In accordance with the liberal principles of an independent nation, one of the first acts of the government, after the inauguration of the republic, was to issue a decree on the 28th of April, 1821, creating the National Library. Freedom of the press was established at the same time, and other measures were adopted by which the newly emancipated people could enjoy opportunities for gaining knowledge that had not been available under colonial rule. The Liberator, General San Martin, realizing the importance of providing every means for the better education of the masses, took advantage of the first occasion that presented itself to forward his liberal plans. Not only was public instruction established on a broad basis, but the spirit of inquiry was stimulated by encouraging the publication of reading matter, and by giving literature a permanent place among the national institutions. Formerly, the means of gaining information had been very limited, in consequence of the strict rules which governed the distribution of books.

The patriotic motive that guided the Liberator in founding the National Library is evident in his decree, which declares that “as ignorance is the strongest pillar of despotism, free governments should adopt an opposite course, allowing mankind to follow its natural impulse toward perfection.” The library was first opened to the public on the 17th of September, 1822, with a collection of about twelve thousand volumes. Many of these were of great value, as the long residence of Spanish state and church officials in the viceregal capital had resulted in the introduction of the best European literature, some of which, interdicted by the Holy Office, had been concealed for a long time, and came to light only with the triumph of the Independence. All the works printed by the press in Peru since its first establishment in 1580 were placed in the National Library, which was enriched with rare editions of the Bible; a curious volume on palmistry, dated 1449, presented by General San Martin; a breviary, printed in Venice in 1489; and an edition of Plato of still older publication, as well as complete sets of the writings of classic and modern philosophers and scientists. The nucleus was chiefly derived from the convents, which had been the great repositories of literature in colonial days, and many Latin books, in folio, were acquired, treating chiefly of religious subjects. The library was established in a building formerly occupied by the College of Caciques, famous under the viceroyalty as an institution that provided for the Christian education of noble descendants of the Inca emperors.

When the Chilean army occupied Lima in 1881, this flourishing institution, which was among the most important in America, was destroyed, the valuable collection, then amounting to about fifty thousand volumes, being in part carried off to Chile and the remainder publicly sold at auction by weight.

The restoration of the National Library is largely due to the efforts of its present director, Dr. Ricardo Palma, who worked with zeal and enthusiasm to recover a treasure which he recognized as of priceless value, since it represented not merely intrinsic worth but also the standard of intellectual recreation which the public demanded after half a century of free government. Dr. Palma repurchased some of the precious volumes put up at auction, and secured rare old manuscripts that had been sold as waste paper. The portraits of the viceroys, all of which had been torn down from the walls of the library by the invading soldiery, were recovered, with two or three exceptions. This collection is one of the most notable in America, as the portraits are consecutive examples of the art of three centuries, and provide a unique study for the connoisseur. They have recently been removed to the National Museum. The loss of the library was one which no effort could entirely replace, and the Peruvian people regretted it as a bitter calamity; everything possible was immediately done toward making a new collection. Other nations expressed their regret and sympathy, and many gifts of valuable works were received. Spain, Argentina, the United States, and Ecuador sent generous collections of books, many patriotic Peruvians made donations from their private possessions, and, in 1884, the National Library reopened with twenty-eight thousand volumes.

At present the library consists of fifty thousand books and manuscripts, arranged according to a systematic classification. The library building occupies a central location, and is a typical Spanish edifice, built around an open court, or patio, with upper and lower corridors, which were originally the cloisters of the College of Caciques. The rooms used by the National Library extend the full length of the building, and include, in addition to the book section, a commodious reading-room, furnished with modern desks and lighted with electricity; the library is open to the public in the evenings as well as during the day. On the bookshelves, a very important place is given to the collection sent by the Smithsonian Institute, of Washington, amounting in all to five thousand volumes. A recent acquisition, known as the Quixote collection, embraces the most notable editions of Cervantes, among others that of Argamasilla, which was printed with silver type, and one issued in Argentina in 1905, the latter being the only edition published in South America. This classic of old Spain has been translated into eighteen different languages, and the Library of Lima has copies of all except the Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, and Dutch editions. The library has also been enriched by a gift, from President José Pardo, of sixty volumes, the scientific collection of the celebrated ornithologist, William Nation, purchased by His Excellency for the section of natural sciences.

