sent home, and which contained descriptions of his adventures in the New World, to the editor of the Rosen, who published them in that periodical. These sketches having found favour with the public, Gerstäcker issued them in 1844 under the title Streif- und Jagdzüge durch die Vereinigten Staaten Nordamerikas. In 1845 his first novel, Die Regulatoren in Arkansas, appeared, and henceforth the stream of his productiveness flowed on uninterruptedly. From 1849 to 1852 Gerstäcker travelled round the world, visiting North and South America, Polynesia and Australia, and on his return settled in Leipzig. In 1860 he again went to South America, chiefly with a view to inspecting the German colonies there and reporting on the possibility of diverting the stream of German emigration in this direction. The result of his observations and experiences he recorded in Achtzehn Monate in Südamerika (1862). In 1862 he accompanied Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Egypt and Abyssinia, and on his return settled at Coburg, where he wrote a number of novels descriptive of the scenes he had visited. In 1867–1868 Gerstäcker again undertook a long journey, visiting North America, Venezuela and the West Indies, and on his return lived first at Dresden and then at Brunswick, where he died on the 31st of May 1872. His genial and straightforward character made him personally beloved; and his works, dealing as they did with the great world hitherto hidden from the narrow “parochialism” of German life, obtained an immense popularity. This was not due to any graces of style, in which they are singularly lacking; but the unstudied freshness of the author’s descriptions, and his sturdy humour, appealed to the wholesome instincts of the public. Many of his books were translated into foreign languages, notably into English, and became widely known on both sides of the Atlantic. His best works, from a literary point of view, are, besides the above-mentioned Regulatoren, his Flusspiraten des Mississippi (1848); the novel Tahiti (1854); his Australian romance Die beiden Sträflinge (1857); Aus dem Matrosenleben (1857); and Blau Wasser (1858). His Travels exist in an English translation.
Gerstäcker’s Gesammelte Schriften were published at Jena in 44 vols. (1872–1879); a selection, edited by D. Theden in 24 vols. (1889–1890). See A. Karl, Friedrich Gerstäcker, der Weitgereiste. Ein Lebensbild (1873).
GERSTENBERG, HEINRICH WILHELM VON (1737–1823),
German poet and critic, was born at Tondern in Schleswig on the
3rd of January 1737. After studying law at Jena he entered the
Danish military service and took part in the Russian campaign
of 1762. He spent the next twelve years in Copenhagen, where
he was intimate with Klopstock. From 1775 to 1783 he
represented Denmark’s interests as “Danish Resident” at Lübeck,
and in 1786 received a judicial appointment at Altona, where he
died on the 1st of November 1823. In the course of his long life
Gerstenberg passed through many phases of his nation’s literature.
He began as an imitator of the Anacreontic school (Tändeleien,
1759); then wrote, in imitation of Gleim, Kriegslieder eines
dänischen Grenadiers (1762); with his Gedicht eines Skalden
(1766) he joined the group of “bards” led by Klopstock. His
Ariadne auf Naxos (1767) is the best cantata of the 18th century;
he translated Beaumont and Fletcher’s Maid’s Tragedy (1767),
and helped to usher in the Sturm und Drang period with a gruesome
but powerful tragedy, Ugolino (1768). But he did perhaps
even better service to the new literary movement with his Briefe
über Merkwürdigkeiten der Literatur (1766–1770), in which the
critical principles of the Sturm und Drang—and especially its
enthusiasm for Shakespeare,—were first definitely formulated.
In later life Gerstenberg lost touch with literature, and occupied
himself mainly with Kant’s philosophy.
His Vermischte Schriften appeared in 3 vols. (1815). The Briefe über Merkwürdigkeiten der Literatur were republished by A. von Weilen (1888), and a selection of his poetry, including Ugolino, by R. Hamel, will be found in Kürschner’s Deutsche Nationalliteratur, vol. 48 (1884).
