That preciosity is only a relative term will be readily endorsed by anyone who has studied the critical literature devoted to Jean Giraudoux. Some critics hurl the word as a reproach and condemnation, while others give themselves pains to plead or explain Giraudoux's case. Each, as well as the author himself, feels certain that preciosity is the word which will label and pigeon-hole him exactly; but alas, each proceeds to suggest a different nuance until the subject becomes quite confusing. The word preciosity itself suffers as many interpretations as classicism or romanticism, so a precise definition is out of the question. Originally associated with the seventeenth century arbiters of taste in language and etiquette, the term has since broadened its scope considerably. Literary historians have found it a convenient label for subtlety and refinement wherever these qualities may appear. Hence they do not mean an isolated phenomenon, but a fundamental characteristic of some minds, adapting and transforming itself according to time and place. Words such as gongorism, euphuism, concettism, conceptualism, or marivaudage are mutations or varieties of preciosity. According to popular usage, however, précieux means only précieux ridicule, synonymous with artificial or affected. In analyzing the preciosity of Jean Giraudoux from our own point of view, we shall find occasion to examine a great variety of critical opinions.

In an article published in ELH I attempted to describe the intense admiration for Browning that existed in Pre-Raphaelite circles during the years 1847–56, and to suggest the importance of this admiration in furthering the growth of Browning's literary reputation. I pointed out that the proselytizing zeal of Dante Gabriel Rossetti was the chief source for the enthusiasm of his friends, and that the Browning worship of the whole group of Pre-Raphaelites reached its height at the time of the publication of Men and Women in 1855. In the present article I propose to trace the influence of Rossetti in kindling devotion to Browning's poetry, especially Men and Women, among certain Oxford undergraduates in the years immediately after the publication of Men and Women, and to draw conclusions about the significance of this in the story of Browning's gradual advance to fame.

Like every original artist, Hawthorne may be approached in a variety of ways, and each of these ways will add something to the ultimate picture of his mind and art. Most of the work that scholars have done on Hawthorne, however, has been historical and biographical, and the result has been that Hawthorne the artist and thinker has been relegated to the background. This is particularly regrettable when one remembers that he was the most complete artist of the New England renaissance, and in The Scarlet Letter the author of a book which as art transcends all other American novels. It is to fill out the contemporary conception of Hawthorne that his theory of art is here considered as it may be pieced together from allegory, preface, and chance remark. Focusing attention on his ideals in art makes certain the meaning of the prefaces, and an investigation of his doctrine of the artist gives an insight into his method of achieving his ideal. In brief, to study Hawthorne's literary theory is to discover the intellectual basis of his art, and to see his work from the inside is to arrive at a fresh sense of his intention. It was Goethe's conviction that the critic should first of all ask what the author had intended. If the following investigation makes for clarity, it should furnish an opportunity for a new appraisal of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

My purpose is to trace the evolution of the chief characters of Noire-Dame de Paris, with particular reference to the often neglected evidence of the author's notes and manuscript changes. Fortunately, the reliquat for this novel is exceptionally copious, including two general scenarios, which have been dated tentatively 1828 and 1830; several briefer outlines which apparently were intended as special scenarios for scenes or chapters; and approximately one hundred pages of fragments. It is thus evident from the outset that Notre-Dame de Paris, like les Misérables, was really the fruit of extensive preparation, even though the final version was completed under the lash in four and one-half months. In fact, contrary to a current school of opinion, the very “rapidité inconcevable” with which Victor Hugo occasionally wrote was apt to be the result, not the paradox, of a “longue élaboration.”

The central axiom of Mathew Arnold's cultural arithmetic is well known; less familiar is this curiously precise elaboration:

And, as the discipline of conduct is three-fourths of life, for our aesthetic and intellectual disciplines, real as these are, there is but one-fourth of life left; and if we let art and science divide this one-fourth fairly between them, they will have just one-eighth of life each.

The Executive Council met in the Hotel Pennsylvania, New York, N. Y., on March 28–29 in three sessions: 2:30–6:00 p.m., 8:00–10:00 p.m., and 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. There were present throughout the sessions all officers and members except Professor Schevill (proxy Professor Horatio Smith) and Dean Gauss (proxy Professor Ira Wade). Informal reports of the Secretary and Treasurer and various committee reports were presented. An extended discussion was held on Association activities in war time. The following actions were taken.