I have discovered through some googling that Mitchell, Hanbury Williams, and Villiers were among the earliest (founding?) members of the Society of Dilettanti, the club that was founded in in 1730s by a group of young English gentleman who had met on the Grand Tour, whose purpose was to further the study of Greek and Roman art and archaeology, and the one of which Walpole said, "The nominal qualification for membership is having been in Italy, and the real one, being drunk." (I actually recognized that quote from The Club!)
Not having been to Italy, Peter can't have joined, but given that he spent the years 1734-1736 (my best estimate, based on his eulogy) in London, hanging out with intellectuals, it's not unlikely he joined some sort of club.
Villiers also makes appearances in that book on Andrew Mitchell and Anglo-Prussian diplomatic relations that you were going to try to track down.
So at a guess, Peter would have been perceived by contrast by Villiers (and possibly Mitchell) as someone who wasn't just England-friendly but actually familiar with enough with the place to send reliable reports home to Prussia instead of talking rubbish and flattery a la Lentulus.
Yep, this sounds very plausible.
Is there any historian attempting to describe and keep pace with his wonderful atchievements?
:D
Yes, but some of them will be more reliable than others.
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Re: Peter Keith - Villiers
Date: 2020-10-06 12:24 am (UTC)I have discovered through some googling that Mitchell, Hanbury Williams, and Villiers were among the earliest (founding?) members of the Society of Dilettanti, the club that was founded in in 1730s by a group of young English gentleman who had met on the Grand Tour, whose purpose was to further the study of Greek and Roman art and archaeology, and the one of which Walpole said, "The nominal qualification for membership is having been in Italy, and the real one, being drunk." (I actually recognized that quote from The Club!)
Not having been to Italy, Peter can't have joined, but given that he spent the years 1734-1736 (my best estimate, based on his eulogy) in London, hanging out with intellectuals, it's not unlikely he joined some sort of club.
Villiers also makes appearances in that book on Andrew Mitchell and Anglo-Prussian diplomatic relations that you were going to try to track down.
So at a guess, Peter would have been perceived by contrast by Villiers (and possibly Mitchell) as someone who wasn't just England-friendly but actually familiar with enough with the place to send reliable reports home to Prussia instead of talking rubbish and flattery a la Lentulus.
Yep, this sounds very plausible.
Is there any historian attempting to describe and keep pace with his wonderful atchievements?
:D
Yes, but some of them will be more reliable than others.