Huh! I guess I can imagine someone who is naturally introverted taking the advice to its natural limit and isolating himself... maybe? Thanks for the informed guesses!
So what's interesting is that I *think* this is the same uncle who actually didn't like him. Now, they hadn't had their run-in in Paris yet, but the guy did say he'd *never* liked this nephew, ever since his first impression of him. That doesn't mean he can't correspond with him, of course, but the letter generally reads like he's practically begging Keith to write to him as often as he can. It doesn't read like a formulaic politeness, it reads like a plea: "Nobody in the family ever writes to me! I have no news! Everybody is too busy for me. Please make time to write to me!"
I thiiink he's living/staying in Paris, and dependent on letters for news from back home.
Well, maybe he had a bad first impression but was willing to give him a chance, but then Karl blew it with the (alleged--maybe Karl's side of the story is different) letter-reading a couple years later.
Of course, it's also possible they haven't properly met as adults yet; that this guy moved to Paris before Karl became an adult, and Karl's trip to France was the first real impression this particular uncle got of him.
I need to work out the chronology of these people better, including some handwriting comparison to see who's who. My kingdom for more hours in the day!
Ah, interesting! I just found Hertzberg, back in 1764, saying that young Karl hardly ever leaves his house or his aunts'. There's more on his career ambitions, but I'll have to mark this letter to come back to finish transcribing.
Sadly, brother Friedrich is dying. In May, Hertzberg wrote that he was spitting blood, so much that his life was in danger. Now it's June and he's no longer coughing blood, but suffering from so much languor that Hertzberg doesn't think he'll recover (he's correct, the boy has 5 more months to live).
Hertzberg says much the same thing as when he eulogizes Friedrich, but with more compare and contrast with the older brother:
It is a pity, because he is a young man, who had a very handsome face, a lot of spirit and of achivements. The elder has less vivacity, but he is very well accomplished in his studies, and is of an almost excessive sagesse, not going far from home or from his aunts'.
Now, I originally translated "sagesse" as "studiousness", but a little digging shows it can mean "good behavior", "quietness", or "modesty", so I'm now thinking it goes with "never leaves home" more than "accomplished in his studies." Of course, as I am living proof, these two things go together! So it's probably along the lines of "quiet, studious homebody, not the life of the party like his brother."
Incidentally, I think I can narrow down when Friedrich got sick: Hertzberg's last letter before he mentions Friedrich being sick dates to January, and in May, he says the last letter he received from his correspondent (I think Oriane's youngest brother, the modest-lifestyle non-diplomat one) was February 29th. So I think Friedrich fell sick sometime between January and May of 1764, and then he died in November 1764.
More details on the development of Karl's thoughts on what he wanted to do with his career when I have time!
(Also, I think Oriane is able to rent out rooms in the Jägerhof, contrary to what we thought back in early salon, but I could be wrong. I sight-read and didn't transcribe and translate the whole thing. So much to read, so little time!)
(Also, I think Oriane is able to rent out rooms in the Jägerhof, contrary to what we thought back in early salon, but I could be wrong. I sight-read and didn't transcribe and translate the whole thing. So much to read, so little time!)
Yes! She has been renting out the first floor to Hertzberg, for 500 units of currency (I hate abbreviations :P). According the address books, he moved there sometime between 1758 and 1760 (I don't see where he's living in 1759).
Also, Fritz only gave Oriane 2 weeks' notice to move out of the Jägerhof so he could found his bank.
This is good, because it's relevant to the stuff I put in about why Oriane and sons moved to the Jägerhof, her financial situation after Peter's death, etc. I *thought* she was renting space in it, I just couldn't prove it!
Oh, now Hertzberg is complaining that he, Madame de Keith, and...20 disabled hunters? are being thrown out to make way for some little banker merchants. (The class snobbery is rising off the page.)
He's in luck, he can rent a floor from the house of something for 600 (I think it's Reichstalers), and Madame de Keith is still without (tear and hole in the page).
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Peter's sons
Date: 2025-01-20 05:25 am (UTC)Re: Peter's sons
Date: 2025-01-20 05:16 pm (UTC)I thiiink he's living/staying in Paris, and dependent on letters for news from back home.
Well, maybe he had a bad first impression but was willing to give him a chance, but then Karl blew it with the (alleged--maybe Karl's side of the story is different) letter-reading a couple years later.
Of course, it's also possible they haven't properly met as adults yet; that this guy moved to Paris before Karl became an adult, and Karl's trip to France was the first real impression this particular uncle got of him.
I need to work out the chronology of these people better, including some handwriting comparison to see who's who. My kingdom for more hours in the day!
Re: Peter's sons
Date: 2025-01-21 01:08 pm (UTC)Sadly, brother Friedrich is dying. In May, Hertzberg wrote that he was spitting blood, so much that his life was in danger. Now it's June and he's no longer coughing blood, but suffering from so much languor that Hertzberg doesn't think he'll recover (he's correct, the boy has 5 more months to live).
Hertzberg says much the same thing as when he eulogizes Friedrich, but with more compare and contrast with the older brother:
It is a pity, because he is a young man, who had a very handsome face, a lot of spirit and of achivements. The elder has less vivacity, but he is very well accomplished in his studies, and is of an almost excessive sagesse, not going far from home or from his aunts'.
Now, I originally translated "sagesse" as "studiousness", but a little digging shows it can mean "good behavior", "quietness", or "modesty", so I'm now thinking it goes with "never leaves home" more than "accomplished in his studies." Of course, as I am living proof, these two things go together! So it's probably along the lines of "quiet, studious homebody, not the life of the party like his brother."
Incidentally, I think I can narrow down when Friedrich got sick: Hertzberg's last letter before he mentions Friedrich being sick dates to January, and in May, he says the last letter he received from his correspondent (I think Oriane's youngest brother, the modest-lifestyle non-diplomat one) was February 29th. So I think Friedrich fell sick sometime between January and May of 1764, and then he died in November 1764.
More details on the development of Karl's thoughts on what he wanted to do with his career when I have time!
(Also, I think Oriane is able to rent out rooms in the Jägerhof, contrary to what we thought back in early salon, but I could be wrong. I sight-read and didn't transcribe and translate the whole thing. So much to read, so little time!)
Re: Peter's sons
Date: 2025-01-22 12:23 pm (UTC)Yes! She has been renting out the first floor to Hertzberg, for 500 units of currency (I hate abbreviations :P). According the address books, he moved there sometime between 1758 and 1760 (I don't see where he's living in 1759).
Also, Fritz only gave Oriane 2 weeks' notice to move out of the Jägerhof so he could found his bank.
This is good, because it's relevant to the stuff I put in about why Oriane and sons moved to the Jägerhof, her financial situation after Peter's death, etc. I *thought* she was renting space in it, I just couldn't prove it!
Re: Peter's sons
Date: 2025-01-22 12:33 pm (UTC)He's in luck, he can rent a floor from the house of something for 600 (I think it's Reichstalers), and Madame de Keith is still without (tear and hole in the page).