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kerry_handscomb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
These ten early works by James Branch Cabell concern chastely romantic historical fiction featuring the royalty and nobility of France and England in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. The stories were originally published in Harper's Magazine from 1905 to 1909, and then gathered together as Chivalry by Harper and Brothers Publications in 1909. Chivalry, subtitled "Dizain des Reines," consists of eight short stories and two "novelettes." Each piece is accompanied by a glossy painted illustration, and these also, I think, come from their original magazine publication.
Ostensibly, Cabell is the translator and arranger of works by Nicolas de Caen, who wrote Dizain des Reines in 1470. Chivalry includes a prologue by de Caen, written to his patroness, Isabella of Portugal, and an epilogue written by de Caen to his little book itself. Off course, this is all pure Cabell. As far as I can determine, someone called Nicolas de Caen actually existed, but this person didn't write anything like Chivalry. The versifying in medieval French as a prelude to each story is no doubt down to Cabell, as well, who thereby demonstrates considerable erudition. The book operates under a remarkable disguise, pretending to be something that it is not.
The writing is urbane and complex. This is definitely Cabell's style, though without the sardonic sense of humour or the fantastic imagination of his later work. I found the scattering of medieval French and Latin to be somewhat self-indulgent. Why doesn't Cabell "translate" this, too? Nevertheless, here is some typical Cabell writing that foreshadows Beyond Life and some of the language in his later fantasies:
Ostensibly, Cabell is the translator and arranger of works by Nicolas de Caen, who wrote Dizain des Reines in 1470. Chivalry includes a prologue by de Caen, written to his patroness, Isabella of Portugal, and an epilogue written by de Caen to his little book itself. Off course, this is all pure Cabell. As far as I can determine, someone called Nicolas de Caen actually existed, but this person didn't write anything like Chivalry. The versifying in medieval French as a prelude to each story is no doubt down to Cabell, as well, who thereby demonstrates considerable erudition. The book operates under a remarkable disguise, pretending to be something that it is not.
The writing is urbane and complex. This is definitely Cabell's style, though without the sardonic sense of humour or the fantastic imagination of his later work. I found the scattering of medieval French and Latin to be somewhat self-indulgent. Why doesn't Cabell "translate" this, too? Nevertheless, here is some typical Cabell writing that foreshadows Beyond Life and some of the language in his later fantasies:
Yet more clearly do I perceive that this same man, like all his fellows, is a maimed god who walks the world dependent upon many wise and evil counsellors. He must measure, and to a hair's-breadth, every content of the world by means of a bloodied sponge, tucked somewhere in his skull, which is ungeared by the first cup of wine and ruined by the touch of his own finger. He must appraise all that he judges with no better instruments than two bits of colored jelly, with a bungling makeshift so maladroit that the nearest horologer's apprentice could have devised a more accurate device. In fine, he is under penalty condemned to compute eternity with false weights and to estimate infinity with a yardstick: and he very often does it. (pp. 93-94)
Cabell later edited Chivalry to include references to Manuel and republished it in 1928 as the fifth volume in the Biography of the Life of Manuel, after Domnei and before Jurgen. However, the illustrated first edition is a lovely book, and this is the version I chose to read. In addition to the painting with each of the ten stories, the frontispiece and the epilogue also have painted illustrations. Most are by Howard Pyle, Cabell's main illustrator in his early work, but two are by William Hurd Lawrence and one by Elizabeth Shippen Green.
Cabell pulls off well the joke of an invented historical pedigree, and the writing is excellent, though somewhat difficult in places. However, these factors are not enough to carry the whole book. Chivalry may appeal to fans of historical-romantic fiction depicting the Late Middle Ages, but it doesn't compare to the masterpieces of Cabell's middle career, from Jurgen in 1919 through to The Way of Ecben in 1929. On the other hand, the book is beautifully printed and a pleasure to read for this reason alone. No doubt Chivalry is essential reading, too, for Cabell completionists captivated by works such as Figures of Earth, The Silver Stallion, and Jurgen.