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

Karl Ludwig Freiherr von PöllnitzProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0
Word count
620K words
Chapters
62

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 IV by PöllnitzAuthor: Pöllnitz, Karl Ludwig, Freiherr von, 1692-1775,Language: English, Class: D: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere, Release Date: Jan 7, 2012

Editor's review

This is Volume IV of Baron de Pollnitz's memoirs, a primary source on eighteenth-century European court life and travel. The author moved for years among the German states and the major European courts; his pages dwell on ceremony, personalities and everyday minutiae, carrying an eyewitness immediacy while inevitably reflecting personal bias and hearsay. This volume is an English translation and serves as useful supplementary reading for understanding eighteenth-century European aristocratic society and court culture. It is not a systematic work of history; its value lies more in detail and atmosphere—observations at banquets, audiences and way-stations that fill gaps in the formal record, though readers must judge them for themselves. Reading it alongside relevant historical background is advised: treat the memoirs as source material, not as settled fact. The electronic edition is published by Project Gutenberg, convenient for searching and excerpting, and suited to close reading of the original text for topical study.

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the author's life and the map of the eighteenth-century German states before entering the text.
  2. Excerpt by theme—ceremony, personalities, travel details—rather than reading page by page.
  3. Compare with contemporary letters, travelogues or historical studies to distinguish hearsay from eyewitness account.
  4. Note names and places as you read the English translation for later searching and checking.

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

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FAQ

Is this the complete memoirs or one volume of it? This is Volume IV of Baron de Pollnitz's memoirs, not the complete work. Before reading, it helps to know the content of the first three volumes or the relevant background; otherwise some people and events may lack context. Read on its own, it can be treated as fragmentary material on eighteenth-century European court life.
Can the contents be quoted directly as historical fact? Not as settled fact. Memoirs carry the author's bias, lapses of memory and hearsay; their value lies in providing an eyewitness perspective and everyday detail. When quoting, compare with letters, archives or later scholarship, note the memoir nature of the source, and avoid equating personal narrative with objective fact.
Can I read this ebook if my English is not strong? This volume is an English translation whose syntax and diction retain eighteenth-century features, posing a certain barrier for general readers. If English reading is difficult, start with relevant Chinese general histories or studies to build background, then read selected passages with a dictionary. It suits readers with some English reading ability who intend to search and excerpt.

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.