Still going! Still clearing Fritz's valet/chamberlain Fredersdorf's name from the calumny enshrined in wikipedia that he was dismissed for financial irregularities!
Yeah, I saw the Peter news (ETA: well, the initial find, not the permission granted, that was new to me)! It's one of those cases where a casual comment like "who knows what's buried in some archive somewhere" suddenly becomes very real and surprising. The idea that there might be letters from Fritz to Peter in there, let alone, maybe, possibly, the missing memoirs? Kind of amazing. (Not quite sure why anything James Keith would end up there, though. Might just be wrong, just like the Akademiedirektor is wrong, unless the family connection was closer than we assumed (which you might be able to answer soon) - but even then, he died after Peter and, more importantly, had a living brother.)
... okay, so I actually had a look at the archive just now, just in case, and are you sure it's impossible to order digital copies? Is it because of the special permission by the Knyphausens? Because they do have basically the same form as the Prussians, even including a line about ordering and paying in advance from abroad. (If you already knew this and it's indeed down to the particular Knyphausen circumstances/permission, sorry about that.)
(Not quite sure why anything James Keith would end up there, though.
I have been wondering the exact same thing!
It's one of those cases where a casual comment like "who knows what's buried in some archive somewhere" suddenly becomes very real and surprising.
I know, I've been saying that for years, and thinking about contacting the Academy of Sciences to see if maybe *they* have a copy of the memoirs (since we know Formey got his hands on a copy), and I can't believe one weekend I was trying to track down some random citation and I accidentally hit a 19th century book that said, "there's a letter from Fritz to Peter in the Knyphausen family collection." I can't believe I missed it for so long and found it only by accident!
... okay, so I actually had a look at the archive just now, just in case, and are you sure it's impossible to order digital copies? Is it because of the special permission by the Knyphausens? Because they do have basically the same form as the Prussians, even including a line about ordering and paying in advance from abroad. (If you already knew this and it's indeed down to the particular Knyphausen circumstances/permission, sorry about that.)
Okay, the *impression* Prinzsorgenfrei and I had was that you could only do that for non-restricted material, and that the private collections were reading-room access only, but no, I'm not 100% sure, and given the logistical difficulties, it doesn't hurt to *ask*. Thank you for nudging me to ask! Fingers massively crossed.
Actually, you know, if you had time and wanted to do me a favor, you could check and see if the Saxon archive and Brandenburg archive have handy overseas order forms and email addresses to send them to. That might result in lots more neat material for salon! Since I have wishlists and all.
If not, no worries, I'll get around to it eventually, when I'm not transcribing.
Ha, the Brandenburg archive says here that you can order digital copies online, but the form they link to doesn't even have the option "send by email" or "download". Quick inquiry told me that you'd have to ask per email if email delivery is possible in a particular case, mostly depending on file size. (I wouldn't hold my breath re: English either. :P) The Saxons are definitely more up to date and even include a line in English here. Email for both of them is just the main 'poststelle' one as far as I can tell, no special contact.
Also, reading the third Gentze letter, I'd say that "ünd J[ä][g][unge?]hab[e][l|t]" is supposed to be "und Jäger gehabet", and "zu seine(r) Zeit" makes perfect sense, it means something like "in due course" or "in good time" or "at the proper time". (Responding here in case you want to edit.)
The update from today on the Peter Keith papers in the archive is that they will make reproductions, but only if I get special permission from the Knyphausens, and the permission I was granted was only for inspecting the materials in the reading room. This means I will be writing to the Knyphausens again. Fingers nervously crossed!
Thank you for your part in prompting me to ask, instead of just accepting the verbiage that talked about "viewing" and "reading room" and assuming that was the final answer. (It may be the final answer, but there's a chance!)
Quick inquiry told me that you'd have to ask per email if email delivery is possible in a particular case, mostly depending on file size.
Good lord, normal archives use file transfer systems! Well, there's not a ton I want from here anyway (yet), so that's fine. (Mostly Kiekemal-related stuff for clearing Fredersdorf's name and, uh, dirtying Pfeiffer's. :P)
(I wouldn't hold my breath re: English either. :P)
Hahaha, I got a weird email from the Prussians today, in German, telling me that I could receive my two already completed orders only if I paid the invoices. Which...I paid them and received the orders already, so this came out of the blue.
The Lower Saxon archive, in contrast, responded to me in English about the Knyphausen reproductions.
I'd say that "ünd J[ä][g][unge?]hab[e][l|t]" is supposed to be "und Jäger gehabet"
Thank you! If I thought it had looked like "Jäger", I would have put that, since that would have made excellent sense to me and I probably wouldn't have even bracketed it, but it has 4 strokes, and "er" should have at most 3. HOWEVER, since "e", "r", "u", and "n" are all woefully alike, and this isn't his best handwriting, I'm willing to pretend it says that. I will bracket it, however.
