sometimes I get fascinated with numbers and locations, depending on the topic.
There are a lot of numbers and locations in Nicolai's refutation, demonstrating all Zimmermann got wrong, but you'll forgive if I don't transcribe them. After all, no one remembers Zimmermann for his Prussian geography, or lack of same.
That's awesome, though! Because I've always been aware that I have no way to refute the hypothetical argument "But what if they just missed it because they weren't looking?"
But they were looking--that's perfect! :D
Conclusion: reading Voltaire in Frederician Prussia can have really unexpected results! It even encourages detailed genital examination!
chronology reminder: Voltaire's memoirs were published in 1784, Fritz died in 1786, meaning the medical officers have been reading bestsellers when they were published. :D
They did, and it's so telling of just how widely read Voltaire was that basically everyone encountering us in our primarly sources research quest if they were still alive in 1784 has read Voltaire's trashy tell all, no matter whether they're Fritz fans or enemies themselves. (And I'll never not be amused about Lehndorff in 1784 first getting a kick out of Heinrich reading the French original out loud to him, inserted with comments, at Rheinsberg, and then being utterly shocked a few months later when he spots a German translation in a Berlin book shop, for everyone to read.
BTW, Goethe also read it in 1784, and, I was reminded of this recently, wrote in a letter he thought it was entertaining as hell but also read like the kind of satire men write about how women suck if they're about to fall at the ladies' feet and in love all over again before the ink is dry. Methinks young Goethe was better attuned to the Fritz and Voltaire dynamic than many a(nother) Fritz fan.
(Chronology: this was after De La Literature Allemande.)
I see Nicolai and Koser are soul mates in some respects.
To a degree. Let's not forget, Nicolai isn't above a certain fleshing out himself, given that we've yet to discover anyone but Nicolai presenting Glasow as seduced by Völker etc. Then again, Koser, while never inventing new stuff or changing facts, does change the emotional coloring in his renditions. I noticed this most blatantly in his version of Fritz' post-Kolin melt down with Heinrich, which he bases exclusively on Henckel von Donnersmarck's account, only in Koser's biography, the soldiers when Fritz arrives after 36 hours on horseback aren't just struck by that, they're struck by how his eyes, usually always so bright and energetic, now have darkened, which certainly isn't something Henckel noted.
(And of course there's the nearby "Heinrich and Wilhelmine were Fritz' emotional confidants at this point, only Heinrich was coarser than W & F and didn't have their passionate nature but was cold" observation, which if it's based on anything is based on Henckel's admiring description of Heinrich having it together when organizing the Prague retreat and getting Fritz to sign off on his plan.)
But much more likely it's a MacSomething (MacJemand? MacEtwas? How do you say this in German, I must know. :P)
MacSoundso. Though that's not how 18th century guy Nicolai phrases it. He first quotes the relevant passage from Zimmermann's "Fragments" book, which is:
Z speaking: "Mackenzie was filled with an immortal hatred on Friedrich, as can be easily guessed; and as a close relation and dear friend of Lord Bute, he after his return to England infected this otherwise good man with his immortal hatred, too. One knows from Friedrich's "History of the 7 Years War" how Lord Bute treated the hero who had just revived near the end of that war."
Nicolai comments: "There we have an important deduction all the cabinets of Europe missed, and even Friedrich himself in his "Histoire" did not dare to reveal! Alas, the whole thing falls apart. It's not easy but difficult to guess that Mr. Mackenzie should have developed an immortal hatred on Frederick the Great because of such an affair. For it's far easier to believe that he made a good marriage thereafter and didn't think about the matter anymore fifteen years later. Moreover, we aren't enlightened (by Z)how close this Mackenzie - the family name contains multitudes - is related to Lord Bute, and how close their friendship was supposed to be to allow Mackenzie to infect a state minister with his immortal hatred. There's rather a huge plothole here. For Herr v. Z himself says on page 91 "Mackenzie had to separate from his beloved due to the demands of his family", and if Lord Bute did indeed belong to this family, he shouldn't have hated King Friedrich but rather loved him for contributing to the fulfillment of this very demand.
Now, we've come across some fascinating and sometimes obscure cross connections in this fandom - young Andrew Mitchell/Algarotti, Hervey knowing Voltaire, Lady Mary meeting Countess Orzelska in Rome (or for that matter Lady Mary being Lord Bute's mother-in-law - he married her daughter, and she died in his house) - and the world of the European aristocracy was relatively small. It's by no means impossible that Barbarina's ex could have been related to Lord Bute, or at least known to him. But as Zimmermann names no proof he was, and seems to have guessed solely on the basis of the name sounding Scottish and Bute being a Scot. (Bute being a Scot would have been unmissable to anyone living, as Zimmermann did, in Hannover, because it factored in to the massive anti-Scot feeling in the second half of the 18th century (see the anecdote I've told of young Boswell witnessing Highlander soldiers returning from the 7 Years War getting bood in a London theatre with the yells "no Scots! No Scots!") and was mentioned in each and every rant against him.)
It occurs to me that Zimmermann really has a fanfiction-writing mind, going for romantic theories wherever he can, be it Fritz/MT or the English policy near the end of the 7 Years War being dictated by Barbarina's ex. And of course his biggest ship is Fritz/Himself (in a tender, manly, STRAIGHT fashion).
