provided in the notes after each entry. Askins and Infantes utilize the symbols and conventions of the original, so that the user will find consistency and exactness in spelling, abbreviations, indications of end of the line (/), and other elements of bibliographic description. They also include notes for facsimiles, a feature not included in the first version.

After each bibliographic description there is a section that helps to organize the new revisions. The inclusion of abbreviations greatly facilitates the use and guidance of this superb tool. For example: Add=addenda, brings important new explanations, e.g., alterations in an item's collation. Sig=signatura is used to provide newly discovered library locations. Askins and Infantes use the term "Desconocido" (unknown) for the pieces not mentioned by modern critics, but which have a sixteenth- or seventeenth-century reference, and whose actual location is still unknown, while "No localizado" designates critically attested items without a known location. The other abbreviations are easy to identify.

After many years of dedicated research, Askins and Infantes have managed to revise old material, add new entries, expand the bibliographic sources, and build an innovative work that is indispensable to the comprehension of this eclectic material. University libraries can enhance their reference collections by adding this twelfth volume in the series published by Castalia.

Martha Zárate (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
 

Sovremennye russkie poety: spravochnik-antologiia [Contemporary Russian Poets: A Reference Book and Anthology]. V.V. Agenosov and K.N. Ankudinov. Moskva: Megatron, 1998. 364 p. 21 cm. ISBN 5-89601-010-9 [99-1/4-219] V.V. Agenosov has published a history of Russian émigré literature (1998), an anthology of three émigré poets, and a handbook of contemporary Russian literature (reviewed in IFB 99-1/4, nos. 216-218). He and K.N. Ankudinov have selected sixty-one poets (most of them still living) "whose creations form the basis of the literary process from the 1960s into the 1990s [and who] represent the most diverse poetic schools and movements." Several deceased poets whose "works have had a direct effect on the present literary process" are also included, as are six poets from the emigration, a sign of the growing integration of émigré writers into the Russian literary understanding. Each poet receives some five pages that include an introductory text, selected poems, very brief biographical data (e.g., year of birth, education, dates of arrest and release), a bibliography of the author's best poetry collections and individual works, and about four titles of secondary critical literature.

The authors describe different approaches to be found in Russian lyric poetry during the past thirty years: fin-de- [19e]-siècle, war poets, predominantly Christian, underground, or post-modern poets, for example. Always debatable, these categories do, however, help to characterize or broaden the whole picture. The combination of representative poems (often the poet helped select them for this volume) with personal evaluations by competent experts makes this reference work a valuable aid for teaching and research. [wk/ga]
 

Entsiklopediia literaturnykh geroev [Encyclopedia of Literary Figures]. Moskva: Olimp; Izdatelstvo AST. 26 cm. ISBN 5-7390-0272-9 (set) [99-1/4-220]

Russkaia literatura XX. veka [Russian Literature of the Twentieth Century]. Gen. ed. D.P. Bak.

Book 1. 1998. 414 p. ISBN 5-7390-0020-3 (Olimp); ISBN 6-237-00336-2 (Izd. AST): DM 75.00

Book 2. 1998. 416 p. ISBN 5-7390-0783-6 (Olimp); ISBN 6-237-00337-0 (Izd. AST): DM 75.00

With the publication of these two volumes concerning twentieth-century Russian literary figures, the Moscow publisher Olimp has completed its encyclopedic dictionary of literary figures. Three earlier volumes were reviewed in RREA 4:107.

The two volumes under review here have been printed in a run of 13,000 copies, 2,000 more than the previous volumes, a sign of this work's importance in Russia. They cover eighty-nine twentieth-century authors and 195 of their literary works published before 1980. Happily, émigré authors are included alongside authors published in the Soviet Union. Entries are alphabetical&shy;rather than under the editor's intended four broad thematic "blocks"&shy;demonstrating the unity of Russian literature in the century just past.

