The Project Gutenberg EBook of Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2), by Mme de Stael

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Title: Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2)
Or Italy

Author: Mme de Stael

Commentator: George Saintsbury

Illustrator: R. S. Greig

Release Date: October 17, 2005 [EBook #16896]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: The crowd break their ranks as the horses pass.]

CORINNE

OR

ITALY

BY

MME. DE STAEL

WITH INTRODUCTION BY

GEORGE SAINTSBURY

(_In Two Volumes_)

VOL. I.

_Illustrated_

_by_

H.S. Greig

LONDON: Published by J.M. DENT and COMPANY at
ALDINE HOUSE in Great Eastern Street, E.C.

MDCCCXCIV

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE CROWD BREAK THEIR RANKS AS THE HORSES PASS _Frontispiece_.

CORINNE AT THE CAPITOL PAGE 33

CORINNE SHOWING OSWALD HER PICTURES " 235

[Illustration]

INTRODUCTION.

In Lady Blennerhassett's enthusiastic and encyclopaedic book on Madame de
Stael she quotes approvingly Sainte-Beuve's phrase that "with _Corinne_
Madame de Stael ascended the Capitol." I forget in which of his many
dealings with an author who, as he remarks in the "Coppet-and-Weimar"
_causeries_, was "an idol of his youth and one that he never renounced,"
this fancy occurs. It must probably have been in one of his early
essays; for in his later and better, Sainte-Beuve was not wont to give
way to the little flashes and crackles of conceit and epigram which many
Frenchmen and some Englishmen think to be criticism. There was, however,
some excuse for this. In the first place (as one of Charles Lamb's
literal friends would have pointed out), Madame de Stael, like her
heroine, did actually "ascend the Capitol," and received attentions
there from an Academy. In the second, there can be no doubt that
_Corinne_ in a manner fixed and settled the high literary reputation
which she had already attained. Even by her severest critics, and even
now when whatever sli