selenak: (Voltaire)
selenak ([personal profile] selenak) wrote in [personal profile] cahn 2021-03-07 09:57 am (UTC)

Who told Voltaire?

Ha. I can definitely see that. Given that they spent some time together at the very least when Heinrich played Catilina to Voltaire's Cicero in the production of Voltaire's play, there was certainly occasion. It would also provide another reason why Heinrich refused to sell his Voltaire letters to Melchior Grimm when the later bought all Voltaire material he could get his hands on for Catherine, and why those letters didn't survive. Clearly, Voltaire had mentioned Heinrich as the source for the impotence tale. (Hey, maybe Heinrich even told him he had it from Marwitz!)

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