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rheinsberg2020-05-19 08:43 am
selenak) wrote in rheinsberg2020-05-19 08:43 am
The Italian Reader: Lucchesini's Diary
Somewhat belatedly as I just realised I haven't put them up here yet, my notes (from March this year) on the diary of Girolamo Lucchesini, lector and librarian to Friedrich II in his final years, later diplomat in the Prussian service, still later working as chamberlain for Napoleon's sister Elisa. Lucchesini was credited by contemporaries as different as Johann Georg von Zimmermann (who assures us that no one, but no one, looked sharper into Fritz' heart than "this witty, learned and amiable Italian" and Lehndorff in his 1783 diary ("He reminds me vividly of Count Algarotti, who used to occupy a similar position in the King‘s life. One can call his nature angelic") as being an immensly charming and amiable Fritz manager. Goethe, who met him a year after Fritz' death, had a positive impression as well about him as well but was a bit more salty about Lucchesini's, shall we say, adaptability: The arrival of the Marchese Lucchesini has pushed my departure to a few days; I have had a lot of pleasure getting to know him. He seems to me to be one of those people who have a good moral stomach to always be able to enjoy sitting at the table of the world's luminaries; instead of ours being overcrowded like a ruminant animal's at times and then unable to eat anything else until it has finished repeated chewing and digesting.
Like Henri de Catt, Lucchesini kept a diary during his early years as Fritz' reader, and unlike Catt, he wasn't later found out to have beefed up the resulting memoirs as if he were a historical novelist. However, reading through the (slim) published result, it became immediately apparant to me why Lucchesini's diary never achieved the same popularity as Catt's either with historians nor with the rest of us sensationalistic gossip mongers. (Starting with the very different circumstances - Catt starts his time as Fritz' reader mid Seven-Years-War when the inner and outer crisis of our anti hero couldn't be greater, Lucchesini starts in the 1780s when the last war is over and he's a cranky and lonely old man given to repeat himself.) I read Lucchesini's notes - and they're mostly notes - in two versions. Once in the original Italian, which is beyond me (school Latin and school French as well as some months in Italy many years ago left me with some fragmentary Italian, but that's it) but has a German introduction and German footnotes by Gustav B. Volz, and once in a German translation edited together with Catt's diary and those parts from Catt's memoirs actually based on his diary by Fritz Bischof in 1885.
My own notes on Lucchesini's notes, first round, the orignal version:
Fritz‘ musical taste really is stuck at the same point where his taste in literature stops: Si e parlato della musica di Gluck, di cui il Re ha detto male.
Ha. So remember, Wilhelmine and Fritz turned out to be „Man in the Iron Mask“ geeks, and Wilhelmine reported to Fritz the „it was a woman!“ theory on her travels? Fritz also talks with Lucchesini about the matter, but his theory is the more common „it totally was a secret brother of Louis XIV“, though in his case he doesn‘t believe it was an older twin brother but a bastard of Mazarin, who looked like Louis, proving thus that Louis was Mazarin‘s bastard kid as well, Queen Anne having cheated on Louis XIII for his impotence in Fritz‘ opinion.
Catherine‘s little brother supposedly said to her: „Vous savez, Madame, que dans le gouvernement des femmes il n‘y a jamais le sens commun.“
Finally! Fritz tells Lucchesini the old canard about MT having written to Madame de Pompadour „ma cousine“ (at least he makes it cousin and not sister, as he used to), and Gustav Volz, editor, gives us a footnote saying this claim has been disproved in 1875 by A. V. Arneth in volume 5 of his MT history, complete with publication of the entire Pompadour-Vienna correspondance. 1875. And some modern biographers (looking at you, Tim Blanning) still repeat the tale, because hey, Fritz would never lie.
(Though it‘s interesting he is so invested in that story he keeps bringing it up even after MT‘s death.)
Aha. Fritz gets to comment on nephew Gustav‘s creative solution to the heir problem:
Avutasi la nuova della cattiva salute del Re di Svezia, il Re ha detto, che teme, che il Duca di Sudermania, fratello del Re presente, non se metta alla testa dell‘ opposizione, e non faccia riconoscere per bastardo di figlio della Regina.
