Adam Mickiewicz in English, 1827-1955 by Marion Moore ColemanReview by: Florian ŚmiejaThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 33, No. 81 (Jun., 1955), p. 589Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4204702 .

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REVIEWS 589

Miss Brewster has depended to a great extent on various existing theses

dealing with the impact of major Russian literary figures on the West. It was certainly time that this scattered material, much of it extremely valuable, was collated, and we are fortunate to have had this important task carried out by such a competent and lively scholar. She writes in an

engagingly informal style, and brings to her subject a dry and playful wit. What is most attractive, however, is the basic seriousness of her

approach. And although English literature has been her major field of

study, she seems completely at home among things Slavonic. Miss Brewster is to be particularly congratulated on her expose of that

unreal concept, once beloved of English essayists, and still occasionally resurrected in all seriousness?the Russian Soul. We are treated to a

scintillating display of intellectual ju-jitsu before we see the cadaver tossed negligently over the ropes. One reviewer has objected to the fact that she has taken the Russian Soul away from us without giving us any? thing to replace it. One might as well make the same accusation against the man who empties the dust-bin. What she in fact puts in place of the Russian Soul and similar meaningless formulae is indicated by one of her characteristic asides: 'How rarely can the terms "plain", "sensible", "well- documented" be applied to the appraisals, generalisations and speculations about the Russians and their culture and literature, which we have been

noting through the years!' Measured by these criteria her own work is well

up to standard, and it is hoped that her book will meet with the reception it deserves as one of the most valuable general studies in the Russian field for many years.

London Ronald Hingley

Adam Mickiewicz in English, i82y-igjj. By Marion Moore Coleman. Alliance College, Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, 1954. 76 pages.

This is a revised and enlarged edition of a work by Arthur P. and Marion M. Coleman which appeared in 1940 under the title Adam Mickiewicz in

English. The present publication was issued to commemorate the hun? dredth anniversary of Mickiewicz's death.

It consists of two parts. The first has two chapters: 'Mickiewicz in

England' and 'Mickiewicz in the United States'. The various translators are dealt with chronologically. The articles are lucid and readable. The second part contains a detailed bibliography of works by Mickiewicz in

English translation. The numerous entries are annotated, and some of the not easily accessible translations reprinted. There is a helpful index and twelve illustrations.

Like the Mickiewiczana which were published in 1946, this is a valuable work indispensable for a student of Polish literature and of Mickiewicz in

particular.

London Florian Smieja

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