e useful to students.

Of the many Histories of French Literature the fullest and most
trustworthy is that at present in course of publication under the
editorship of M. Petit de Julleville, _Histoire de la Langue et de
la Litterature francaise_ (A. Colin et Cie.). M. Lanson's _Histoire
de la Litterature francaise_ should be in the hands of every student,
and this may be supplemented by M. Lintilhac's _Litterature
francaise_ (2 vols.).

The works of Mr. Saintsbury, Geruzez, Demogeot, are widely known,
and have proved useful during many years. Much may be learnt and learnt
pleasantly from Paul Albert's volumes on the literature of the
sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Two
volumes out of five of M. Charles Gidel's _Histoire de la Litterature
francaise_ (Lemerre) are occupied with literature from 1815 to 1886.
M. Hermann Pergamini's _Histoire generale de la Litterature
francaise_ (Alcan) sometimes gives fresh and interesting views. For
a short school history by an accomplished scholar, none is better
than M. Petit de Julleville's _Histoire de la Litterature francaise_,
which, in 555 pages, packs a great deal of information. The _Histoire
elementaire de la Litterature francaise_, by M. Jean Fleury, has been
popular; it tells much of the contents of great books, and makes no
assumption that the reader is already acquainted with them. Dr.
Warren's _A Primer of French Literature_ (Heath, Boston, U.S.A.) is
well proportioned and well arranged, but it has room for little more
than names, dates, and the briefest characterisations. Dr. Wells's
_Modern French Literature_ (Roberts, Boston, U.S.A.) sketches French
literature to Chateaubriand, and treats with considerable fulness
the literature from Chateaubriand and Mme. de Stael to the present
time. For the present century M. G. Pellissier's _Le Mouvement
litteraire au XIXe Siecle_ is valuable.

Of elder histories that by Nisard is by far the most distinguished,
the work of a scholar and a thinker. (See the final section of the
present volume.)

The student will find Merlet's _Etudes litteraires sur les Classiques
francais_ (2 vols.), revised and enlarged by M. Lintilhac, highly
instructive; the second volume is wholly occupied with Corneille,
Racine, and Moliere.

For the history of the French theatre the best introduction is M.
Petit de Julleville's _Le Theatre en France_; it may be supplemented
by M. Brunetiere's _Les Epoques du Theatre francais