"LIFE AND LETTERS."

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 301, 20 December 1930, Page 16 (Supplement)

"LIFE AND LETTERS."

THE GREAT; CATHERINE.

"The Life and Letter Series" is a new "library" issued by Jonathan Cape. The idea is to publish at a reasonably cheap rate a selection of books in gensf ral literature which have, previously been expensive. The green binding •is pleasant and the type good, and,- like the " Travellers'; Library," this series should be popular. The first to come our way is Katherine Antony's "Catherine the Great.'" "The number of her lovers was after all only thirteen if we count her husband," ->says Miss Anthony of < that- extraordinary woman. Catherine wrote in her memoirs: "I was very affectionate, and gifted with an appearance which was very attractive. I pleased at the first glance, Avithout any arts or pains to "that end—l pleased the men"; and "One goes farther than one would wish, and even now I do not know how this is to be prevented —one's heart does not obey the commands of reason." This is not an apology from Her Majesty; it is. a mere statement of fact as she saw it. It was written when she was sixty, and, says her biographer, might have been written by a 'girl "of fifteen. One of her lovers succeeded in holding his position for ten years, but the queen ultimately sent him away when she had chosen a successor. • "If fate/' says Catherine, "had given me in. my youth a husband-whom I could love, I should '. have remained true to him for ever—my heart would not willingly be one hour without love." The early portion of the book is what schoolboys call , "dry history,", ' and those-who read for amusement merely will probably "skip", some hundred pages, but beyond; that this excellent biography is a lively and amusing description of old Russia and old Russians. In the same series Mr. J. W. N. Sullivan's "Beethoven" will appeal strongly to music lovers. A mathematical'bent often goes with appreciation of music, and this is a mathematician's study of the greatest of composers. The book opens with a philosophical discussion of the nature of music, and goes on to discuss Beethoven's life and works. Well written and scholarly, rich in enthusiasm, but sane in its judgments, this book takes a high place in Beethoven literature. Those who are interested in Catherine may also be recommended to read "The Beloved Adenturess," by Edmund B. D'Auvenge (Nash and Grayson). We are introduced to the beautiful young woman who talked several languages and was extraordinarily familiar with t'aa confused politics of Europe. Her history or as much of it as she remembered, led her to believe tliat she was the daughter of Empress Elizabeth of Russia (succeeded by Catherine), who had made a secret marriage, and had sent her, as a child, out of the country, to conceal both marriage and the fruits of it. With this idea she impressed numbers of men, who almost all believed it, and many spent enormous sums of money in entertaining her, and in attempts to further her schemes for obtaining her rights as the real Empress of Russia, by direct descent. France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Francojiia, London, Paris, Rome, Pisa, Venice all had an interest in her claim; above all, the terrible Catherine _of Russia, demanded proof of her birth or her arrest •or destruction. By her wit and wonderful beauty she won powerful allies, and was received as a princess by man great men of the day. Her adventures were almost incredible, her personal influence remarkable, her wit and skill in argument and in escaping from awkward predicaments, marvellous, and yet through it all, she had the heart and conscience of a' gentlewoman. Betrayed, worn, wasted, and her beauty o-one, she died in the hands of Catherine's agents. This is a sad story of great literary merit.