The editor has chosen to make these two volumes a diverse spectrum of all the types of Russian authors of the twentieth century and not, as in the previous three volumes, a reference work of the leading authors and their best-known works. Thus, one finds here both the most important figures of the century&shy;inter alii Andrey Bely, Mikhail Bulgakov, Andrei Platonov, Valentin Rasputin, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and Mikhail Zoshchenko&shy;and lesser-known writers such as Iurii Felzen, Sigizmund Krzizhanovskii, and B.V. Savinkov (listed under the pseudonym V. Ropshin). Up to five works are cited under each entry. Disturbingly, one does not find such important authors as Daniil Granin, V.E. Maksimov, and Abram Terts.

As in the earlier volumes, the entries are not signed. The individual essays are often excellent and contribute not only to literary history but also to the specialized literature. Thus, despite its atypical selection of twentieth-century Russian literary figures, this encyclopedia belongs to the corpus of needed and helpful reference works in this field. [wk/ga]
 

Iulian Filip: Biobibliografie [Iulian Filip: Bio-bibliography]. Comp. Tamara Cantâr, Ed. Lidia Kulikovski. Chisinau: Litera, 1998. 116 p. 22 cm. ISBN 9-975-74121-5

Vasile Romanciuc: Biobibliografie [Vasile Romanciuc: Bio-bibliography]. Comp. Elena Cugut, Ed. Claudia Balaban. Chisinau: Litera, 1997. 56 p. 22 cm. ISBN 9-975-74105-5

Titus Stirbu: Bibliografie [Titus Stirbu: Bibliography]. Comp. Tamara Maleru, Ed. Claudia Balaban. Chisinau: Biblioteca Nationala pentru copii Ion Creanga a Republicii Moldova, 1997. 83 p. ill. 21 cm.

Spiridon Vangheli: Biobibliografie [Spiridon Vangheli: Bio-bibliography]. Comp. N. Cheradi, Ed. T. Maleru. Chisinau: Editura Universal, 1992. 47 p. ill. 21 cm.

Ion Vatamanu: Bibliografie [Ion Vatamanu: Bibliography]. Comp. Claudia Tricolici, Ed. Lidia Kulikovski. Chisinau: Cartier, 1997. 160 p. 24 cm. ISBN 9-975-94906-1

Grigore Vieru: Bibliografie [Grigore Vieru: Bibliography]. Comp. Ludmila Panzari, Ed. Iurie Kolesnik and Lidia Kulikovski. Chisinau: Museum, 1995. 120 p. ill. 24 cm. ISBN 5-779-00157-X

Grigore Vieru: Biobibliografie [Grigore Vieru: Bio-bibliography]. Comp. Maria Ilievici, Ed. Anatol Vidrasücu. Chisinau: Litera, 1997. 256 p. 21 cm. ISBN 9-975-90484-X

Literatura pentru copii editata in Moldova sovietica: indice cumulativ 1924-1974 = Detskaia literatura izdannaia v sovetskoi moldavii: svodnii ukazatel 1924-1974 [Literature for Children Published in Soviet Moldova: Cumulative Index 1924-1974]. Anna Aleksandrovna Shevchenko. Kishinev: Pumina, 1976.

Scriitorii Moldovei in Lectura Copiilor si Adolescentilor: Dictionar Biobibliografic [Moldovan Writers for Young and Adolescent Readers: A Bio-bibliographic Dictionary]. Comp. Elena Cugut, Ed. Ion Madan, et al. Chisinau: Universitas, 1994. 332 p. ill. 22 cm. ISBN 5-362-01121-9

An RREO Original Review 

Over the past decade many children's literature reference books have been published in Europe&shy;several reviewed by RRE. The Republic of Moldova has its own long tradition of excellent children's literature and libraries for children. The Ion Creanga National Library for Children, founded in 1944 (named the Pushkin National Library for Children until 1991), and the Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu Municipal Library, both in the capitol Chisinau, have published many children's literature reference books. The selection here represents some recent and important editions.

Item numbers 133--137 and 140--142 were produced by librarians at the National Library for Children, and 134, 138--139 by the Municipal Library.

