Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 19

[cahn]

Yuletide nominations:

18th Century CE Federician RPF
Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria
Voltaire
Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Ernst Ahasverus von Lehndorff
Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758)
Anna Amalie von Preußen | Anna Amalia of Prussia (1723-1787)
Catherine II of Russia
Hans Hermann von Katte
Peter Karl Christoph von Keith
Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf
August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758)

Circle of Voltaire RPF
Emilie du Chatelet
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (Madame de Pompadour)
John Hervey (1696-1743)
Marie Louise Mignot Denis
Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu
Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu (1696-1788)
Francesco Algarotti

Comments

Re: All About Algarotti

[selenak]

Of course, I have no idea whether Preuss is correct, but it is at least worth taking into consideration

Yes, but if that salutation/end of letter is a direct Henri IV/IVoltaire quote, I‘m going with Fritz styling himself as the hero of the Henriad as an in joke that‘s not entirely meant as a joke by him.

„Tabloid meets soap opera“ sounds about right. A certain friend of mine, reading the Fritz letters to Heinrich re: Marwitz for the first time: „That‘s why too over the top purple prose. I don’t buy it. Who writes like that? Are you sure these weren‘t forged?“

Re: All About Algarotti

[cahn]

I mean... "tabloid meets soap opera" was how you guys got me into this fandom :P :D

Who writes like that?

Heh, it's true! The Marwitz letters in particular really are way over-the-top.

Though on the other hand, anyone asking whether Voltaire's over-the-top comments about Fritz had been forged would have been right, so there's that... On the other hand, they were forged by Voltaire himself! I am continually delighted by how this fandom is totally WTF :)

Re: All About Algarotti

[selenak]

The 18th Century: When "over the top" was just normal and understatement had not been invented yet. :)

Seriously though: if you put, say, the Marwitz letters side by side with Lady Mary's love letters to Algarotti, Lord Hervey's fumings about Fritz of Wales and just about any letter from Voltaire to Fritz and vice versa, the over the topness becomes just a matter of perspective.

I'm still standing on my explanation as to why 19th and early 20th historians left them out of the Fritz correspondance, though. :)

Re: All About Algarotti

[mildred_of_midgard]

side by side with Lady Mary's love letters to Algarotti

Or Hervey's letter to LM *about* Algarotti! That was pretty over the top.