IV INTRODUCTION

worker, and ail his books bear the marks of thorough and minute érudition. His Roman de la Momie is a scientific as well as a literary work. Mention must also be made of his chief novels Mademoiselle de Maupin^ Fortunio^ Le Capitaine Fracasse. Of his short novt\^, Jettatura, Avatar, La Toison d*or, are without doubt the most perfect.

Gautier did not put down a single word without tuming it over and over, to find its exact value. His vocabulary was limitless, and he made artistic use of it. His style is admirable. His language is the purest, the most harmonious French. His artistic taste manifests itself in every détail in his Works, so that he has been calléd the Benvenuto Cellini of style. No other author oiïers such advantages as Gautier to those who may wish to understand the French language and its char m.

His poetical works show the same careful workmanship as does his prose. Albertus and La Comédie de la Mort, and especially Emaux et Camées should be mentioned as his principal poetical works.

Gautier was a favorite with the gods. He succeeded in everything he undertook; his health was perfect, his pen procured him an ample fortune. Beingwholly independent, he lived entirely according to his artistic tastes and inclinations. His study was a muséum of curios which he had brought home from his travels; he also kept his famous twelve cats there. He loved luxury, and gave rein to his imagination in his brilliant novel Foriunio, which is at the same time a glorification of physical beauty.

La Jettatura is a power, supposed to be possessed by some persons, of casting a spell over those with whom they come in contact. A person possessing this power is called a jettatore, an Italian word meaning *'He who casts^' (plural jettatori). They exercise their fatal influence by touch, word, and especially by look, *'If ih^ jettatore looks fixedly