About a meeting between Peter the Great and Liselotte in Versailles: Ha di Pietro I detto, che aveva molta forza di spirito, ma era brutale, incivile e selvatico. Esso stesso disse assai bene a Parigi alla madre del Reggente: „Signora, io ho saputo corregere un poco la mia nazione, ma non ho saputo corregere me stesso.“
Since this visit by Charlotte and Amalie was the ultimate trigger for Fritz‘ De la Literature Alllemande pamphlet, the footnote duly points the entry out where Lucchesini writes about said visit:
E guinta la Duchessa di Brunswick e la Principessa Amalia. Pranzuo con dame de di poca importanza. (...) Ultimo pranzo delle Principesse, che son partite il di appresso. Si è parlato assai di letteratura, della tenuità della gloria del teatro tedesco, e delle poche tragedie italiane buone, delle quasi niune inglesi, della poca impressione, che a fatto la lettura delle tragedie greche, del cattivo gusto delle tragedie latine, e della confezione del teatro francese.
Oh God. Fritz readers two cantos of the „Palladion“ to Lucchesini. Out loud. And the Lucchesini gets a signed copy after complimenting Fritz.
Fritz next takes sole credit for hashing the division of Poland out with Joseph at their meeting in Neisse. The editor of the diary, Gustav Volz, who is the type of devoted fan able to reveal his hero's economic truths, points out by footnote Fritz did no such thing, and didn‘t talk about Poland with Joseph during their second meeting, either, but that it was Heinrich who negotiated the first partition with Catherine, pointing to his own essay „Prinz Heinrich und die Vorgeschichte der Ersten Teilung Polens“ in the „Forschungen zur Brandenburg- und Preuß. Geschichte“, Volume 35, S.193 ff.
(Heinrich: Just you wait. That Obelisk is so going to go up.)
Oh good lord. On subsequent days, Lucchesini gets treated to the entire rest of the Palladion. And once that‘s over with, Fritz reads him the love poetry he‘s written in the name of Catt.
Fritz the style critic: „L‘Imperatrice di Russia scrive bene. Ho apiuto in quesito giorni da altra parte, che la prima conversazione dell‘ Imperatrice di Russia col Principe Reale si piegrava a porre in ricilolo il Re, e il Principe Enrico. Pare che il Re sia molto lieto dop il ritorno del Principe Reale. Esso ha vissuto con gran prudenza a Pietroburgo.“ (Future FW2 visited St. Petersburg in September 1780, Volz‘ footnote tells me.)
On April 20th, he‘s back at the Swedish relations/ soap opera subject: IL Re ha pranzato tutto solo. La sera ho saputo, che il figlio della Regina di Sevzia ha per padre un certo Munck, scudiere del Re.
His best enemy has died, and he’s thinking back to the start: Le memorie cominciano alla morte del Re il 1740. Dice ch‘ esso lasciò una popolazion di 3 millioni, un‘ entrata di 7 millioni di telleri, e (dici egli) 8.5000.00 da parte (...) Qui fa il quadro della monarchia austriaca alla morte di Carlo VI., de‘ ministri anteriori, delle belle operazioni militari e politiche del Principe Eugenio, di Sinzendorff, e di Starhemberg. Questo quadro è degno percetti, molti debiti, e niun aiuto: ecco lo stato della Regina, di cui nel proemio è fatto un elogio imparegiabile.
No sooner had I finished reading this that Mildred found a translated-into-German version. The translation selection of Catt's memoirs and diary as well as Lucchesini's diary is edited and published by one Dr. Fritz Bischof in 1885. This enabled me to make notes on interesting to me details I hadn't understood before:
Bischof points out that Luccheisini, being a Italian Marchese, was of different social rank than Catt from the get go and hence rates invitations to the fabled Sanssouci suppers in addition to hanging out with the King a deux. Reading the translation, I feel I didn't do too badly going by the footnotes in the original edition. Additional info:
- Lucchesini seems to have really liked Fritz' poetry; at first I thought he was pretending, but then he started to snark about Fritz' utter lack of scientific know how beyond the most superficial level while of course pretending to be an expert, so he has no problem writing down when he disagrees with Fritz on something or thinks Fritz is talking rubbish
- which Fritz does a lot; when Lucchesini calls him out on two stories he tells of the two Medici queens in France, Catherine and Maria, which happen to be utterly wrong (yours truly having occupied herself with both eras somewhat, I'm in a position to know), Fritz defends himself by saying he has super secret sources for both anecdotes and so he KNOWS it's true, which is typical
- contempt for German literature, check, then he adds fine, a beginning has been made, who, asks Lucchesini, and Fritz says "Canitz", a poet in his grandmother's time. Yep, that's the author De La Literature Allemande, alright. I bet he was proud he could at least remember one writer.