The first seven are paperback bibliographies on Moldova's major contemporary Romanian-language authors of children's books&shy;Iulian Filip (b. 1948), Vasile Romanciuc (b. 1947), Titus Stirbu (b. 1942), Spiridon Vangheli (b. 1932), Ion Vatamanu (1937-1993), and Grigore Vieru (b. 1935)&shy;all of whom have been translated internationally. Except as noted, in these bibliographies sections on primary works include translations from Romanian.

The first of these titles is devoted to the author and illustrator Iulian Filip. The volume begins with the editor's methodological note, three brief essays about the author, and the author's chronology. The bibliography of 1,095 alphabetical entries is divided into three sections, with each containing critical essays on Filip: literary works, illustrations, and critical works. The first and third sections are haphazardly arranged, as they do not distinguish between primary and secondary literature. The first section includes books; works in collections and in periodicals; humorous works; parodies; translations by language; stage works; screenplays; newspaper articles; reviews of Filip's work; lyrics and works set to music; recordings; and works edited. Prefacing the translation subdivision is a speech by the president of Hungary's writer's union&shy;indeed a great honor for a Romanian-language author. The second section is prefaced by an introductory essay, and the bibliography is subdivided twice: Filip's illustrations for his own works, and his illustrations for the works of others. The third section, "Life and Literary Activities," begins with three introductory essays, and then is subdivided into critical works on, interviews with, and lectures on Filip; lectures by Filip; political writings by and about Filip; Filip's television works; his radio works; and radio works performed by others. The book concludes with two indexes, name and title, with reference to entry number (as do all the works reviewed here). Of all the author bibliographies reviewed here, this alone annotates citations, albeit briefly. As is the case for all the works reviewed here, the bulk of citations are to works published in Moldova, Romania, Russia and the former Soviet Union, the exception being for translations.

Romanciuc's bio-bibliography begins with three introductory essays and a chronology, and contains 438 citations arranged alphabetically by title in the following rubrics: books; works in collections and in periodicals; newspaper articles; lyrics and works set to music; translations by Romanciuc; edited works; critical works on Romanciuc; and radio works. Three indexes, name, title, and periodical, conclude the volume.

Stirbu's bio-bibliography begins with a methodological note and two brief introductory articles. The bibliography contains 429 entries arranged alphabetically by title in the following rubrics: works, subdivided by genre, including translations; translations by Stirbu; and works about Stirbu. Also included are name and title indexes. This volume was produced by photocopying and bound in-house, and is the only title reviewed here not produced by offset press.

Vangheli, a 1998 finalist for the international Hans Christian Andersen Prize, is Moldova's most celebrated contemporary children's author, known for his slow, meticulous work, as well as his extensive public service on children's issues. An introductory essay precedes a methodological note. The bibliography of 559 citations is subdivided into books; works in collections and periodicals; collaborative works; miscellaneous works; translated books; translations in periodicals; translations by Vangheli; edited books; and critical works about Vangheli. The book concludes with three indexes: illustrator, translator, and translation language. Vangheli's bibliography differs from the other author bibliographies in two respects. First, although Vangheli's name does not appear on the volume, he in fact verified each entry and was involved in the entire production process. Second, citations remain in Cyrillic, and are not Romanized. An expanded second edition of this bibliography is in production by the National Library for Children.

Vatamanu's bibliography suffers from the same incoherence as Filip's. It begins with a methodological note, a long introductory essay which is briefly summarized in English, two pages of quotes by various authors on Vatamanu, and a chronology. The bibliography of 949 chronological entries is divided into two parts, works and "Life and Activities," both of which include primary and secondary literature. The first section is subdivided into books; works in collections and in periodicals; translations, by language; posthumous publications; works in periodicals; reviews of Vatamanu; works set to music; translations by Vatamanu (including Cavafy, Dickinson, Frost, and Whitman); reviews of his translations; reviews by Vatamanu; and works edited. The second section is also prefaced by a long essay. Unlike the rest of the book, the first subdivision on critical works is not further subdivided into identifiable categories. Instead, asterisks separate the groupings: encyclopedia articles; necrologies; political writings; critical works; dedicatory works; interviews; and a filmography (seven of eight are documentaries, and one is an acting role). The volume concludes with name, title, and periodical indexes. When applicable, subdivisions lists Vatamanu's Romanian-language works first, followed by Russian-language works. Of all the author bibliographies, Vatamanu's is the most heavily illustrated, containing dozens of photographs and manuscript facsimiles.

