The Spell of Belgium

The Spell of Belgium by Isabel Anderson, author of “The Spell of Japan,” etc.; Illustrated

Copyright, 1915

First Impression, October, 1915
Second Impression, January, 1916
Third Impression, June, 1917
Fourth Impression, March, 1919
Fifth Impression, January, 1922

CONTENTS
Dedication
Foreword
Chapter 1. The New Post
Chapter 2. Diplomatic Life
Chapter 3. Brussels Before the War
Chapter 4. In Days of Knight and Villain
Chapter 5. Battling for a Kingdom
Chapter 6. Belgian Kings
Chapter 7. Politics and Plural Voting
Chapter 8. Belgium’s Workshops
Chapter 9. Tapestries
Chapter 10. Primitives and Later Painters
Chapter 11. La Jeune Belgique in Letters
Chapter 12. Motoring in Flanders
Chapter 13. Legends of Antwerp
Part 1. Antigon; Or, the Giant of Antwerp
Part 2. Yvon Bruggermans: A Legend of the Antwerp Cathedral
Part 3. Frügger the Miser
Part 4. The Blacksmith of Antwerp
Part 5. The Milk Girl
Chapter 14. In the Walloon Country
Chapter 15. A Last Word
Part 1. Synopsis of the War
Part 2. Letters from the Front
Part 3. American Relief Work


Foreword

Belgium has contributed generously to the world in the past. Much has been destroyed in this ruthless war, but much remains, for Belgium had much to give. How splendid are her unique guild-halls with their fretted towers, her massive mediæval gates and quaint old houses bordering the winding canals!
Through centuries, in one way or another, she has continued to hold the world’s admiration. In olden times, when the clever weavers wrought historic scenes in their Flemish tapestries, they surely wove into the hearts of our forefathers the Spell of Belgium. In Belgium, the home of the violin, we have listened to the magic strains of the great masters and been charmed by the musical verses of Maeterlinck. There, too, we have gazed upon her inimitable Rubens and van Eycks. But today we stand spellbound before the Belgians themselves, the heroes of this war.

The legends of Antwerp were written out by the eminent Flemish historian, Sleeckx, over fifty years ago, and were found in the library at Antwerp. This version has been translated directly from the Flemish, and is believed to be unknown to the world, outside of Antwerp literary circles.

I wish to thank Her Excellency, Madame Havenith, wife of the Belgian Minister in the United States, for information, letters and photographs, and Mrs. Abbot L. Dow, whose father, General Sanford, was one of the most popular American Ministers ever in Belgium, as well as Miss Helen North, who lived for many years in that beautiful country. I wish, also, to thank the National Magazine for the use of a portion of the chapter on Motoring in Flanders. My thanks are due to Miss Gilman and Miss Crosby, too, for their kind assistance.