- Luchesini also observes that it shows Fritz only knows the great Latin writers like Horace and Cicero in French translations, which can't capture the sheer linguistic beauty of Horace's odes, or the wit of Cicero
- Lucchesini, as opposed to Fritz, and like the Duc de Croy, is actually interested in contemporary exploration and mentions Georg Forster's book on travelling with James Cook to Tahiti; Georg Forster wrote his travel reports in German, which at leat supports Zimmerman's claim that Lucchesini could read German.
- Fritz' Gluck dislike is based on having the first act of Orphee performed on an arrangement for Cello, piano and violin. That's it. Totally qualifies him.
- lots and lots of positive Algarotti mentions; it seems Lehndorff isn't the only one whom Lucchesini reminds of the last Italian Fritz spend a lot of time with. Anyway, Algarotti is very fondly remembered. The only vaguely critical thing Fritz says is that he tried to please everyone. Otherwise it's praise for his knowledge and memory ("he travelled with his library in his head, always accessible") and his charm all the way.
- if you're wondering how Fritz handles dead Voltaire: Voltaire was the worst! The WORST! Let me read this letter of Voltaire again, and mine to him to you out loud, because there's some fine poetry in it. Also, here's a story of Voltaire being witty. We haven't read Voltaire enough recently. Did I mention he was THE WORST?
- re: Fritz appropriating complete credit for Poland, it did occur to me that 1780/81 was when he and Heinrich had their record one and a half year of not talking or writing to each other. Brother AW gets edited out of the trip to Strasbourg again when Fritz says he was there only with Algarotti.
(BTW, Jessen has a letter from Fritz to Heinrich when Fritz checks out his new territories (won, you know, without a drop of blood) actually containing the phrase "this land, which I received through your hand".)
- at one point they talk about vampires, I kid you not; Fritz of course calls them a total superstition and wonders that there are people who are otherwise sound sceptics who still believe in that stuff, which makes Lucchesini think Fritz might be one of those secretly vampire-believing people, too. (Basis for a vampire AU?)
- no mention of Katte, or Küstrin, even when Fritz is going there; FW mentioned only once or twice, Lucchesini notes that Fritz talks of him with much respect and gives him all the credit for building the basis for his, Fritz' power.
- Fritz the amazingly wrong predicter of future European history: future menace Joseph II. will conquer Rome, make the pope his patriarch and Christianity will splinter even more and decline; England is over and done with, a power on the downward slide ever since the end of the Seven Years War, when Bute, totally bribed by the Austrians (with what money?), stopped subsidizing Fritz and Holderness let himself outnegotiated by the French (this is not how the French would see it)
- seriously, Fritz has not forgiven the English for stopping the subsidies; mind you, the insistence that England is an exhausted and one with power might at least partially hail from them losing to their American colonists, but they also gained Canada from the French, and the British Empire hasn't reached its zenith yet since complete control over India is yet to come; it shows Fritz has zero idea of non-European politics and economics, and how much Britain flourishes based on all the incoming money from the colonies
In conclusion: I can see why Lucchesini never achieved Catt's popularity, though; not nearly as much personal stories (true or made up), no extreme danger and extreme glory situation as in the 7 Years War, and Lucchesini notes down Fritz repeating anecdotes, as old people do, and holds forth on subjects he's just not informed on. Plus: nothing homoerotic I could spot, not even in code, aside arguably from the Algarotti and Voltaire stuff. Which is something of a let down given what brought us on the trail of Lucchesini in the first place was that Zimmermann, who otherwise sees it as his mission in life to defend his dead King against the charge of homosexuality, allows that what briefly made him think otherwise was that the "intimate confidante of his final years", a description for which Lucchesini is the sole candidate, once told him that Fritz said he'd had sex with a man (literally: had had a relationship as that between Socrates and Alcibiades) briefly before the Seven Years War. (BTW, if neither Zimmermann nor most likely Lucchesini have made this up, our money is on Glasow.) But like I said: not even a hint of this in the published diary. Either Lucchesini was way too discrete to note something like this down, or the Prussian censors struck. (Though if the later, I'm assuming modern day biographers would have rectified this, much like Ziebura published the Marwitz letters censored out by Preuss.)
