Spreaking of Preuß, though: good grief. Every time I take a look, I'm thrown out again by the sheer mid 19th century nationalism of it all.
None of this is surprising in a 19th century historian, I know, I know, and I've often come across this before, but for some reason, this time around it just keeps throwing me out. In conclusion, it will be a long while till I properly read that multi volume biography.
I don't blame you. Unsurprising is one thing, but wanting to immerse yourself in it is another matter.
What I was hoping, since Preuss was the one who led us to Münchow Jr.'s letter, was that he would be a useful set of primary source material (5 volumes of source material; yes, much of it made it into his correspondence collection now on Trier, but I got the impression there was some non-overlap), but now I see exactly how all that selection of material for the Oeuvres happened. Marwitz letters? Cut. Voltaire wanting to commit suicide because of the way he was treated in Frankfurt? Cut.
Sigh. Between him and Catt, it's been quite a morning. To quote Fritz himself, writing to Algarotti, "With age I feel more and more incredulous when it comes to histories, theology and physicians. There are few known truths in the world, we look for them, and while we do so, we satisfy ourselves with the fables that are created for us, and the eloquence of charlatans."
I was morbidly curious how invading Saxony is defending German freedom, but of ourse it's because the Saxons secretly are already yearning to become Prussian citizens
Oh, for fuck's sake.
Well, I'm sorry he's such a letdown, and thanks for dipping your toe in the waters of German nationalism for us. I'm still hopeful we'll have more Münchow moments where he leads us somewhere interesting, even if the commentary isn't worth reading cover-to-cover.
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Re: Some biographers, ugh
Date: 2020-01-26 05:32 pm (UTC)None of this is surprising in a 19th century historian, I know, I know, and I've often come across this before, but for some reason, this time around it just keeps throwing me out. In conclusion, it will be a long while till I properly read that multi volume biography.
I don't blame you. Unsurprising is one thing, but wanting to immerse yourself in it is another matter.
What I was hoping, since Preuss was the one who led us to Münchow Jr.'s letter, was that he would be a useful set of primary source material (5 volumes of source material; yes, much of it made it into his correspondence collection now on Trier, but I got the impression there was some non-overlap), but now I see exactly how all that selection of material for the Oeuvres happened. Marwitz letters? Cut. Voltaire wanting to commit suicide because of the way he was treated in Frankfurt? Cut.
Sigh. Between him and Catt, it's been quite a morning. To quote Fritz himself, writing to Algarotti, "With age I feel more and more incredulous when it comes to histories, theology and physicians. There are few known truths in the world, we look for them, and while we do so, we satisfy ourselves with the fables that are created for us, and the eloquence of charlatans."
I was morbidly curious how invading Saxony is defending German freedom, but of ourse it's because the Saxons secretly are already yearning to become Prussian citizens
Oh, for fuck's sake.
Well, I'm sorry he's such a letdown, and thanks for dipping your toe in the waters of German nationalism for us. I'm still hopeful we'll have more Münchow moments where he leads us somewhere interesting, even if the commentary isn't worth reading cover-to-cover.