He gives us
a fanciful set of rules for a novelist which, happily, he has ignored
in his own fictions. The most interesting, personal, and charming
chapter, although palpably derived from "The Philosophy of
Disenchantment," is that entitled "What Pessimism Is Not"; here again
we are in the heart of the author's philosophy. Those who like to read
books about the Iberian Peninsula can scarcely afford to miss
"Fabulous Andalucia," in which an able brief for the race of Othello
is presented: "Under the Moors, Cordova surpassed Baghdad. They wrote
more poetry than all the other nations put together. It was they who
invented rhyme; they wrote everything in it, contracts, challenges,
treaties, treatises, diplomatic notes and messages of love. From the
earliest khalyf down to Boabdil, the courts of Granada, of Cordova and
of Seville were peopled with poets, or, as they were termed, with
makers of Ghazels. It was they who gave us the dulcimer, the hautbois
and the guitar; it was they who invented the serenade. We are
indebted to them for algebra and for the canons of chivalry as
well.... It was from them that came the first threads of light which
preceded the Renaissance. Throughout mediaeval Europe they were the
only people that thought." The book is dedicated to Edgar Fawcett,
"perfect poet--perfect friend" and is embellished with a portrait of
its author.

"The Story Without a Name"[18] is a translation of "Une Histoire Sans
Nom" of Barbey d'Aurevilly, and is preceded by one of Saltus's
charming and atmospheric literary essays, the best on d'Aurevilly to
be found in English. When this book first appeared, Mr. Saltus informs
me, a reviewer, "who contrived to be both amusing and complimentary,"
said that Barbey d'Aurevilly was a fictitious person and that this
vile story was Saltus's own vile work!

"Mary Magdalen,"[19] on the whole disappointing, is nevertheless one
of the important Saltus _opera_. The opening chapters, like Oscar
Wilde's _Salome_ (published two years later than "Mary Magdalen") owe
much to Flaubert's "Herodias." The dance on the hands is a detail
from Flaubert, a detail which Tissot followed in his painting of
Salome.... From the later chapters it is possible that Paul Heyse
filched an idea. The turning point of his drama, _Maria von Magdala_,
hinges on Judas's love for Mary and his jealousy of Jesus. Saltus
develops exactly this situation. Heyse's play appeared in 1899, eight
years after Saltus's novel. H