Dr. Palma is one of the best known writers of South America, as well as a devoted bibliophilist, and his knowledge of Spanish literature has been gained through years of acquaintance with the best authors of Spain and Spanish-America. In restoring the National Library, he has given particular attention to the acquirement of noted works and rare editions. With especial pride in the genius of his compatriot, Don Pablo Olavide, whose literary productions had a tremendous influence in stimulating liberal thought among the Spanish-Americans a hundred years ago, Dr. Palma is now engaged in getting together a complete collection of the eleven existing editions of that author’s El Evangelio en Triumfo, the greater part of which he had already secured. Don Pablo Olavide was a native of Lima, where he was born in 1725. When a young man, he went to Europe, became an enthusiastic friend of Voltaire and an admirer of the Encyclopædists, and was a special mark for the surveillance of the Holy Office until his death in 1803. His books were read with avidity by the youth of Peru and the other Spanish colonies, and they may be said to have prepared the way for the patriotic movement which later won the independence of Spanish-America.

During the last days of the viceroyalty the sentiment of freedom was the predominating note in the national literature, and the stirring period of the independence brought many gifted orators and writers into prominence. In the columns of the Mercurio Peruano, politics and poetry were themes that divided honors about equally, the style in which a political essay was written in those days being hardly less flowery than the language of verse. In this periodical also appeared articles on philosophy, history, and science. Don Hipólito Unánue, of Arica, one of the editors of the Mercurio Peruano, exerted a powerful influence in favor of republicanism during the last years of colonial rule. He wrote under the pseudonym of “Ariosto,” and, after the inauguration of the republic, continued to contribute to the national literature, at the same time taking an active part in the government as Minister of Finance in the cabinet of President Riva-Agüero. Contemporary with Unánue, Bernardo Alcedo, a noted writer and musician, fought in the war of independence and celebrated the victory for the patriot cause by composing the national hymn of Peru, the music of which is inspiring and triumphant. Mariano Eduardo de Rivero, the author of Antiguëdades Peruanas, José Gregorio Paredes, a celebrated astronomer and mathematician, Mateo Aguilar, whose panegyric on Ignatius Loyola has been translated into several languages, and Manuel Lorenzo Vidaurre, an eminent jurist, the first president of the Supreme Court of Peru, were among the celebrated writers who flourished during the early years of the republic. Miguel Garaycochea, author of Calculo Binomial, was a noted scientist of that time.

The literature of Peru reached a period of prolific expression about the middle of the past century, when the inimitable satirists, Felipe Pardo y Aliaga and Manuel Ascencio Segura wrote their comedies on the national manners and customs. Felipe Pardo, the grandfather of President José Pardo, was a statesman as well as a poet, and was representing his government as minister to one of the European courts when he was made a member of the Spanish Royal Academy. His best known work is called El Espejo de mi tierra—“The mirror of my country,”—and gives an entertaining picture of Peruvian life fifty years ago. Segura’s comedies, written about the same time, were clever satires on the prevailing creole customs, especially his La Saya y Manto, Ña Catita, El Resignado, and Lances de Amancaes. Another writer of the same period, Manuel Atanasio Fuentes, who satirized the political and social foibles of his day in a periodical called El Murcielago—“The Bat,”—found in literary work a pleasing diversion. He was a noted jurist and wrote treatises on constitutional law, administration, and similar subjects. The Peruvian critic is often satirical in his treatment of men and books, a keen sense of humor giving piquancy to his judgment. In this art, Don Pedro Paz Soldán y Unánue excelled, his pseudonym “Juan de Arona” being known throughout South America. He was a member of the Spanish Academy and a distinguished Latin and Greek scholar. In El Chispazo, a humorous periodical which he edited, his crisp epigrammatic style was at its best. He was born in Lima in 1839 and died in 1895, having employed his talent ably and successfully through the difficult periods when his country was facing the greatest crises that could arise to impede the progress of a young nation.

