I briefly wondered whether Wilhelmine could have written the memoirs without anyone in her immediate surroundings noticing, but she totally could have
I mean, Émilie managed to compose a secret submission to the Academy of Sciences *and* submit it by mail without anyone finding out, just by pretending she was tired and going to bed early. I'm sure composing your memoirs without mailing them is equally doable.
so asking a scholar/historian from or around Bayreuth would have been a logical step to take, and even if she didn't tell that person just why she wanted the info, they might have guessed.
That makes absolute perfect sense, especially since Wilhelmine has a lot of information that isn't in Pöllnitz. For example, she's transcribed Katte's letter to his grandfather, and an inscription on the window of the cell he wrote while he was imprisoned there. She must have gotten access to something, if she isn't totally making it up. And yes, that's the sort of thing where someone could totally catch on if you asked enough questions.
For obvious reasons, biographers put their emphasis on him as a novelist.
Don't they know they need to put their emphasis on Katte?? ;)
Re: Katte Textual Criticism: Discussion (REPLY HERE)
I mean, Émilie managed to compose a secret submission to the Academy of Sciences *and* submit it by mail without anyone finding out, just by pretending she was tired and going to bed early. I'm sure composing your memoirs without mailing them is equally doable.
so asking a scholar/historian from or around Bayreuth would have been a logical step to take, and even if she didn't tell that person just why she wanted the info, they might have guessed.
That makes absolute perfect sense, especially since Wilhelmine has a lot of information that isn't in Pöllnitz. For example, she's transcribed Katte's letter to his grandfather, and an inscription on the window of the cell he wrote while he was imprisoned there. She must have gotten access to something, if she isn't totally making it up. And yes, that's the sort of thing where someone could totally catch on if you asked enough questions.
For obvious reasons, biographers put their emphasis on him as a novelist.
Don't they know they need to put their emphasis on Katte?? ;)