"zu seine(r) Zeit" makes perfect sense, it means something like "in due course" or "in good time" or "at the proper time".
Good to know, I wasn't familiar with that expression! Again, I would have written that if the squiggles had been a closer match, but again, ALL THESE CHARACTERS ARE THE SAME, so we'll just pretend.
BTW, the thing I really want from the Saxon archives is volumes and volumes of Suhm, but before it makes sense for me to place that kind of a a giant order, I need to speed up my French. That is on my list for after this round of decipherment and Danish, since I can apparently only study two things at a time. Speeding up my German is also on my list for the near future, and then hopefully I will have more archive prowess and be able to report many awesome findings to salon!
In the worst case, hopefully next year the pandemic will have calmed down enough that I'm willing to travel, and if I can read French and German more quickly, I will go to Aurich myself if I have to!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: Archive materials
... okay, so I actually had a look at the archive just now, just in case, and are you sure it's impossible to order digital copies? Is it because of the special permission by the Knyphausens? Because they do have basically the same form as the Prussians, even including a line about ordering and paying in advance from abroad. (If you already knew this and it's indeed down to the particular Knyphausen circumstances/permission, sorry about that.)
Re: Archive materials
I have been wondering the exact same thing!
It's one of those cases where a casual comment like "who knows what's buried in some archive somewhere" suddenly becomes very real and surprising.
I know, I've been saying that for years, and thinking about contacting the Academy of Sciences to see if maybe *they* have a copy of the memoirs (since we know Formey got his hands on a copy), and I can't believe one weekend I was trying to track down some random citation and I accidentally hit a 19th century book that said, "there's a letter from Fritz to Peter in the Knyphausen family collection." I can't believe I missed it for so long and found it only by accident!
... okay, so I actually had a look at the archive just now, just in case, and are you sure it's impossible to order digital copies? Is it because of the special permission by the Knyphausens? Because they do have basically the same form as the Prussians, even including a line about ordering and paying in advance from abroad. (If you already knew this and it's indeed down to the particular Knyphausen circumstances/permission, sorry about that.)
Okay, the *impression* Prinzsorgenfrei and I had was that you could only do that for non-restricted material, and that the private collections were reading-room access only, but no, I'm not 100% sure, and given the logistical difficulties, it doesn't hurt to *ask*. Thank you for nudging me to ask! Fingers massively crossed.
Re: Archive materials
If not, no worries, I'll get around to it eventually, when I'm not transcribing.
Re: Archive materials
Also, reading the third Gentze letter, I'd say that "ünd J[ä][g][unge?]hab[e][l|t]" is supposed to be "und Jäger gehabet", and "zu seine(r) Zeit" makes perfect sense, it means something like "in due course" or "in good time" or "at the proper time". (Responding here in case you want to edit.)
Re: Archive materials
The update from today on the Peter Keith papers in the archive is that they will make reproductions, but only if I get special permission from the Knyphausens, and the permission I was granted was only for inspecting the materials in the reading room. This means I will be writing to the Knyphausens again. Fingers nervously crossed!
Thank you for your part in prompting me to ask, instead of just accepting the verbiage that talked about "viewing" and "reading room" and assuming that was the final answer. (It may be the final answer, but there's a chance!)
Quick inquiry told me that you'd have to ask per email if email delivery is possible in a particular case, mostly depending on file size.
Good lord, normal archives use file transfer systems! Well, there's not a ton I want from here anyway (yet), so that's fine. (Mostly Kiekemal-related stuff for clearing Fredersdorf's name and, uh, dirtying Pfeiffer's. :P)
(I wouldn't hold my breath re: English either. :P)
Hahaha, I got a weird email from the Prussians today, in German, telling me that I could receive my two already completed orders only if I paid the invoices. Which...I paid them and received the orders already, so this came out of the blue.
The Lower Saxon archive, in contrast, responded to me in English about the Knyphausen reproductions.
I'd say that "ünd J[ä][g][unge?]hab[e][l|t]" is supposed to be "und Jäger gehabet"
Thank you! If I thought it had looked like "Jäger", I would have put that, since that would have made excellent sense to me and I probably wouldn't have even bracketed it, but it has 4 strokes, and "er" should have at most 3. HOWEVER, since "e", "r", "u", and "n" are all woefully alike, and this isn't his best handwriting, I'm willing to pretend it says that. I will bracket it, however.
"zu seine(r) Zeit" makes perfect sense, it means something like "in due course" or "in good time" or "at the proper time".
Good to know, I wasn't familiar with that expression! Again, I would have written that if the squiggles had been a closer match, but again, ALL THESE CHARACTERS ARE THE SAME, so we'll just pretend.
I will update, thanks!
Re: Archive materials
In the worst case, hopefully next year the pandemic will have calmed down enough that I'm willing to travel, and if I can read French and German more quickly, I will go to Aurich myself if I have to!