Novalis described the ""blue flower of fortune"" in an unfinished novel, and it became a symbol of romanticism, of a period, which next of the Renaissance, wielded the greatest influence in the artistic revolution of the western world. In different countries it was expressed in different forms, and the editor, in an illuminating introduction, gives briefly his summary of what form it took, under what leadership, in each of the countries the work of which is represented in this collection:-France, England, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, Italy, Holland, Hungary, Denmark, Spain, America. The period-1795-1856-was rich in names familiar to all students of literature,-Balzac, de Musset, Victor Hugo, George Sand, Byron, Scott, Southey, the Lambs, Hans Christian Andersen, Schiller, Goatha, the brothers Crimm, Heine, Gogol, Pushkin, Irving, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville-all are represented by short stories significant of their creators and their period. Many of the selections come from names-and countries-whose literature we know too little. The juxta-position of this fresh material with familiar works gives the whole a special significance for students. Brief biographies of the authors appear at the end.