Many of the intellectual leaders of Peru were nurtured under the strenuous regimen which the unsettled conditions of the first thirty years of republican rule made necessary, their genius shining out with brilliancy during the period of peace and prosperity that followed. It was not unusual to find a general of the army, whose war record was the pride of his country, devoting himself to literary work later, when quiet reigned. One of the most celebrated historians of Peru, Don Manuel Mendiburu, whose monumental work, Diccionario Biográfico del Peru has made his name immortal, fought in the patriot ranks during the war of independence, was made Minister of War by President Gamarra, became a general of the army, and was president of the commission that reformed the military laws, as they exist to-day. He was a statesman as well as a soldier, and presided over the assembly which, in 1860, promulgated the present constitution of Peru. As Minister of War, Minister of Finance, and Diplomatic Minister to England, he served his country with honor and distinction, being one of the most illustrious men of his day, in war and peace. It was only in the intervals of his public career that Dr. Mendiburu found time to pursue his biographical studies, the results of which are most important to Peruvian literature. For, though this great work is called a dictionary, its sixteen volumes are so complete in historical information as to be entitled to rank among the best records of the colonial period of Peru. Of the eighty years that covered the lifetime of this great man, from 1805 to 1885, more than three score were spent in public service. He led the vanguard in the last war, was War Minister in 1880, and at the time of his death was president of a commission charged with the reorganization of the National Archives. It is not often that human activity extends over so many years, and one is accustomed to think that in Latin countries, and especially in the tropics, the spirit of youth is of short duration, the precocious child arriving early at the zenith of his possibilities, and declining at an age when the slower native of a less favored zone is in his prime. There are remarkable exceptions to this rule in Peru, where the years have passed lightly over many a viejo verde, as the “green old age” is called. Don Francisco de Paula Vigil, the liberal philosopher of Tacna, prominent for half a century in politics and literature and director of the National Library for forty years, died in 1875 at eighty-three years of age. Luciano Cisneros, an eminent orator, jurist, and writer on constitutional law, was a member of the Academy of Jurisprudence in Madrid, a judge of the Superior Court, Minister of State, Diplomatic Representative of his government in Europe, and held his own among the leading statesmen of Peru until his death in 1906, at seventy-four years of age. Francisco Garcia Calderon, a member of the Spanish Academy and a writer of note on legal and other subjects, as well as a statesman of renown, was one of the most active leaders in promoting his country’s progress at the time of his death, in 1905, though he had already passed his seventieth year. The present director of the National Library, though still one of the younger generation in spirit and sympathy, published his first book, Anales de la Inquisicion de Lima, forty-five years ago, and was at that time already prominent in political affairs. As consul to Brazil, secretary to President Balta, and Senator of the republic in three legislatures, he early proved himself one of the most brilliant young men of the nation, and when he went abroad in 1865 after leaving Brazil, his genius shone with lustre in the highest intellectual circles of Europe. The fame of Ricardo Palma rests chiefly on his masterpiece, Tradiciones Peruanas, the only literature in existence which gives local color to the history of the viceroyalty in Peru, and preserves for posterity the very life and essence of its fascinating social annals. The Lima of the Tradiciones has survived the change of government and, though one no longer sees the viceroy and his court, it is still possible to visit many places made familiar by Dr. Palma’s stories. The charming Limeña does not now appear in saya y manto, it is true, but she is as clever and bright as of old; the Franciscan friar is still in evidence, and the little zambo wears the same contented countenance that distinguished his ancestors a hundred years ago; the Indian is sad and patient, as the author of Tradiciones paints him. The characters that live and move in Ricardo Palma’s book are real and immortal. Up to the present time no other author in America has been able to paint such vivid and intimate pictures of colonial times. The work was originally published in six volumes, in 1870, though many editions have since appeared, and a new volume has recently been added, entitled Ultimas Tradiciones Peruanas. Ricardo Palma is a member of the Royal Spanish Academy, the Hispanic Society of America, and other leading historical and scientific societies of Europe and America. The author of the present work has just completed the translation of Tradiciones Peruanas into English.

