So! I'm back! I've finished my exams for this year and want to spend my weekends more productively, so I'll be trying to contribute every Sunday from now on. Elsewhere in the week I'll be scarce. Over the past months I've come across many recent or upcoming scholarly works that would be of interest here, so I'll list them off.
Upcoming: Upcoming Andrew Mitchell PHD thesis:
There's been some lamentation recently that not much recent scholarly work is available for this lad. Well, I'm happy to point you in the direction of this English-language 2019 PHD thesis entitled 'Andrew Mitchell, ‘new diplomatic history’, and cultural networks in Britain and Europe'. It will be publicly available from this link from the 15th of February 2021 onwards. It looks to have new research on Mitchell's early life, and focuses on the relationship he forged with Friedrich in his role as a diplomat. Some quick excerpts, but see the whole introduction via the link: "This thesis examines the career of British diplomat Andrew Mitchell (1708-1771) in the context of ‘new diplomatic history’.(...) It is interested in the lives of diplomats outside of signing treaties, attending conferences, and paying court to rulers and kings. Therefore, this thesis utilises Mitchell’s cultural pursuits – defined as his interests in science and literature – to place new emphasis on his political career in London, and his diplomatic mission to Prussia from 1756-1771. The key aim of the thesis is to argue that Mitchell’s diplomatic mission was predominantly carried out as a form of cultural diplomacy, in which Mitchell forged strong links with Prussia’s ruler, Frederick II (the Great) through their shared intellectual and cultural interests.(...) Chapters 2 and 3 provide both new research and evidence on Mitchell’s early life and greater context for the argument that Mitchell carried out cultural diplomacy."
Upcoming PHD thesis focussed on FW as a father:
This German-language PHD thesis which alternatively goes under the titles '"Terrible man" and "Dear Papa": Friedrich Wilhelm as a father' or 'When is a man a man? Drafts of masculinity by Friedrich Wilhelm' has been worked on by Sören Schlueter since at least 2017. It focuses on the relationships between FW and all of his children, and definitely looks to be the most in-depth research done into this topic. Schlueter gave a short lecture back in April 2017 on the relationships FW had with his youngest children and the roles he ascribed to them, which was later adapted into the chapter 'From "nuns" and "cadets". On the father role of Friedrich Wilhelm I' in the 2020 scholarly book Mehr als nur Soldatenkönig. (Sidenote: there's no eBook version of this so I couldn't check out the chapter rip) I have no idea when this PHD will be completed, but it's something to keep on the radar.
Upcoming book based on a PHD thesis on Friedrich and Catherine's relationships with philosophers:
This 2019 PHD thesis by Shi Ru Lim entitled 'Philosophical Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Europe: Frederick II, Catherine II, and the philosophes' looks to "revise existing pictures of the power dynamics between eighteenth-century Europe’s intellectual and political elites". She is currently revising it to publish as a book. "This thesis offers a re-reading of the intellectual and historical significance of the relationships that Frederick the Great of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia maintained with a number of leading French philosophes. It makes four overarching points. Firstly, these long-standing relationships were more than assertions of ‘soft power’ and vehicles by which rulers and philosophers cultivated their celebrity and posthumous glory. They were also sites of intellectual contestation, where all participants engaged seriously with contemporary ideas. Secondly, the philosophes exercised considerable power and enjoyed remarkable success in persuading Frederick and Catherine of the value of their philosophic causes and agendas. Thirdly, their exchanges and their contexts show that these causes and agendas were firmly rooted in the philosophes’ political thinking, and revolved around determining the terms of the relationship between philosophy and government. Fourthly, the most important aspects of Frederick and Catherine’s relationships with the philosophes—the correspondence and other negotiations that undergirded them—all took place in a space between, yet inadequately captured by conventional conceptions of the public and the private."
