Aquila, aseries planned for biennial publication, is presented to scholars with a broad interest in modem languages and literatures. Each volume contains original material contributed by specialists within tbis general area, with minimallimitations as to language or length of the studies, the criteria being significance of the content and clear, interesting presentation. Aquila II includes four important monographs conceming Luther, literary criticism, Dante, and a French avant-garde salon featuring Mallarme, Verlaine, Charles Cros, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, etc ... There are excellent articles on a French poetic form in the late Middle Ages, the concept of "Encyclopedia" and general education during the Renaissance, Voltaire's Candide, Gide's Faux-Monnayeurs, and hidden satire in Don Quijote. To the Administration of Boston College, we acknowledge a debt of gratitude for the generous subsidy which has given wings to Aquila, for the advancement of knowledge in modem languages and literatures. The Editors TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE v MONOGRAPHS HEINZ BLUHM, Das Erlebnis und die Interpretation in Luthers Erstlin- schr~ 1 ERICH VON RICHTHOFEN, Limitations of Literary Criticism 78 MARIA PICCHIO SIMONELLI, La prosa nutrice dei verso: dal Convivio aUa Divina Commedia 117 GEORGES ZAYED, Un salon parnassien d'avant-garde: Nina de Villard et ses hOtes 177 ARTICLES MARCEL FRAN~ON, Encyclopedie et culture genereale 230 MARCEL FRAN~ON, Sur la theorie du rondeau litteraire 244 JOSEPH D. GAUTIDER, S.J., The Organic Unity ofLes Faux-Monnayeurs 260 ERNEST A.