cahn | Frederick the Great discussion post 12

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Every time I am amazed and enchanted that this is still going on! Truly DW is the Earthly Paradise!

All the good stuff continues to be archived at

rheinsberg :)

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From:

selenak

And now for Anhalt Sophie:

She was twenty five years old. Only a short time ago, she'd risen from giving birth the first time, and her beauty was in full bloom at this point which to most women graced with beauty means the highest peak. Her white skin and vivid colours contrasted with her black hair; she had large blue and very expressive eyes, black and very long lashes, a thin nose, a mouth inviting kisses, completely beautiful hands and arms; she was slender, more tall than small, her walk was graceful and yet full of majesty, the sound of her voice pleasant and her laughter as bright as her mood; with ever balanced ease she returned from childish games to communicating in cyphres, she was never afraid of the physical demand of deycphring chiffere or of the text, no matter how important or dangerous the message.

The oppression she'd been subjected to since her marriage, the lack of any equal-minded company had led her to the joy of reading. She knew much; gifted with a seductive nature, she could assess anyone's weaknesses, and she was already accumulating the love of the people who would be her way to the throne which was later to surround with so much glamour.

This was the woman who was to rule my destiny; my whole life was dedicated to her, far more literally than by what people usually mean when they make such claims in a similar position. And through an odd circumstance, I, despite being twenty two years of age, could give her something which no one had had before she did.

Firstly, a strict education had kept me from any debauched company; on my travels, my ambition to rise in so-called "good society" had protected me, and despite the many liasons I had started abroad, at home and even in Russia, several accidents of fate had made it possible that I had inadvertendly saved myself for the woman who was to govern my fortune later.

I cannot abstain from the pleasure of describing even the dress she was wearing when I met her that day; a simple dress made of white satin, with pink ribbons and some lace as its only decoration.

From:

mildred_of_midgard

I know you said the French-Polish one from 1862 can't be the real deal, but I recognize this passage from there. Maybe the "hot or not" report got published somewhere else in the interim?

From:

selenak

Well, according to the preface, he wrote the whole thing in several stages, starting in the 1770s till the end of his life. Wouldn't be surprised if he made copies of the first part early on, and someone nicked them before he ended up deposed and in exile...

From:

cahn

In haste (must wrangle kids, more later) but I looked at the 50-page one and it appears to be a "best of" super-abridgement, with ellipses demarcating what look like extreme cutting of material (like, it seems to go to entirely separate subjects, which confused me when I started looking at it!)

(also, thaaaaaank you mildred and sorry I gave you a dud, I should have looked more closely at the french beforehand)

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Yeah, I noticed the jumping around during the cleanup, but what's weird is that

selenak says the preface to the German edition says it wasn't officially available to be super-abridged in 1862. So there must have been an illicit copy floating around of at least excerpts.

(also, thaaaaaank you mildred and sorry I gave you a dud, I should have looked more closely at the french beforehand)

No worries. As librarian, it's my job to check these things out!

Edited Date: 2020-03-05 04:42 pm (UTC)

From:

cahn

LOL, I should have read everything first, hee! I can't keep up with you guys! :)

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Maybe it was a Danish ambassador. ;)

From:

cahn

OMG, this is so great.

And through an odd circumstance, I, despite being twenty two years of age, could give her something which no one had had before she did...

HAHAHAHAHA I mean, your synopsis above does... accurately describe this passage!

I cannot abstain from the pleasure of describing even the dress she was wearing when I met her that day

LOL, Poniatowski :D

From:

selenak

HAHAHAHAHA I mean, your synopsis above does... accurately describe this passage!

When I first read it and arrived at that sentence, I went... does he mean... yup, that's exactly what he means.

BTW, I saw there's a vid about P based on one of the Russian Catherine miniseries, titled Primadonna Girl.