Vieru, also an Andersen Prize candidate, is the most prolific Moldovan children's author, yet this does not explain the publication of two bibliographies&shy;each library unknowingly began its project simultaneously. The earlier bibliography contains 1,946 entries arranged chronologically. It begins with a methodological note, an introductory essay, excerpts from authors on Vieru, and a chronology. The bibliography is divided into primary works; secondary works; and radio works. The first section is subdivided into books; collections in periodicals; translations, by language; reviews; works set to music; anthologies; critical and other works; translations by Vieru; and works edited. The second section is subdivided into life and works; interviews; Vieru's fiftieth anniversary; and dedicatory poems. The third section contains unnumbered entries subdivided into monophonic radio works (70), stereo radio works (229), and recordings (7). The volume concludes with periodical, name, and composer indexes. This final section is unique to the two Vieru bibliographies, as are the many photographs of Vieru contained within and the composer index. One shortcoming is the lack of a title index.

The later bio-bibliography begins with a methodological note, three short articles, two pages of quotes on Vieru, and a chronology. The bibliography contains 2,801 chronological citations segregated by primary and secondary literature. The first is subdivided into books; works in collections and in periodicals; dedications; collaborative works; newspaper articles; musical adaptations; filmstrips; translations by Vieru; and edited works. The second section includes general works; reviews and articles about specific books; and dedicatory verse. The volume contains four indexes: name, title, translation language, and periodical. Overall, this Vieru bio-bibliography is superior to the former, in that it contains an additional nine hundred citations, including the unique categories of newspaper articles and filmstrips. Yet, libraries with an interest in Moldovan or children's literature on a research level would benefit from acquiring both titles.

The final titles are hardcover, and although general in nature, are the most important from the standpoint of library reference, as they provide an overview of twentieth-century Moldovan children's literature. The first of these titles, Literatura pentru copii editata in Moldova sovietica: indice cumulativ 1924-1974, is bilingual, but entirely in Cyrillic (prior to 1989 Moldovan Romanian was written only in Cyrillic). Thus, the table of contents and section headings are in both Romanian and Russian. The 3,764 entries are organized into two sections, each of which is subdivided further, and each of which betrays the title's communist origin. The first is artistic literature, the subdivisions for which are political and linguistic: "Moldovan" (i.e., Romanian-language), Russian, Soviet, and world literature. These four categories are subdivided further into folk, classic, and Soviet literature, with the exception being for world literature, which is subdivided twice: folk, and classic and contemporary literature. The second section, "scientific-artistic and scientific-popular literature," is subdivided into works by Marx, Engels, and Lenin, and about the communist party and Soviet Union; communist morality, politics, and history; geography and ethnography; natural science and atheism; health and sport; technology; agriculture; publishing; plays for pioneers and other youth groups; popularization of science and culture; and reference works. The volume concludes with three indexes: author, compiler, editor, and translator; illustrator; and anonymous works.

Whereas the earlier title has its strength both in its historical overview of Moldovan children's literature and in its multi-ethnic perspective, the later title, Scriitorii Moldovei in Lectura Copiilor si Adolescentilor: Dictionar Biobibliografic, has its strength in providing an overview of contemporary, mostly post-war, children's writers. The volume surveys 102 writers (predominantly ethnic Romanians) who have contributed significantly to children's and young adult literature. Each alphabetic entry includes an author photograph, brief biography, and a bibliography of primary and secondary literature (the latter under the usual heading "life and activities"). Primary works exclude translations, and secondary works are limited chronologically to the period 1973 - October 31, 1993 (although some citations date to the 1960s), and geographically to Moldova, the Soviet Union, and Romania. Each author bibliography is subdivided into Romanian and Russian works, the latter of which are printed in Cyrillic.

