24 JUNE 1893, Page 42

Master Don Gesualdo. By Giovanni Verge. (Osgood, McIlvaine, and Co.)—This

is evidently a very good piece of translation, but the wisdom of its publication may be questioned. It is un- mitigated. Italian Zolaism, an unrelieved picture of moral squalor. Master Don Geaualdo, who gives the title to it, recalls M. Daudet's " Nabob ; " but then, unfortunately, there is no joyeuse Family to irradiate it with a little simplicity and virtue. The book is full of greasy intrigues ; the details of at least two are given with almost Manpassant detail. No doubt there is a certain photo- graphic accuracy in the portraits which appear in these volumes. Probably there are monsters like Don Gesualdo the egotist, and sensualists like Don Nini. But it is doubtful whether their portraits should have been painted ; and it is more than doubtful whether they should have been exhibited in this country.