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cahnLast post, we had (among other things) Danish kings and their favorites; Louis XIV and Philippe d'Orléans; reviews of a very shippy book about Katte, a bad Jacobite novel, and a great book about clothing; a fic about Émilie du Châtelet and Voltaire; and a review of a set of entertaining Youtube history videos about Frederick the Great.
Re: Snark and other miscellanea
Date: 2023-03-22 01:44 pm (UTC)"The Thinking Man's Thug" is an awesome decription. Not sure about the artichoke quote, though, that one sounds apocryphal. Don't we have the political testaments in the libraries anyway to check?
Pamela: Well, with it and "Clarissa", Richardson pretty much invented the trope of the (noble) Rake having unsavoury designs on the (bourgois) virgin and ending up being reformed by her virtue and the true love in his heart which was endlessly copied and expanded upon in novels through the centuries. One of the many things to crack me up re: Voltaire using that name for his little project is that he implicitly casts himself as the bourgois virgin there. At least in the case of Alcina, he's the knight and Fritz is the sorceress. :) (Meanwhile, Fritz, as you pointed out back in the day when I reviewed their correspondence, casts himself as Dido and Voltaire as Aeneas.)
On a less amusing note, expecting that trope to work in rl certainly was terrible advice....
Artichokes and other quotes
Date: 2023-03-25 01:49 am (UTC)Only abridged ones. I had to track down the unabridged version published by Volz. And voila, in the 1752 testament:
I do not believe that the way of arms is the best way to add this province to the kingdom, and I would be tempted to tell you what Victor Amadeus, King of Sardinia, repeated to Charles Emanuel: "My son, we must eat the Milanese like an artichoke: leaf by leaf." Poland is an elective kingdom; at the death of its kings it is constantly disturbed by factions. This is what it is necessary to take advantage of and gain, by its neutrality, sometimes a city, sometimes another district, until everything is eaten up.
Of *course* he's quoting Victor Amadeus! (Norman Davies told me this just now, and I was compelled to go look it up.) Haha, he also includes it in "Histoire de mon temps." Not in regards to Poland, just as a Victor Amadeus quote.
Other quotes from Norman Davies that may be apocryphal (he naturally includes "she cried and she took," but he also got the artichoke one correct!):
The wags of the Enlightenment sharpened their wits on Poland's misfortunes. Frederick II of Prussia, a Protestant prince and one of the principal meddlers, boasted that he 'partook eucharistically of Poland's body.' Voltaire uttered his famous wisecrack: 'One Pole--a charmer, two Poles--a brawl; three Poles--ah, that's the Polish Question.'
No citation. I know I've seen the Voltaire one before, but I've also seen "She cried and she took"!
Another Augustus III description: according to Davies, he's "been compared to a pudding: soft, sweet, and inert."
I mean, it's hard to argue with that. Every time I've encountered him, he's been pretty chill!
Suhm: Can I leave Saxon service and go be with my royal love?
Augustus: Sure.
Lynar: I know you *just* lost your last ambassador to St. Petersburg less than a year ago, but can I leave Saxon service too and go be with my royal love (Anna Leopoldovna)?
Augustus: The turnover on this job sure is high. Yeah, why not.
Algarotti: I know you're my boss and I'm supposed to ask your permission to go be with my royal love, but Fritz wants me back, so just FYI, I'm asking forgiveness instead. *waves from Prussia*
Augustus: I forgive you. Congrats. *waves back*
Meanwhile, Fritz: If I don't get to escape, no one gets to!
- Confiscates the Venetian ambassador's luggage because Barbarina has a contract with him, and by gum, she's going to keep it.
- Tells the envoy to Denmark, "You want to take the waters? At your age? People have been imprisoned for less!"
- Makes Lehndorff cry.
- Et cetera.
So yeah. Augustus is a pudding in comparison, and possibly your dream boss.
Re: Artichokes and other quotes
Date: 2023-03-25 03:16 pm (UTC)All hail to the Royal Detective. Victor Amadeus fanboying it was!
Augustus is a pudding in comparison, and possibly your dream boss
Brühl: I can confirm that, or at least the pop culture image of me can, since Selena hasn't read a biography yet.
Re: Artichokes and other quotes
Date: 2023-03-25 10:26 pm (UTC)Things like this are why I really need to get my French reading speed up! There's so much we still haven't read.
Instead, I can now read 2 Danish fairy tales per day, barring a particularly bad day, with increasingly little reference to the translation.
Brühl: I can confirm that, or at least the pop culture image of me can, since Selena hasn't read a biography yet.
Haha. I'll be curious if the "Medici, Richelieu, and Rothschild" image of him has anything to offer salon, or if it's too enamored of its subject to have redeeming value.
Re: Snark and other miscellanea
Date: 2023-03-25 01:54 am (UTC)Yes, I'm super looking forward to the Hanseatic League, which is a real gap in my knowledge base! And given how busy I am (learning Danish and French and working with Prinzsorgenfrei on archival material) this year, I'm okay with putting off the 14th century until next year.
(Meanwhile, Fritz, as you pointed out back in the day when I reviewed their correspondence, casts himself as Dido and Voltaire as Aeneas.)
Oh, lol, that's right! Thank you for the reminder.
These two. :D
Re: Snark and other miscellanea
Date: 2023-04-11 05:32 am (UTC)