ose of her men of letters whom we have since learned to recognize as
the real forces of her mid-century literature remained unknown. Of
Ludwig, who clearly belongs to this more select group, the _Atlantic
Monthly_ and the _North American Review_, for obvious reasons, reviewed
at some length his _Studies in Shakespeare_; but, as far as the present
writer's knowledge goes, not one of his works was ever translated in
this country until the _Hereditary Forester_ appeared in _Poet Lore_
only a few years ago.

Otto Ludwig was born in 1813 in Eisfeld, a small town picturesquely
situated in the foothills of the southern slope of the Thuringian
Forest, and his entire life was spent within the limited confines of
Thuringia and Saxony. Leipzig and Dresden, not much over one hundred
English miles to the northeastward of Eisfeld, were the only two larger
cities with which he ever became acquainted, and, even when living
there, it was characteristic of him to take refuge in some rustic suburb
or near-by village. Ludwig's parents belonged to the "leading families"
of their town and were in very comfortable circumstances at the time of
his birth and early childhood. Sudden reverses, however, soon interfered
with the boy's prospects in life. At the age of twelve, he lost his
father, six years later his mother. After the father's death a
well-to-do uncle took it upon himself to care for the boy, whom he
intended to be his heir and his successor in business. But neither the
imaginative, nervously sensitive mother, nor the well-meaning but
happy-go-lucky uncle were able to furnish that guidance which the
delicate and prematurely contemplative youth needed. After only a short
period of irregular schooling, Ludwig, sixteen years old, had to enter
his uncle's business; but a few years of apprenticeship convinced even
the uncle that the young man was hardly on his right track as a salesman
of groceries. A renewed effort to take up systematic school work with
the view of preparing for one of the learned professions did not prove
any more successful, and, in 1833, Ludwig, who had always shown an
unusual talent for music and enjoyed excellent instruction in it,
decided to become a musician. Continuing his secluded life at Eisfeld he
devoted himself for years to the leisurely study and composition of
music, until a few successful amateur performances of some operatic
compositions of his attracted attention to him in musical circles in
Meiningen, t