OCR Text |
Show 1836- 184*! Preface 11 Highland View in that state ( 1870), and died there November 1, 1890. In addition to his labors in the public service and as a newspaper man, Flagg found time for higher literary work, and won considerable distinction in that field. His first book, The Far West, although somewhat stilted in style, possesses considerable literary merit. Encouraged by the success of his initial endeavor, he wrote the following year ( 1839) the Duchess of Ferrara and Beatrice of Padua, two novels, each of which passed through at least two editions. The Howard Queen ( 1848) and Blanche of Artois ( 1850) were prize productions. De Molai ( 1888), says the New York Sun of the period, is " a powerful, dramatic tale which seems to catch the very spirit of the age of Philip of France. It is rare to find a story in which fact and invention are so evenly and adroitly balanced." Our author also wrote several dramas, which were staged in Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and New York; he also composed numerous poems for newspapers and magazines. His masterpiece, however, was a history dedicated to his lifelong friend and colleague, George D. Prentice, entided The City of the Sea ( 2 vols., New York, 1853). This work was declared by the Knickerbocker to be " a carefully compiled, poetically-written digest of the history of the glorious old Venice - a passionate, thrilling, yet accurate and sympathetic account of the last struggle for independence." At the time of his death Flagg had in preparation a volume of reminiscences, developed from a diary kept during forty years, but this has never been published. 1 " In hope of renovating the energies of a shattered constitution," we are told, Flagg started in the early part of 1 For a list of Flagg** prose and poetical writings, contributions to periodicals, and editorial works, see " Annual Report of the Librarian of Bowdoin College for the year ending June i, 1891/' in Bowdoin College Library Bulletin ( Brunswick, Maine, 1895). |