That’s actually a pretty good description of Fritzian letters, especially from the Crown Prince phase. And I do love the phrase “reciprocal incense”
Yeah, I too loved that phrase and almost added an "see also: early correspondence with Voltaire" comment as well. Manteuffel really is quite spot-on in some things and I think his downfall comes because - contrary to what he pretends to Fritz - he does have an agenda and he does flatter himself and his manipulative capabilities a bit too much, and therefore doesn't take everything into account. On the one hand he hypes Fritz up, but on the other he underestimates him. For a change, history works rather well in the storytelling department when the cooling of their relationship is partly caused and exemplified by the "here am I, Manteuffel, the Crown Prince's favoured correspondent and mentor" painting, which seems to have pissed off FW and Fritz both.
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cahn
Re: Reports from the Dresden State Archive - Fritz and Manteuffel
Date: 2022-01-11 12:25 pm (UTC)Yeah, I too loved that phrase and almost added an "see also: early correspondence with Voltaire" comment as well. Manteuffel really is quite spot-on in some things and I think his downfall comes because - contrary to what he pretends to Fritz - he does have an agenda and he does flatter himself and his manipulative capabilities a bit too much, and therefore doesn't take everything into account. On the one hand he hypes Fritz up, but on the other he underestimates him. For a change, history works rather well in the storytelling department when the cooling of their relationship is partly caused and exemplified by the "here am I, Manteuffel, the Crown Prince's favoured correspondent and mentor" painting, which seems to have pissed off FW and Fritz both.