Like Henri de Catt, Lucchesini kept a diary during his early years as Fritz' reader, and unlike Catt, he wasn't later found out to have beefed up the resulting memoirs as if he were a historical novelist. However, reading through the (slim) published result, it became immediately apparant to me why Lucchesini's diary never achieved the same popularity as Catt's either with historians nor with the rest of us sensationalistic gossip mongers. (Starting with the very different circumstances - Catt starts his time as Fritz' reader mid Seven-Years-War when the inner and outer crisis of our anti hero couldn't be greater, Lucchesini starts in the 1780s when the last war is over and he's a cranky and lonely old man given to repeat himself.) I read Lucchesini's notes - and they're mostly notes - in two versions. Once in the original Italian, which is beyond me (school Latin and school French as well as some months in Italy many years ago left me with some fragmentary Italian, but that's it) but has a German introduction and German footnotes by Gustav B. Volz, and once in a German translation edited together with Catt's diary and those parts from Catt's memoirs actually based on his diary by Fritz Bischof in 1885.
My own notes on Lucchesini's notes, first round, the orignal version:
Fritz‘ musical taste really is stuck at the same point where his taste in literature stops: Si e parlato della musica di Gluck, di cui il Re ha detto male.
Ha. So remember, Wilhelmine and Fritz turned out to be „Man in the Iron Mask“ geeks, and Wilhelmine reported to Fritz the „it was a woman!“ theory on her travels? Fritz also talks with Lucchesini about the matter, but his theory is the more common „it totally was a secret brother of Louis XIV“, though in his case he doesn‘t believe it was an older twin brother but a bastard of Mazarin, who looked like Louis, proving thus that Louis was Mazarin‘s bastard kid as well, Queen Anne having cheated on Louis XIII for his impotence in Fritz‘ opinion.
Catherine‘s little brother supposedly said to her: „Vous savez, Madame, que dans le gouvernement des femmes il n‘y a jamais le sens commun.“
Finally! Fritz tells Lucchesini the old canard about MT having written to Madame de Pompadour „ma cousine“ (at least he makes it cousin and not sister, as he used to), and Gustav Volz, editor, gives us a footnote saying this claim has been disproved in 1875 by A. V. Arneth in volume 5 of his MT history, complete with publication of the entire Pompadour-Vienna correspondance. 1875. And some modern biographers (looking at you, Tim Blanning) still repeat the tale, because hey, Fritz would never lie.
(Though it‘s interesting he is so invested in that story he keeps bringing it up even after MT‘s death.)
Aha. Fritz gets to comment on nephew Gustav‘s creative solution to the heir problem:
Avutasi la nuova della cattiva salute del Re di Svezia, il Re ha detto, che teme, che il Duca di Sudermania, fratello del Re presente, non se metta alla testa dell‘ opposizione, e non faccia riconoscere per bastardo di figlio della Regina.
About a meeting between Peter the Great and Liselotte in Versailles: Ha di Pietro I detto, che aveva molta forza di spirito, ma era brutale, incivile e selvatico. Esso stesso disse assai bene a Parigi alla madre del Reggente: „Signora, io ho saputo corregere un poco la mia nazione, ma non ho saputo corregere me stesso.“
Since this visit by Charlotte and Amalie was the ultimate trigger for Fritz‘ De la Literature Alllemande pamphlet, the footnote duly points the entry out where Lucchesini writes about said visit:
E guinta la Duchessa di Brunswick e la Principessa Amalia. Pranzuo con dame de di poca importanza. (...) Ultimo pranzo delle Principesse, che son partite il di appresso. Si è parlato assai di letteratura, della tenuità della gloria del teatro tedesco, e delle poche tragedie italiane buone, delle quasi niune inglesi, della poca impressione, che a fatto la lettura delle tragedie greche, del cattivo gusto delle tragedie latine, e della confezione del teatro francese.
Oh God. Fritz readers two cantos of the „Palladion“ to Lucchesini. Out loud. And the Lucchesini gets a signed copy after complimenting Fritz.
Fritz next takes sole credit for hashing the division of Poland out with Joseph at their meeting in Neisse. The editor of the diary, Gustav Volz, who is the type of devoted fan able to reveal his hero's economic truths, points out by footnote Fritz did no such thing, and didn‘t talk about Poland with Joseph during their second meeting, either, but that it was Heinrich who negotiated the first partition with Catherine, pointing to his own essay „Prinz Heinrich und die Vorgeschichte der Ersten Teilung Polens“ in the „Forschungen zur Brandenburg- und Preuß. Geschichte“, Volume 35, S.193 ff.
(Heinrich: Just you wait. That Obelisk is so going to go up.)
Oh good lord. On subsequent days, Lucchesini gets treated to the entire rest of the Palladion. And once that‘s over with, Fritz reads him the love poetry he‘s written in the name of Catt.