If the more intimate features of colonial society are to be understood only through a perusal of Tradiciones Peruanas, a general idea of the viceroyalty is best obtained from the works of Don Sebastian Lorente, who wrote the first complete history of Peru, in five volumes, published in 1871, giving an especially interesting description of the colonial period. He made a lifelong study of the history of the country, and for forty years lectured on his favorite theme in the University of San Marcos. Another historian, Don Mariano Paz Soldán, contributed a most important geographical work to the literature descriptive of his country, and wrote several books on historical subjects. His Atlas del Peru and Diccionario Geografico y Estadistico, published thirty years ago, contained the first complete description of the political divisions of the republic, and afforded valuable information regarding the physical features, climate, resources, and population of Peru. Dr. Paz Soldán was a statesman of noted ability and rendered invaluable services to the cause of education and in behalf of prison reform. As Minister of Justice and Public Instruction in the cabinet of President Balta, he founded a school of sciences and reorganized the Universities of Arequipa and Cuzco, besides establishing numerous secondary schools. The illustrious patriot died in 1886 at sixty-five years of age, his funeral being conducted with State ceremonies, and attended by the highest officials of the government. The historian, Dr. Eugenio Larrabure y Unánue, pronounced the funeral oration, and the assemblage at the bier of the lamented scholar was representative of the best intellect of Peru. Dr. Larrabure y Unánue is the author of a number of historical works, of which his studies relating to ancient Peru possess especial interest and value. He is also a statesman and diplomatist, literature being his favorite diversion in such hours of leisure as an active public career affords. Another celebrated Peruvian authority on the antiquities of the country, Dr. Pablo Patron, is a scholar of international renown, whose archæological study, La Lluvia, read a few years ago before the Congress of Americanists at Stuttgart, attracted general attention among antiquarians. Dr. Patron has rendered important services to his country in scientific research and has made the study of Peruvian textiles and potteries a specialty, giving them a fascinating charm, which ethnologists as well as lovers of decorative art are quick to appreciate.

Several students of the literature of the Incas have devoted themselves to the task of preserving Incaic legends and musical compositions. The drama Ollanta has been translated into Spanish by three well-known scholars, Don José Sebastian Barranca, Dr. José Fernando Nadal, and Dr. Gavino Pacheco Zegarra. Don José Maria Valleriestra, a musical composer of note, is the author of two operas, Ollanta and Atahuallpa, which have been presented in Lima and elsewhere with success. The greatest Peruvian writer on the subject of Incaic civilization and history—the most celebrated chronicler of his people—was the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, who was born in Cuzco in 1539, and died in Spain in 1618. He spent the first twenty-one years of his life in Peru, his father Garcilaso, one of Pizarro’s followers, having married a native princess of the royal line of Incas. His Comentarios Reales are still regarded as the most authentic source of information existing in reference to prehistoric Peru.