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: Nicolai vs Zimmermann: En garde!
Date: 2021-03-04 07:23 am (UTC)There are a lot of numbers and locations in Nicolai's refutation, demonstrating all Zimmermann got wrong, but you'll forgive if I don't transcribe them. After all, no one remembers Zimmermann for his Prussian geography, or lack of same.
That's awesome, though! Because I've always been aware that I have no way to refute the hypothetical argument "But what if they just missed it because they weren't looking?"
But they were looking--that's perfect! :D
Conclusion: reading Voltaire in Frederician Prussia can have really unexpected results! It even encourages detailed genital examination!
chronology reminder: Voltaire's memoirs were published in 1784, Fritz died in 1786, meaning the medical officers have been reading bestsellers when they were published. :D
They did, and it's so telling of just how widely read Voltaire was that basically everyone encountering us in our primarly sources research quest if they were still alive in 1784 has read Voltaire's trashy tell all, no matter whether they're Fritz fans or enemies themselves. (And I'll never not be amused about Lehndorff in 1784 first getting a kick out of Heinrich reading the French original out loud to him, inserted with comments, at Rheinsberg, and then being utterly shocked a few months later when he spots a German translation in a Berlin book shop, for everyone to read.
BTW, Goethe also read it in 1784, and, I was reminded of this recently, wrote in a letter he thought it was entertaining as hell but also read like the kind of satire men write about how women suck if they're about to fall at the ladies' feet and in love all over again before the ink is dry. Methinks young Goethe was better attuned to the Fritz and Voltaire dynamic than many a(nother) Fritz fan.
(Chronology: this was after De La Literature Allemande.)
I see Nicolai and Koser are soul mates in some respects.
To a degree. Let's not forget, Nicolai isn't above a certain fleshing out himself, given that we've yet to discover anyone but Nicolai presenting Glasow as seduced by Völker etc. Then again, Koser, while never inventing new stuff or changing facts, does change the emotional coloring in his renditions. I noticed this most blatantly in his version of Fritz' post-Kolin melt down with Heinrich, which he bases exclusively on Henckel von Donnersmarck's account, only in Koser's biography, the soldiers when Fritz arrives after 36 hours on horseback aren't just struck by that, they're struck by how his eyes, usually always so bright and energetic, now have darkened, which certainly isn't something Henckel noted.
(And of course there's the nearby "Heinrich and Wilhelmine were Fritz' emotional confidants at this point, only Heinrich was coarser than W & F and didn't have their passionate nature but was cold" observation, which if it's based on anything is based on Henckel's admiring description of Heinrich having it together when organizing the Prague retreat and getting Fritz to sign off on his plan.)
But much more likely it's a MacSomething (MacJemand? MacEtwas? How do you say this in German, I must know. :P)
MacSoundso. Though that's not how 18th century guy Nicolai phrases it. He first quotes the relevant passage from Zimmermann's "Fragments" book, which is:
Z speaking: "Mackenzie was filled with an immortal hatred on Friedrich, as can be easily guessed; and as a close relation and dear friend of Lord Bute, he after his return to England infected this otherwise good man with his immortal hatred, too. One knows from Friedrich's "History of the 7 Years War" how Lord Bute treated the hero who had just revived near the end of that war."
Nicolai comments: "There we have an important deduction all the cabinets of Europe missed, and even Friedrich himself in his "Histoire" did not dare to reveal! Alas, the whole thing falls apart. It's not easy but difficult to guess that Mr. Mackenzie should have developed an immortal hatred on Frederick the Great because of such an affair. For it's far easier to believe that he made a good marriage thereafter and didn't think about the matter anymore fifteen years later. Moreover, we aren't enlightened (by Z)how close this Mackenzie - the family name contains multitudes - is related to Lord Bute, and how close their friendship was supposed to be to allow Mackenzie to infect a state minister with his immortal hatred. There's rather a huge plothole here. For Herr v. Z himself says on page 91 "Mackenzie had to separate from his beloved due to the demands of his family", and if Lord Bute did indeed belong to this family, he shouldn't have hated King Friedrich but rather loved him for contributing to the fulfillment of this very demand.
Now, we've come across some fascinating and sometimes obscure cross connections in this fandom - young Andrew Mitchell/Algarotti, Hervey knowing Voltaire, Lady Mary meeting Countess Orzelska in Rome (or for that matter Lady Mary being Lord Bute's mother-in-law - he married her daughter, and she died in his house) - and the world of the European aristocracy was relatively small. It's by no means impossible that Barbarina's ex could have been related to Lord Bute, or at least known to him. But as Zimmermann names no proof he was, and seems to have guessed solely on the basis of the name sounding Scottish and Bute being a Scot. (Bute being a Scot would have been unmissable to anyone living, as Zimmermann did, in Hannover, because it factored in to the massive anti-Scot feeling in the second half of the 18th century (see the anecdote I've told of young Boswell witnessing Highlander soldiers returning from the 7 Years War getting bood in a London theatre with the yells "no Scots! No Scots!") and was mentioned in each and every rant against him.)
It occurs to me that Zimmermann really has a fanfiction-writing mind, going for romantic theories wherever he can, be it Fritz/MT or the English policy near the end of the 7 Years War being dictated by Barbarina's ex. And of course his biggest ship is Fritz/Himself (in a tender, manly, STRAIGHT fashion).