Chapter VII: Part 7

"An excellent translation has brought a notable example of modern Belgian literature within the reach of readers in this country. Taking as his central figure the scampish Tyl Ulenspiegel, already in the sixteenth century a traditional personage, De Coster produced a remarkable reconstruction of Flemish life in the days of Spanish oppression and of the famous 'Beggars'."--Scotsman.

"On the large scale, the obvious work of a master, a man who knew sorrow but who loved to share the mirth and good living of his fellows, mocked impostors wherever he found them, and had a hatred of cruelty and injustice that is like lightning. It is one of the rare books, full of sad laughter and warm understanding, of the order of 'Don Quixote'."--The Nation.

"It is a happy thought which has brought out Mr. Geoffrey Whitworth's version of 'The Legend of Tyl Ulenspiegel' now ... for the description of it as the 'national epic of Flanders' has much more meaning than such phrases usually have.... And all the adventures of Tyl and his friends have this quality of reality in fairy-land, whether they are grotesque or tragic. The book has tragedy in it to balance its boisterous comedy, but the two are combined in a style whose generosity and exuberance make their union complete and satisfactory. It is a great book indeed. Mr. Whitworth is to be congratulated on his excellently easy and vivid translation; and the woodcuts of M. Albert Delstanche are all exceedingly impressive and many exceedingly beautiful."--Land and Water.

"It is hardly too much to say that De Coster's book is a work of pure genius.... At such a moment as the present no publication could be more timely than this English version of what will inevitably rank as a great epic of Belgian nationality.... For the rest, we have only to compliment the publishers, the translator, and the illustrator upon their joint efforts to present a fine work in a worthy and acceptable form."--The Guardian.

"The illustrator's bold and luminous drawings certainly catch the bluff spirit of Charles de Coster's quaint masterpiece, in which the transition-age between mediaevalism and modernity lives again so grimly, so shrewdly, so humorously. Here there is a suitable gift-book for all who love to travel in the highways of world-literature."--Morning Post.

"It is, of course, for adults and not for children, with its grim horrors and its full-blooded jollity. What we have learnt to call the soul of a people is in it--the spirit of Flanders. The force of De Coster's style loses nothing in Mr. Geoffrey Whitworth's translation, and there are admirable illustrations cut on the wood by M. Albert Delstanche."--Daily Telegraph.

"A most remarkable volume."--Glasgow Herald.

"Reading it for the first time in Mr. Whitworth's admirable English version, one is amazed at first that it has not been rendered previously. De Coster will never require another English version, and this one book of 'glorious adventures' is aureole enough to ensure his place on the great hierarchy of literature."--The Bookman.

NOTE

[1] His biography has been written by Charles Potvin. Charles de Coster; Sa Biographie. Weissenbruch; Brussels.

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