The history of Peru, both ancient and modern, is a theme of such extraordinary interest that it is not strange Peruvian writers should have made it the predominating subject of their works. No country has such a wealth of romance to kindle the imagination and to inspire the poet, and no country has greater reason to be proud of its annals, and the patriotic sentiment which finds expression in the literature and art of the country is altogether admirable. The Athenæum of Lima, the Geographic Society, and the Historical Institute, all intellectual organizations, were created for the purpose of promoting the study of Peru, from a literary, geographical, and historical standpoint, and their libraries contain many valuable works by Peruvian as well as foreign writers. The first of these institutions was founded under the name of the Literary Club of Lima, in 1877, Don Francisco Garcia Calderon being its president. Ten years later it was reorganized and took the name of the Athenæum of Lima; among its members are the most illustrious scholars of Peru. Don Luis B. Cisneros, a member of the Spanish Royal Academy and one of Peru’s greatest poets was crowned by the Athenæum, with impressive ceremonies, in 1897. His poems, novels, and dramas are among the literary treasures of his country, and his death, which occurred in 1903, was an occasion of national mourning. The Athenæum was founded too late to number on its roll the gifted poets Clemente Althaus, Nicolas Corpancho, Constantino Carrasco, Arnaldo Marquez, Trinidad Fernandez, and Adolfo Garcia, who died several years earlier; Carlos Augustus Salaverry, the son of the illustrious General Felipe Santiago Salaverry, and a poet of great genius, died in Paris in 1888, a year after the Athenæum was organized; and José Antonio de la Lavalle, a member of the Spanish Academy and a diplomatist of notable talent, whose literary style was especially distinguished for its grace and purity, reached the close of his useful and brilliant career in 1894, at sixty years of age. Don Felix Cipriano Coronel Zegarra, of the Spanish Royal Academy, one of the most illustrious scholars of Peru and a member of the Athenæum, collected a great deal of valuable information relating to the literature of his country, and his Notes for a Literary History of Peru, now in possession of the Faculty of Letters of the University, contains sufficient material for a literary encyclopædia.

The present president of the Athenæum is Dr. Javier Prado y Ugarteche, Dean of the Faculty of Letters of the University, a statesman and diplomatist, as well as an author of distinction. His book on the condition of Peru during the viceroyalty is one of the most interesting studies in sociology written within recent years. Dr. Prado y Ugarteche is a booklover of fine judgment, and he possesses one of the largest and most valuable libraries in America. His brother, Dr. Mariano Prado y Ugarteche, is also a statesman and a bibliophilist. He is the author of important works on literature and Incaic history. As a member of the Athenæum, and as vice-president of the Historical Institute, he has done much to promote the success of both these organizations. Another prominent member of the Athenæum, who is secretary of the Historical Institute as well, Don José Toribio Polo, occupies a unique place among Peruvian scholars as a bibliographer and a literary critic. He was formerly Dr. Palma’s assistant in the directorate of the National Library, and to his patient investigation of ancient documents is due the elucidation of many facts in the past history of the country, his thorough knowledge of Peruvian chronicles giving especial value to the critical studies he has made of various historical works.

The purposes of the Athenæum and the Historical Institute are closely related, both aiming to encourage intellectual progress, and many writers of prominence belong to both societies. The Athenæum has been called upon to mourn the loss of some of its most distinguished members within the past few years, among them Don Carlos German Amezaga, a poet of rare genius and culture, who was its vice-president at the time of his death, in 1907. He belonged to a family of noted talent, his father, Don Mariano Amezaga, having been a philosopher and writer of great ability. The secretary of the Athenæum, Don Francisco Garcia Calderon y Rey, and the assistant secretary, Don José de la Riva-Agüero y Osma, also inherit their literary genius, their surnames indicating their distinguished descent. Don José Santos Chocano has attained an honored place among the literary lights of Europe, and the Athenæum is justly proud of his success. Don Luis Fernan Cisneros, Don Teobaldo Elias Corpancho, Don Carlos Larrabure y Correa, Don Clemente Palma, Don Aurelio Arnao, and Don José Augusto de Izcué are among the poets whose verses are a credit to the Athenæum. Don José Izcué writes history as well as poetry. As Director-general of Public Instruction in the ministerio of Dr. Jorge Polar, he was identified with the inauguration of the Historical Institute, and especially with the establishment of the museum, being appointed director of the department devoted to the colonial and republican collection. His historical works are chiefly studies of the republican period.