Prussian Secret State Archives About Lieutenant von der Groeben: I noticed that in Tim Blanning's Fritz biography, he mentions some 'unpublished letters to a Lieutenant von der Groeben(...) [which] indicate that he continued to maintain intimate relations with young officers of his regiment'. In Frank Göse's newly released Friedrich Wilhelm biography he also mentions these letters but gives a few more details: "In any case, letters to a young lieutenant von der Groeben from the mid-1730s contain unambiguous - all the way down to anatomical details - allusions to a homoerotic relationship." He doesn't quote from the letters but gives their exact location in the archives. [GStA PK, BPH, Rep. 47, J, Nr. 371, unpag.] I finally figured out how to search on the online archives and came up with this page. While none of the letters here are 'page 371', all of them are for Hans Heinrich von der Gröben in 1734 and some of the numbers are around 371. I suppose the only way to see number 371 would be to pay 15 euros for it to be digitised and have the image to download, which I would do, but I'm not German and I don't understand the form.
Another interesting part of the archives I found is here. According to the database, BPH, Rep. 47, Nr. 644 is: "Court affairs, personalities, embezzlement of Glazow, news from the king and the army Contains: - Correspondence of Chamberlain Fredersdorf with Chamberlain Leining, Secretary Gentze, Chamberlain Glasow, Chamberlain Anderson as well as with Baron v. Trackenberg, b. from Kameke (widow)
Leining was the successor to Fredersdorf's 'secret chamberlain' position. I know we've spoken about Glasow and the Fredersdorf embezzlement situation a lot, but to be honest, I can't remember what the different stories were. I'm not sure if you all have looked through this overview published in 2018 using information from the archives in the Fritz box bill project here, but if you haven't, that looks to be the most reliable source. It says that Glasow copied Fredersdorf's wax seal and used it mark invoices...? My German isn't good enough to understand, haha.
There are more current books and papers that I need to link to, but I'll leave it here for now since I need to do some work. Part 2 will be on Sunday probably!
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New and Upcoming Sources Pt. 1
Date: 2020-10-26 05:47 pm (UTC)Upcoming:
Upcoming Andrew Mitchell PHD thesis:
There's been some lamentation recently that not much recent scholarly work is available for this lad. Well, I'm happy to point you in the direction of this English-language 2019 PHD thesis entitled 'Andrew Mitchell, ‘new diplomatic history’, and cultural networks in Britain and Europe'. It will be publicly available from this link from the 15th of February 2021 onwards. It looks to have new research on Mitchell's early life, and focuses on the relationship he forged with Friedrich in his role as a diplomat. Some quick excerpts, but see the whole introduction via the link:
"This thesis examines the career of British diplomat Andrew Mitchell (1708-1771) in the context of ‘new diplomatic history’.(...) It is interested in the lives of diplomats outside of signing treaties, attending conferences, and paying court to rulers and kings. Therefore, this thesis utilises Mitchell’s cultural pursuits – defined as his interests in science and literature – to place new emphasis on his political career in London, and his diplomatic mission to Prussia from 1756-1771. The key aim of the thesis is to argue that Mitchell’s diplomatic mission was predominantly carried out as a form of cultural diplomacy, in which Mitchell forged strong links with Prussia’s ruler, Frederick II (the Great) through their shared intellectual and cultural interests.(...) Chapters 2 and 3 provide both new research and evidence on Mitchell’s early life and greater context for the argument that Mitchell carried out cultural diplomacy."
Upcoming PHD thesis focussed on FW as a father:
This German-language PHD thesis which alternatively goes under the titles '"Terrible man" and "Dear Papa": Friedrich Wilhelm as a father' or 'When is a man a man? Drafts of masculinity by Friedrich Wilhelm' has been worked on by Sören Schlueter since at least 2017. It focuses on the relationships between FW and all of his children, and definitely looks to be the most in-depth research done into this topic. Schlueter gave a short lecture back in April 2017 on the relationships FW had with his youngest children and the roles he ascribed to them, which was later adapted into the chapter 'From "nuns" and "cadets". On the father role of Friedrich Wilhelm I' in the 2020 scholarly book Mehr als nur Soldatenkönig. (Sidenote: there's no eBook version of this so I couldn't check out the chapter rip) I have no idea when this PHD will be completed, but it's something to keep on the radar.
