What Is Art?

ІІе fundamental thought expressed in this hook leads іфѵііаЬІу to conclusions so new, so unexpected, and so c<5ntrary to what is usually maintained in literary and -'^kistic circles, that although it is clearly and emphatically caressed (and this, I hope, has not been lost in translation), n^st readers who wish to possess themselves of it will have -to read the work carefully and to digest it slowly. Especially the introductory Chapters II., III., lY., and i Y», need careful perusal by any who, having adopted j ойе or other of the current theories on beauty and art, find it difficult to abandon a preconceived view, and to ckar their minds for a fair appreciation of what is new to ■em. '‘The first four chapters raise the problem, and tell us briefly what has been said by previous writers. Chapter III. gives (in highly condensed form) the substance of the tejwdiing of some sixty philosophers on this subject, and, ' since many of them were extremely confused, the chapter o№iiot, in the nature of things, be easy reading. In Chapter Y. we come to Tolstoy’s definition of Art, w|iich definition should be kept well in mind while reading ше rest of the book.…