In the Revista Historica and the quarterly review of the Geographic Society, the representative scientific periodicals of Lima, and in Prisma, Actualidades, Variedades and other illustrated weeklies of superior literary and artistic merit, the best intellect of Peru has found expression. Don Carlos Romero, the editor of the Revista Historica, Don Clemente Palma, editor of Variedades and Don Enrique Castilla, editor of Actualidades, are writers of exceptional talent and originality. Periodical literature is a popular avenue for the literary aspirant, and the number of writers increases as the magazines, reviews, humorous weeklies, and daily newspapers multiply. The directors of all these publications are writers of note, and it is frequently through their initiative that societies are formed for the promotion of science or literature. The founder of the Geographic Society, Don Luis Carranza, a native of Ayacucho and one of the most distinguished writers of Peru, was at one time a director of El Comercio, the oldest daily newspaper in Peru. He was the author of important historical works and his influence was great in stimulating intellectual progress. Few institutions in South America are better known abroad than the Lima Geographic Society, which was founded in 1888 and installed in its present quarters in 1891. As the title signifies, the principal purpose of the Society is to foster geographical study in Peru, though its scope is broad and liberal, and the quarterly review not only contains articles on archæological geography, statistics, and climatology but also the texts of conferences given in the hall of the society on scientific topics of general interest. The society is a dependency of the Foreign Office and is under the protection of the government. Dr. Eulogio Delgado, the president, is a recognized authority on the geography of Peru, and under his administration the society has achieved its present importance and prestige. The secretory, Dr. Scipion Llona, has made interesting studies in archæological geography and Incaic history, and the sub-secretary, Don Carlos Bachman, is the author of the best existing history of the political demarcation of Peru. On the membership roll, which contains three hundred and thirty-five names of active members, in addition to honorary and corresponding associates, are some of the most illustrious scholars of Peru, and the library of the society is constantly enriched by the acquisition of valuable works. Don Alejandro Garland, a prominent member of the Geographic Society, recently published an important book on his country, Peru in 1906, and, from time to time, articles, pamphlets, and larger volumes are issued by the society or its members, which add to historic and descriptive literature.

The progress of the press in Peru has been most notable during the past few years. El Comercio, which has been a faithful chronicler of the political and social events of the country for nearly three-quarters of a century, still stands at the head as a representative of Peruvian journalistic ethics and enterprise. The same policy which made the paper the exponent of liberty half a century ago,—when it fought a noble campaign in favor of the abolition of slavery, first of the negroes and later of the Indians,—makes it to-day the leader in promoting the highest principles of humanity, advocating the most necessary reforms, and encouraging the best citizenship. Modern methods are employed in its extensive news service and the latest material improvements have been inaugurated in every department. The proprietor and editor-in-chief of El Comercio, Don José Antonio Miró Quesada, is the Nestor of journalism in Peru and is esteemed as the exponent of its most worthy ideals. The press of the republic is represented by about two hundred newspapers, the principal dailies being El Comercio, El Diario, and La Prensa of Lima; La Bolsa and El Deber of Arequipa; El Comercio and El Sol of Cuzco; La Razón and La Industria of Trujillo; though every city and town has its newspaper, and in the larger centres an illustrated weekly is also issued. Many of the leading editors and journalists are prominent in politics and hold important offices in the government. Dr. Felix Castro, the owner and editor of El Comercio, in Cuzco, was secretary of the presidency in the administration of President Serapio Calderon and served his country as propagandist in the United States, where his journalistic talents were of great value in advancing his mission through the New York Herald, Sun, and other dailies.