Upcoming book about FW:
Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger, who released the recent and extremely long German-language biography of Maria Theresa in 2017, has since been working on a book about FW titled Cruelty, Discipline and Despair: Friedrich Wilhelm I and the Prussian Myth. It focuses on how FW was perceived by his contemporaries and how perception of his rule and behaviour changed in the subsequent centuries as the darker aspects of his character were played down. The author very recently (three weeks ago) made a 5 minute English-language video talking about her book. I assume it will come out in 2021.
Upcoming book based on a PHD thesis on Friedrich and Catherine's relationships with philosophers:
This 2019 PHD thesis by Shi Ru Lim entitled 'Philosophical Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Europe: Frederick II, Catherine II, and the philosophes' looks to "revise existing pictures of the power dynamics between eighteenth-century Europe’s intellectual and political elites". She is currently revising it to publish as a book.
"This thesis offers a re-reading of the intellectual and historical significance of the relationships that Frederick the Great of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia maintained with a number of leading French philosophes. It makes four overarching points. Firstly, these long-standing relationships were more than assertions of ‘soft power’ and vehicles by which rulers and philosophers cultivated their celebrity and posthumous glory. They were also sites of intellectual contestation, where all participants engaged seriously with contemporary ideas. Secondly, the philosophes exercised considerable power and enjoyed remarkable success in persuading Frederick and Catherine of the value of their philosophic causes and agendas. Thirdly, their exchanges and their contexts show that these causes and agendas were firmly rooted in the philosophes’ political thinking, and revolved around determining the terms of the relationship between philosophy and government. Fourthly, the most important aspects of Frederick and Catherine’s relationships with the philosophes—the correspondence and other negotiations that undergirded them—all took place in a space between, yet inadequately captured by conventional conceptions of the public and the private."
This looks like it will be a nice companion to Avi Lifschitz's first modern English edition of Friedrich's philosophical writings available this December.
Current or past sources:
Prussian Secret State Archives
About Lieutenant von der Groeben:
I noticed that in Tim Blanning's Fritz biography, he mentions some 'unpublished letters to a Lieutenant von der Groeben(...) [which] indicate that he continued to maintain intimate relations with young officers of his regiment'. In Frank Göse's newly released Friedrich Wilhelm biography he also mentions these letters but gives a few more details: "In any case, letters to a young lieutenant von der Groeben from the mid-1730s contain unambiguous - all the way down to anatomical details - allusions to a homoerotic relationship." He doesn't quote from the letters but gives their exact location in the archives. [GStA PK, BPH, Rep. 47, J, Nr. 371, unpag.] I finally figured out how to search on the online archives and came up with this page. While none of the letters here are 'page 371', all of them are for Hans Heinrich von der Gröben in 1734 and some of the numbers are around 371. I suppose the only way to see number 371 would be to pay 15 euros for it to be digitised and have the image to download, which I would do, but I'm not German and I don't understand the form.
Another interesting part of the archives I found is here. According to the database, BPH, Rep. 47, Nr. 644 is:
"Court affairs, personalities, embezzlement of Glazow, news from the king and the army
Contains:
- Correspondence of Chamberlain Fredersdorf with Chamberlain Leining, Secretary Gentze, Chamberlain Glasow, Chamberlain Anderson as well as with Baron v. Trackenberg, b. from Kameke (widow)
Leining was the successor to Fredersdorf's 'secret chamberlain' position. I know we've spoken about Glasow and the Fredersdorf embezzlement situation a lot, but to be honest, I can't remember what the different stories were. I'm not sure if you all have looked through this overview published in 2018 using information from the archives in the Fritz box bill project here, but if you haven't, that looks to be the most reliable source. It says that Glasow copied Fredersdorf's wax seal and used it mark invoices...? My German isn't good enough to understand, haha.
There are more current books and papers that I need to link to, but I'll leave it here for now since I need to do some work. Part 2 will be on Sunday probably!