CASPAR HAUSERJacob WassermannLiveright ($3).
In his preface to English-speaking readers Author Wassermann explains that he is recounting a notorious incident of German history to illustrate a universal abuse; for in the youthful victim of a political intrigue he sees the symbol of all misunderstood children. By such explicit labeling the author hopes to establish his book as something more than the excellent historical novel which a large and enthusiastic European public thought it.
In 1828, Caspar Hauser, 17, stumbling alone into Nürnberg, stimulated general curiosity because he could neither walk nor talk better than a child of two. He could remember that he...