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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)",
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    "title": "BRANDES",
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    "verified_text": "brandes, georg morris cohen (1842- ), danish critic and literary historian, was born in copenhagen on the 4th of february 1842. he became a student in the university in 1859, and first studied jurisprudence. from this, however, his maturer taste soon turned to philosophy and aesthetics. in 1862 he won the gold medal of the university for an essay on _the nemesis idea among the ancients_. before this, indeed since 1858, he had shown a remarkable gift for verse-writing, the results of which, however, were not abundant enough to justify separate publication. brandes, indeed, did not collect his poems till so late as 1898. at the university, which he left in 1864, brandes was much under the influence of the writings of heiberg in criticism and soren kierkegaard in philosophy, influences which have continued to leave traces on his work. in 1866 he took part in the controversy raised by the works of rasmus nielsen in a treatise on \"dualism in our recent philosophy.\" from 1865 to 1871 he travelled much in europe, acquainting himself with the condition of literature in the principal centres of learning. his first important contribution to letters was his _aesthetic studies_ (1868), in which, in several brief monographs on danish poets, his maturer method is already foreshadowed. in 1870 he published several important volumes, _the french aesthetics of our days_, dealing chiefly with taine, _criticisms and portraits_, and a translation of _the subjection of women_ of john stuart mill, whom he had met that year during a visit to england. brandes now took his place as the leading critic of the north of europe, applying to local conditions and habits of thought the methods of taine. he became _docent_ or reader in _belles lettres_ at the university of copenhagen, where his lectures were the sensation of the hour. on the professorship of aesthetics becoming vacant in 1872, it was taken as a matter of course that brandes would be appointed. but the young critic had offended many susceptibilities by his ardent advocacy of modern ideas; he was known to be a jew, he was convicted of being a radical, he was suspected of being an atheist. the authorities refused to elect him, but his fitness for the post was so obvious that the chair of aesthetics in the university of copenhagen remained vacant, no one else daring to place himself in comparison with brandes. in the midst of these polemics the critic began to issue the most ambitious of his works, _main streams in the literature of the nineteenth century_, of which four volumes appeared between 1872 and 1875 (english translation, 1901-1905). the brilliant novelty of this criticism of the literature of the chief countries of europe at the beginning of the 19th century, and his description of the general revolt against the pseudo-classicism of the 18th century, at once attracted attention outside denmark. the tumult which gathered round the person of the critic increased the success of the work, and the reputation of brandes grew apace, especially in germany and russia. among his later writings must be mentioned the monographs on _soren kierkegaard_ (1877), on _esaias tegner_ (1878), on _benjamin disraeli_ (1878), _ferdinand lassalle_ (in german, 1877), _ludvig holberg_ (1884), on _henrik ibsen_ (1899) and on _anatole france_ (1905). brandes has written with great fulness on the main contemporary poets and novelists of his own country and of norway, and he and his disciples have long been the arbiters of literary fame in the north. his _danish poets_ (1877), containing studies of carsten hauch, ludwig bodtcher, christian winther, and paludan-muller, his _men of the modern transition_ (1883), and his _essays_ (1889), are volumes essential to the proper study of modern scandinavian literature. he wrote an excellent book on _poland_ (1888; english translation, 1903), and was one of the editors of the german version of _ibsen_. in 1877 brandes left copenhagen and settled in berlin, taking a considerable part in the aesthetic life of that city. his political views, however, made prussia uncomfortable for him, and he returned in 1883 to copenhagen, where he found a whole new school of writers and thinkers eager to receive him as their leader. the most important of his recent works has been his study of shakespeare (1897-1898), which was translated into english by william archer, and at once took a high position. it was, perhaps, the most authoritative work on shakespeare, not principally intended for an english-speaking audience, which had been published in any country. he was afterwards engaged on a history of modern scandinavian literature. in his critical work, which extends over a wider field than that of any other living writer, brandes has been aided by a singularly charming style, lucid and reasonable, enthusiastic without extravagance, brilliant and coloured without affectation. his influence on the scandinavian writers of the 'eighties was very great, but a reaction, headed by holger drachmann, against his \"realistic\" doctrines, began in 1885 (see denmark: _literature_). in 1900 he collected his works for the first time in a complete and popular edition, and began to superintend a german complete edition in 1902. his brother edvard brandes (b. 1847), also a well-known critic, was the author of a number of plays, and of two psychological novels: _a politician_ (1889), and _young blood_ (1899). branding (from teutonic _brinnan_, to burn), in criminal law a mode of punishment; also a method of marking goods or animals; in either case by stamping with a hot iron. the greeks branded their slaves with a delta, [delta], for [greek: doulos]. robbers and runaway slaves were marked by the romans with the letter f (_fur_, _fugitivus_); and the toilers in the mines, and convicts condemned to figure in gladiatorial shows, were branded on the forehead for identification. under constantine the face was not permitted to be so disfigured, the branding being on the hand, arm or calf. the canon law sanctioned the punishment, and in france galley-slaves could be branded \"tf\" (_travaux forces_) until 1832. in germany, however, branding was illegal. the punishment was adopted by the anglo-saxons, and the ancient law of england authorized the penalty. by the statute of vagabonds (1547) under edward vi. vagabonds, gipsies and brawlers were ordered to be branded, the first two with a large v on the breast, the last with f for \"fraymaker.\" slaves, too, who ran away were branded with s on cheek or forehead. this law was repealed in 1636. from the time of henry vii. branding was inflicted for all offences which received benefit of clergy (q.v.), but it was abolished for such in 1822. in 1698 it was enacted that those convicted of petty theft or larceny, who were entitled to benefit of clergy, should be \"burnt in the most visible part of the left cheek, nearest the nose.\" this special ordinance was repealed in 1707. james nayler, the mad quaker, who in the year 1655 claimed to be the messiah, had his tongue bored through and his forehead branded b for blasphemer. in the lancaster criminal court a branding-iron is still preserved in the dock. it is a long bolt with a wooden handle at one end and an m (malefactor) at the other. close by are two iron loops for firmly securing the hands during the operation. the brander, after examination, would turn to the judge and exclaim, \"a fair mark, my lord.\" criminals were formerly ordered to hold up their hands before sentence to show if they had been previously convicted. cold branding or branding with cold irons became in the 18th century the mode of nominally inflicting the punishment on prisoners of higher rank. \"when charles moritz, a young german, visited england in 1782 he was much surprised at this custom, and in his diary mentioned the case of a clergyman who had fought a duel and killed his man in hyde park. found guilty of manslaughter he was _burnt_ in the hand, if that could be called burning which was done with a cold iron\" (markham's _ancient punishments of northants_, 1886). such cases led to branding becoming obsolete, and it was abolished in 1829 except in the case of deserters from the army. these were marked with the letter d, not with hot irons but by tattooing with ink or gunpowder. notoriously bad soldiers were also branded with bc (bad character). by the british mutiny act of 1858 it was enacted that the court-martial, in addition to any other penalty, may order deserters to be marked on the left side, 2 in. below the armpit, with the letter d, such letter to be not less than 1 in. long. in 1879 this was abolished. see w. andrews, _old time punishments_ (hull, 1890); a.m. earle, _curious punishments of bygone days_ (london, 1896).",
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