The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume II

Karl Ludwig Freiherr von PöllnitzProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0
Word count
903K words
Chapters
91

Tags

English Originals General Biography Portrait GalleryComplex HumanityBaroque CourtSocial ObservationEuropean Travelogue

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume II by PöllnitzAuthor: Pöllnitz, Karl Ludwig, Freiherr von, 1692-1775,Language: English, Class: D: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere, Release Date: Jan 5, 2012

Editor's review

This is Volume II of the memoirs of Baron Charles-Lewis de Pöllnitz, an English translation in the public domain from Project Gutenberg. Its value lies in a first-hand account of eighteenth-century European courts and high society, written in the intimate, anecdotal tone characteristic of memoirs; it suits readers interested in modern European court life, diplomatic circles, and aristocratic sociability who are happy to read in fragments. Its strength is that the narrative usually begins with personal encounters, letting readers sense the texture of interpersonal networks and court etiquette rather than broad historical argument. Read it as a source text: either read several chapters in sequence to form an impression, or dip in and out by person or place. Bear in mind that memoirs carry the author's biases and selective memory, so specific judgments about people should be checked against other sources; the English translation's style is markedly eighteenth-century, with many long sentences, and new readers may need time to adjust.

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the autobiographical opening of this volume to grasp the starting point and personal relationships before moving into specific chapters.
  2. Prepare an index or sticky notes for people and places, recording as you read to reduce confusion caused by old transliterations.
  3. When you encounter praise or criticism of individuals, mark it for later comparison with contemporary letters or historical works.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
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  11. 11
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  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
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  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
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  90. 90
  91. 91

FAQ

Can I read Volume II without having read Volume I? You can try, but memoirs often carry over people and events from earlier volumes, so reading Volume II directly may leave some references unfamiliar. It helps to learn about the author's life and the approximate time span of Volume I first, or to accept that some relationships will need to be pieced together as you read.
How reliable is this memoir as a historical source? Memoirs offer first-hand detail and atmosphere, but memory, bias, and purpose in writing mean they are not always accurate. The safer approach is to treat the book as material for observing court sociability and personal experience, and to cross-check specific events and judgments about people against letters, archives, or contemporary histories.
The old English translation is hard going—what can help? Read the beginnings and ends of chapters first to grasp the gist, then return to long sentences; make a simple table matching recurring names and places; and use background material on eighteenth-century European history to ease difficulties caused by unfamiliar institutions and titles. Don't insist on understanding every word—focus on extracting observations and relationships.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Karl Ludwig Freiherr von Pöllnitz Author · German · 1692–1775

Karl Ludwig Freiherr von Pöllnitz (1692–1775) was a German adventurer and memoirist born in Issum. He spent his youth at the electoral court in Berlin, later served as a soldier in Austria, Italy and Spain, and traveled through the courts of Europe. Returning to Berlin in 1735, he served the Prussian kings Frederick William I and Frederick the Great, and died in Berlin in 1775. He is known for his French-language memoirs, notably the four-volume Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, which record his military and court experiences, and for his scandalous chronicle of Saxony. His firsthand, anecdotal writings offer lively material on eighteenth-century European court life; public information on his early years and writing details is limited.