GÉRUZEZ, NICOLAS EUGÈNE (1799–1865), French critic, was born on the 6th of January 1799 at Reims. He was assistant professor at the Sorbonne, and in 1852 he became secretary to the faculty of literature. He wrote a Histoire de l’éloquence politique et religieuse en France aux XIV e, XV e, et XVI e siècles (1837–1838); an admirable Histoire de la littérature française depuis les origines jusqu’à la Révolution (1852), which he supplemented in 1859 by a volume bringing down the history to the close of the revolutionary period; and some miscellaneous works. Géruzez died on the 29th of May 1865 in Paris. A posthumous volume of Mélanges et pensées appeared in 1877.
GERVAIS, PAUL (1816–1879), French palaeontologist, was
born on the 26th of September 1816 at Paris, where he obtained
the diplomas of doctor of science and of medicine, and in 1835
he began palaeontological research as assistant in the laboratory
of comparative anatomy at the Museum of Natural History.
In 1841 he obtained the chair of zoology and comparative
anatomy at the Faculty of Sciences in Montpellier, of which he
was in 1856 appointed dean. In 1848–1852 appeared his important
work Zoologie et paléontologie françaises, supplementary
to the palaeontological publications of G. Cuvier and H. M. D.
de Blainville; of this a second and greatly improved edition
was issued in 1859. In 1865 he accepted the professorship of
zoology at the Sorbonne, vacant through the death of L. P.
Gratiolet; this post he left in 1868 for the chair of comparative
anatomy at the Paris museum of natural history, the anatomical
collections of which were greatly enriched by his exertions. He
died in Paris on the 10th of February 1879.
He also wrote Histoire naturelle des mammifères (1853, &c.); Zoologie médicale (1859, with P. J. van Beneden); Recherches sur l’ancienneté de l’homme et la période quaternaire, 19 pl. (1867); Zoologie et paléontologie générales (1867); Ostéographie des cétacés (1869, &c., with van Beneden).
GERVASE OF CANTERBURY (d. c. 1210), English monk and chronicler, entered the house of Christchurch, Canterbury, at an early age. He made his profession and received holy orders in 1163; but we have no further clue to the date of his birth. We know nothing of his life beyond what may be gathered from his own writings. Their evidence suggests that he died in or shortly after 1210, and that he had resided almost continuously at Canterbury from the time of his admission. The only office which we know him to have held is that of sacrist, which he received after 1190 and laid down before 1197. He took a keen interest in the secular quarrels of the Canterbury monks with their archbishops, and his earliest literary efforts were controversial tracts upon this subject. But from 1188 he applied his mind to historical composition. About that year he began the compilation of his Chronica, a work intended for the private reading of his brethren. Beginning with the accession of Stephen he continued his narrative to the death of Richard I. Up to 1188 he relies almost entirely upon extant sources; but from that date onwards is usually an independent authority. A second history, the Gesta Regum, is planned on a smaller scale and traces the fortunes of Britain from the days of Brutus to the year 1209. The latter part of this work, covering the years 1199–1209, is perhaps an attempt to redeem the promise, which he had made in the epilogue to the Chronica, of a continuation dealing with the reign of John. This is the only part of the Gesta which deserves much attention. The work was continued by various hands to the year 1328. From the Gesta the indefatigable Gervase turned to a third project, the history of the see of Canterbury from the arrival of Augustine to the death of Hubert Walter (1205). A topographical work, with the somewhat misleading title Mappa mundi, completes the list of his more important writings. The Mappa mundi contains a useful description of England shire by shire, giving in particular a list of the castles and religious houses to be found in each. The industry of Gervase was greater than his insight. He took a narrow and monastic view of current politics; he was seldom in touch with the leading statesmen of his day. But he appears to be tolerably accurate when dealing with the years 1188–1209; and sometimes he supplements the information provided by the more important chronicles.
See the introductions and notes in W. Stubbs’s edition of the Historical Works of Gervase of Canterbury (Rolls edition, 2 vols., 1879–1880). (H. W. C. D.)
GERVASE OF TILBURY (fl. 1211), Anglo-Latin writer of the late 12th and early 13th centuries, was a kinsman and schoolfellow of Patrick, earl of Salisbury, but lived the life of a scholarly