All titles are available for purchase at a reasonable and negotiable price, or by exchange. Contact each library directly at: Eugenia Bejan, Assistant Director, Biblioteca Nationala pentru Copii Ion Creanga a Republicii Moldova, Str. Sciusev nr. 65, Chisinau MD 2012, Moldova, tel./fax. (373) (2) 24-33-83, e-mail bibcopic@cni.md; and Lydia Kulikovski, Director, Biblioteca Municipala B.P Hasdeu, Bd. Stefan cel Mare nr. 148, Chisinau MD 2012, tel. (373) (2) 22-12-31, e-mail lydia-kulikovski@mail.com. Both librarians are fluent in English. UPS and DHL have offices in Chisinau, and it is highly advisable that libraries interested in obtaining these titles arrange for prepaid postage via one of these couriers&shy;this will reduce or perhaps eliminate the cost per title, and will ensure safe receipt. Alternatively, libraries may consider using a vendor specializing in the region, such as Kubon & Sagner in Munich, Germany (<http://www.kubon-sagner.de/), to obtain the titles on firm order.

Beau David Case (Ohio State University)
 

Lexikon der antiken Literatur [Lexicon of the Literature of Classical Antiquity]. Rainer Nickel. Düsseldorf [et al.]: Artemis & Winkler, 1999. 904 p. 25 cm. ISBN 3-538-07089-X: DM 98.00 [99-1/4-221] This practical and useful lexicon contains articles on over 2,300 Greek and Latin texts, presented alphabetically by original title of the text in a clear two-column form. References are made from title variations and from the later Latin titles of some Greek texts to the original titles. Very common titles such as "Carmina" (Songs) are further subdivided by author's name to avoid frustration. Four indexes provide the following added access points: German translation of the text title; authors, along with their Greek or Latin text titles; authors, with translated German text titles; literary genres.

The selection contains not only literary works in the strict sense, but also other genres normally found in the classics canon, such as philosophy, historiography and science. Each article follows a pattern in presenting its information: the original title and German translation of the title are followed by brief information such as author, genre, and date. The longer articles note the contents of the texts, sources, historical situation at the time of its writing, and influences on later literature. Each entry also includes the most important editions of the text in question and notable secondary literature. Due to its accuracy and precision, this work is sure to become an oft-used reference for students in classical studies. [hak/hh]
 

Medioevo Latino: A Bibliographical Bulletin of European Culture from Boethius to Erasmus (VI to XV Century) on CD-ROM (CD-MEL). Ed. Claudio Leonardi and Lucia Pinelli for the Società Internazionale per lo Studio del Medioevo Latino. Tavarnuzze (Firenze): SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo. (SISMEL-Edizioni del Galluzzo, Via di Colleramole 11, I-50029 Tavarnuzze, fax [39 055] 237 34 54) [99-1/4-224]
 
1. Authors and Texts, Vol. 1 (1980)-10 (1989) + 17 (1996). 1998. 1 CD-ROM + manual. 116 p. 21 cm. ISBN 88-87027-34-X. Lit. 2,900,000
The number of publications in the areas of medieval studies and Latin philology has been steadily increasing. For libraries whose budgets have not grown in similar fashion, the availability of bibliographies such as Medioevo Latino, which offer users concise information on new publications that may be located elsewhere, is of growing importance. The Società Internazionale per lo Studio del Medioevo Latino, headquartered in Florence, has published this bibliography of the Latin Middle Ages (reviewed in IFB 93-1/2-065) since 1980. Each year's edition contains more than 10,000 entries for materials in most Western European languages and on all aspects of the Middle Ages: Latin literature and texts (still the core of this bibliography), politics, the Church, law, culture, and the mentality of the era as expressed in Latin (but not in vernacular) literary writings. The bibliography originally covered the fifth to the fourteenth centuries, but since volume 16 (1995) it extends into the early sixteenth century. Since the early 1990s, the content of the printed editions has been produced from an electronic database.

