24 APRIL 1897, Page 9

A Manual of Italian Literature. By Francis Henry Cliffe. (John

Macqueen.)—Mr. Cliffe begins his detailed account of Italian literature with Dante, and carries it down to the present century. Among modern writers the greatest amount of space is assigned to Leopardi, who occupies, indeed, nearly a fourth part, of the whole work, more than is given to Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, .Axiosto, and Machiavelli. But then it must be said that we can hear about these great writers elsewhere, whereas Mr. Cliffe has made a special study of Leopardi.