Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 44

[cahn]

Not only are these posts still going, there is now (more) original research going on in them deciphering and translating letters in archives that apparently no one has bothered to look at before?? (Which has now conclusively exonerated Fritz's valet/chamberlain Fredersdorf from the charge that he was dismissed because of financial irregularities and died shortly thereafter "ashamed of his lost honor," as Wikipedia would have it. I'M JUST SAYING.)

Comments

Re: Archive updates

[mildred_of_midgard]

Oh, fun. When Ariane's mother died, one of her Knyphausen uncles in Groningen wrote her a condolence letter in Dutch. And yes, this means I can eyeball (I did not transcribe anything!) a letter in handwritten 18th century Dutch well enough to tell it's a condolence letter to Ariane on her mother's death. Which is not a thing I could do before salon!