In painting and music, as well as in literature, Peru has an honored place among American nations, though it is generally the fashion in Peru, as in the United States, to maintain that only in Europe are great masterpieces painted, and that home talent cannot achieve the results possible in the “atmosphere” of the art centres of Paris, London, and Rome. Many of Peru’s greatest artists have their permanent place of residence abroad, and in the art exhibitions, their names appear among those of the most successful painters. This was true half a century ago, when one of the greatest painters of his day was a Peruvian, Don Ignacio Merino, born in Piura and sent to Paris to study art under Monvoisin and Delacroix. In the years 1869 and 1870 he won the highest honors of the Salon, his famous work, Columbus before the University of Salamanca, being among the noted modern masterpieces. The Vengeance of Cornaro, Felipe II. Dying, The Friar Painter, and Cervantes Reading Quixote are well known to connoisseurs and possess superior merit. The illustrious painter died in Paris and was buried in Père la Chaise. He bequeathed his paintings to the city of Lima and they are now in the gallery of the Historical Museum. In the museum also hangs the masterpiece of Luis Montero, another Piura artist, who was educated in Italy and studied under Fortuny. It is entitled The Funeral of Atahuallpa and is notable for the contrasts of stillness and movement, though the Indians are too dark in color and the women too European in type to give a faithful idea of the subject. In the gallery of the museum are historical paintings by Francisco Esteban de Ingunza and other noted Peruvian artists.

Don Luis Bacaflor is esteemed one of the greatest Peruvian painters of the present day. His Head of an Old Man is a celebrated study painted by him several years ago, and he is the author of many other well known pictures. His home is in Paris, where he counts among his friends the leading artists of Europe. The story of Bacaflor’s early struggles and his sturdy patriotism give a peculiar interest to his later successes. When a mere youth, he went to Chile to study his beloved art, giving evidences of the genius which has since developed in all its strength. He won the Prix de Rome, in recognition of which the Chilean government offered to send the aspiring young painter to Europe, that he might have the advantage of the best training of foreign masters. With what a thrill of delight must the student have seen such a prospect open before him! But,—it was impossible to accept the terms, which demanded that he renounce his beloved Peru and become a Chilean citizen. Not a moment did the patriotic young artist hesitate, sending at once the answer which was apparently to cut him off from a brilliant career and the achievement of his dearest ambition. His reward has been a noble one. The Peruvian government in recognition of its gifted and patriotic young citizen, sent him to study under its own auspices, and the result has been an honor to the nation. Albert Lynch, also a Peruvian, a native of Trujillo, is among the famous painters at the French capital. Francisco Lazo, Daniel Hernandez, of Huancavelica, Herminio Arias, the Countess de Beon, Alberto Pareja de Mijares, and Juan Lepiani are names well known in the art circles of Europe, especially in Rome and Paris, where their pictures have been exhibited in the salons. Abelardo Alvarez Calderon, who has won fame as an illustrator, lives in London. There are still a few artists who have remained in their own country, and the illustrative art, as seen in the magazines, gives evidence of superior talent. Don Miguel Miró Quesada is one of the most gifted of the younger generation, his clever sketches and caricatures being an attractive feature of the current periodicals.

The painter, Francisco Lazo, was both litterateur and artist, and the author of the Peruvian national hymn, Bernardo Alcedo, wrote a book on the elemental philosophy of music, besides composing the music of the hymn and a number of masses, a Miserere, and other works. The composer Valleriestra, devotes all his leisure to musical study. Peru has a celebrated cantatrice, Señorita Margarita Alvarez de Rocáfuerte, who has won fame in the European capitals by her divine voice and the sympathy and grace with which she interprets the masters of music. She is young, beautiful, and of artistic temperament, and wins her audience from the first moment. Not long ago, this charming songbird of the Andes received the gold medal in a musical contest in the Royal Academy of London.

The Philharmonic Societies of Lima and Arequipa are flourishing organizations, whose purpose is the encouragement of musical art. The Arequipa society is older and of larger membership than the Philharmonic of the capital, which was inaugurated less than a year ago. The Lima society is composed of patrons and active members, the former contributing funds for the maintenance of the society, while the latter assist in classes and take part in the musical concerts that are given under its direction.