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Frederick the Great discussion post 12
Every time I am amazed and enchanted that this is still going on! Truly DW is the Earthly Paradise!
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rheinsberg :)
All the good stuff continues to be archived at
rheinsberg :)
Re: Lucchessini, Catt and Fredersdorf, oh, my
Mind you, given their rethoric at the time, the descriptions could just say "I met the Apollo from Prussia, the Salomon of the North" and "The Sage of the Ages, the Greatest Star of the Enlightenment, I met him at last!" with no useful details like sick bed and pulse taking mentioned.
On the side of "at least plausible": Voltaire in 1740 is already a tried and true hypochondriac knowing all the illnesses. He meets the guy who spent the last four years courting him via letter in the most glowing terms, and whom he thinks might be the philosopher king he's hoping for, with him in the flattering role of pacifist Aristoteles. At any rate, he's a potentially very useful royal patron and protector. And the man is sick. Pulse checking would be a psychologically plausible gesture for Voltaire.
Re: Lucchessini, Catt and Fredersdorf, oh, my
No, my dear sister, I don't take cinchona nor febrifuge; I only use the most innocent remedies.
But he has no problem advising Voltaire to take it in the 1750s, interesting.
Also, lol, his "I'm going to Strasbourg" letter goes like this: "An essential business trip takes me to Strasbourg." Uh huh. Well, in 300 years, Fritz, no one's been able to figure out any business besides sightseeing that I'm aware of.
Pulse checking would be a psychologically plausible gesture for Voltaire.
It's definitely plausible, in much the same way that Trenck being locked up three months later than he was was plausible, but Voltaire might not have met Fritz until Fritz was capable of sitting up and receiving him.
Will keep my eye out for other mentions in correspondence. Anyone with access to E-Enlightenment is encouraged to do so as well (as time permits), hint hint! :)
Re: Lucchessini, Catt and Fredersdorf, oh, my
Friedrich writes to Jordan about Voltaire's visit. No useful descriptions here, but lots of Jordan worship, on the 24th of September 1740:
Very respectable inspector of the poor, disabled, orphans, madmen, and small houses, I read with ripe meditation, the very deep Jordanian letter which I have just received, and I resolved to bring in [Google Translate is struggling here] your scholar stuffed with Greek, Syriac and Hebrew. Write to Voltaire that although I had refused, I changed my mind, and that I wanted his little Fourmont [referring to Etienne Fourmont, a librarian/reader Voltaire had recommended to Fritz during his stay]. I saw this Voltaire whom I was so curious to know, but I saw him having a quartan fever and my mind was as confused as my body was weakened. Finally with people of his kind you must not be sick, you must even be very well, and be better than usual if you can. He has the eloquence of Cicero, the sweetness of Pliny, and the wisdom of Agrippa. In a word, he brings together what it takes to combine the virtues and talents of three of the greatest men of antiquity. His mind is constantly working, each drop of ink is a stroke of esprit from his pen.
He proclaimed Muhammad I to us, an admirable tragedy he did. He transported us out of ourselves, and I could only admire him and remain silent.
La du Châtelet is very happy to have him, because of the good things which escape him, a person who does not think, and who has only memory, could compose a brilliant work of [his table talks].
[He snarks about Emile's writing and then...]
I'm waiting for my fever tomorrow. I am a little exhausted from the trip, without having lost the desire to chat. You will find me very talkative on my return, but remember that I saw two things that have always been very close to my heart, namely Voltaire, and French troops. If I had not had a fever, I would have been in Antwerp & in Brussels, I would have seen Brabant, this Emilie so amiable and so learned. We spoke highly of her, and what I say, not looking at her book, which she could have spared.
Write the time of my arrival. Friend, I appreciate it, because I worked, and I will still work as a Turk, or as a Jordan.
Farewell, very educated, very learned, very deep Jordan, or rather very gallant, very kind & very jovial Jordan. I greet you by assuring you of all these old feelings that you know how to inspire in all those who know you like me. Vale.
Voltaire mentions that he's seen the King of Prussia to Nicolas Claude Thieriot, and laments that his recommended librarian lad wasn't accepted (but Fritz changed his mind), but that's pretty much it.
Voltaire briefly mentions the first visit to Wilhelmine, after having visited Friedrich another time, in a letter dated the 26th of September 1742:
The King, your most august and most amusing brother, ordered me not long ago to pay him court in Aachen. I saw him, madame, carrying himself like a hero, making fun of the doctors and taking baths for his amusement. I found nothing changed in him except his face which I had seen, two years ago, made thinner by the quartan fever, and which has now grown quite round, which well becomes a crown of laurels; two more victories have made him neither less human nor less affable.
Those are the only mentions I can find. No info, except Friedrich was thinner in 1740 than he was in 1742.
Re: Lucchessini, Catt and Fredersdorf, oh, my
Finally with people of his kind you must not be sick, you must even be very well, and be better than usual if you can. He has the eloquence of Cicero, the sweetness of Pliny, and the wisdom of Agrippa. In a word, he brings together what it takes to combine the virtues and talents of three of the greatest men of antiquity. His mind is constantly working, each drop of ink is a stroke of esprit from his pen.
Fritz feeling he’s been at less than his best on that longed for occasion: how much of that is true, and how much a preemptive disclaimer just in case Voltaire was less than impressed, I wonder? Also: „sweetness of Pliny“? Pliny the elder, the naturalist who died while evacuating people from Pompeji, never struck me as „sweet“ in any fashion (I haven‘t read all, but I did read some; very informative, very matter of factly, utterly unsentimental). Pliny the younger, the nephew, I know only via some of his letters - one about how his uncle died, which is famous for its description of Pompeiji, and one about his country villa, which is also famous because it‘s one of the most detailed descriptions of how a Roman villa looked that we have. But „sweet“, he‘s also not. I dare say Fritz is a) employing a popular figure of speech, same way as „the eloquence of Cicero“ is an established trope , and b) getting his Romans confused. The one referred to as „sweet“ is usually Ovid. (Wouldn‘t call Ovid that, either, but it is a popular description among the humanists.)
I saw two things that have always been very close to my heart, namely Voltaire, and French troops.
LOL. I‘m reminded again of Voltaire‘s Roßbach-caused „now he‘s fulfilled his life goals: impress the French, mock the French, beat the French“ oneliner.
The Émilie snark: and he won‘t be over this jealousy even years after she‘s dead....