The CD-ROM is based on volumes 1-10 (1980-1989) and 17 (1996), but is not identical with the print edition; the electronic version includes only the bibliography's core subjects: authors and texts in literature, theology, and philosophy, plus reviews of these pertinent works. The next version (CD-MEL 2) is intended to cover the remaining topics: literary genres; school subjects; scientific disciplines; church, legal, and political history; writing culture, and so forth for volumes 1-10 and the most recent volume. The digitization of volumes 11-20 will, according to SISMEL, take some time, due to the enormous amount of labor required.

The detailed user's guide is written in Italian and in English. The dialogue fields and explanations of buttons are available in all five working languages, but other features may not be. Fortunately, there are few errors of omission or typography.

One can search the Medioevo Latino database by many different fields: medieval authors and titles (including pre-Middle Ages works), by the Latin form of the name; modern authors, editors, compilers and/or critics of works indexed; medieval manuscripts (including depository location, library, special collection and call number); journals and monographs; geographic names in the titles and tables of contents; Latin-language concepts treated in the works; and finally all terms and names found in the database. Boolean searching is possible also, with chronological or alphabetical sorting, short or long displays, and easy downloading and printing of results and of searches. CD-MEL 1 permits the creation of personal bibliographies from the (almost) completed 1978-1988 index (including abstracts) of medieval literature. This database's appearance simultaneously with the completion of the Lexikon des Mittelalters (see RREA 5:220) is highly welcome and fills the need for an electronic bibliographic tool for current resources in medieval studies.

But considering that CD-MEL 1 will be superseded by a better upgrade (CD-MEL 2), the vendor should offer a discount to purchasers of the second version who already own the first. The contents of volume 18 (1997) of Medioevo Latino can be found on the SISMEL web site at <http://www.sismel.meri.unifi.it. [ch/ga]
 

Companion to Neo-Latin Studies. Jozef Ijsewijn. 2d entirely rewritten ed. Leuven: Leuven University Press. 24 cm. (Supplementa humanistica Lovaniensia) [99-1/4-226]

Pt. 2. Literary, Linguistic, Philological and Editorial Questions. 1998. xiv, 562 p. (Supplementa humanistica Lovaniensia, 14) ISBN 90-6186-859-9: FB 2,950.00.

The study of literature written in Latin since the beginning of Italian humanism around 1300 (called neo-Latin) provides a wealth of insights into European literary, cultural and economic history. This field of study also includes Latin literature from outside Europe, particularly from Latin America since the Age of Discovery. The most important European center for the study of neo-Latin literature is the Seminarium Philologiae Humanisticae at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, whose recently deceased head, Jozef Ijsewijn, was one of the editors of the scholarly journal Humanistica Lovaniensia. Ijsewijn first published his Companion to Neo-Latin Studies in 1977, and the first volume of its substantial revision in 1990 (History and Diffusion of Neo-Latin Literature).

The second volume of the revised edition focuses on the history of literary genres and on historical linguistic and editorial aspects of research in neo-Latin literature. The largest part of volume 2 covers individual literary genres, offering a systematic overview of poetry, drama, artistic, and scientific prose. Brief lists of representative writers from these genres are given, along with meaningful examples of appropriate texts. Each section includes a comprehensive bibliography of pertinent studies, editions, and secondary literature about individual authors. Although much space is given to the humanities, the materials covered here also make clear the paramount importance that Latin held, into the eighteenth century, for the Europe-wide transfer of knowledge in the natural and earth sciences. The work closes with a bibliography of bibliographies, catalogs and databases that give access to the scarcely comprehensible wealth of printed neo-Latin texts. Five excellent indexes provide access to authors, places, topics, manuscripts, and Latin phrases.

The Companion surveys current research literature and bibliographic tools, offering a key to discovering the rich creativity of neo-Latin authors and serving as a sweeping history of this long neglected literature. [ch/ga]


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