Fritz the style critic: „L‘Imperatrice di Russia scrive bene. Ho apiuto in quesito giorni da altra parte, che la prima conversazione dell‘ Imperatrice di Russia col Principe Reale si piegrava a porre in ricilolo il Re, e il Principe Enrico. Pare che il Re sia molto lieto dop il ritorno del Principe Reale. Esso ha vissuto con gran prudenza a Pietroburgo.“ (Future FW2 visited St. Petersburg in September 1780, Volz‘ footnote tells me.)
On April 20th, he‘s back at the Swedish relations/ soap opera subject: IL Re ha pranzato tutto solo. La sera ho saputo, che il figlio della Regina di Sevzia ha per padre un certo Munck, scudiere del Re.
His best enemy has died, and he’s thinking back to the start: Le memorie cominciano alla morte del Re il 1740. Dice ch‘ esso lasciò una popolazion di 3 millioni, un‘ entrata di 7 millioni di telleri, e (dici egli) 8.5000.00 da parte (...) Qui fa il quadro della monarchia austriaca alla morte di Carlo VI., de‘ ministri anteriori, delle belle operazioni militari e politiche del Principe Eugenio, di Sinzendorff, e di Starhemberg. Questo quadro è degno percetti, molti debiti, e niun aiuto: ecco lo stato della Regina, di cui nel proemio è fatto un elogio imparegiabile.
No sooner had I finished reading this that Mildred found a translated-into-German version. The translation selection of Catt's memoirs and diary as well as Lucchesini's diary is edited and published by one Dr. Fritz Bischof in 1885. This enabled me to make notes on interesting to me details I hadn't understood before:
Bischof points out that Luccheisini, being a Italian Marchese, was of different social rank than Catt from the get go and hence rates invitations to the fabled Sanssouci suppers in addition to hanging out with the King a deux. Reading the translation, I feel I didn't do too badly going by the footnotes in the original edition. Additional info:
- Lucchesini seems to have really liked Fritz' poetry; at first I thought he was pretending, but then he started to snark about Fritz' utter lack of scientific know how beyond the most superficial level while of course pretending to be an expert, so he has no problem writing down when he disagrees with Fritz on something or thinks Fritz is talking rubbish
- which Fritz does a lot; when Lucchesini calls him out on two stories he tells of the two Medici queens in France, Catherine and Maria, which happen to be utterly wrong (yours truly having occupied herself with both eras somewhat, I'm in a position to know), Fritz defends himself by saying he has super secret sources for both anecdotes and so he KNOWS it's true, which is typical
- contempt for German literature, check, then he adds fine, a beginning has been made, who, asks Lucchesini, and Fritz says "Canitz", a poet in his grandmother's time. Yep, that's the author De La Literature Allemande, alright. I bet he was proud he could at least remember one writer.
- Luchesini also observes that it shows Fritz only knows the great Latin writers like Horace and Cicero in French translations, which can't capture the sheer linguistic beauty of Horace's odes, or the wit of Cicero
- Lucchesini, as opposed to Fritz, and like the Duc de Croy, is actually interested in contemporary exploration and mentions Georg Forster's book on travelling with James Cook to Tahiti; Georg Forster wrote his travel reports in German, which at leat supports Zimmerman's claim that Lucchesini could read German.
- Fritz' Gluck dislike is based on having the first act of Orphee performed on an arrangement for Cello, piano and violin. That's it. Totally qualifies him.
- lots and lots of positive Algarotti mentions; it seems Lehndorff isn't the only one whom Lucchesini reminds of the last Italian Fritz spend a lot of time with. Anyway, Algarotti is very fondly remembered. The only vaguely critical thing Fritz says is that he tried to please everyone. Otherwise it's praise for his knowledge and memory ("he travelled with his library in his head, always accessible") and his charm all the way.
- if you're wondering how Fritz handles dead Voltaire: Voltaire was the worst! The WORST! Let me read this letter of Voltaire again, and mine to him to you out loud, because there's some fine poetry in it. Also, here's a story of Voltaire being witty. We haven't read Voltaire enough recently. Did I mention he was THE WORST?
- re: Fritz appropriating complete credit for Poland, it did occur to me that 1780/81 was when he and Heinrich had their record one and a half year of not talking or writing to each other. Brother AW gets edited out of the trip to Strasbourg again when Fritz says he was there only with Algarotti.
(BTW, Jessen has a letter from Fritz to Heinrich when Fritz checks out his new territories (won, you know, without a drop of blood) actually containing the phrase "this land, which I received through your hand".)
- at one point they talk about vampires, I kid you not; Fritz of course calls them a total superstition and wonders that there are people who are otherwise sound sceptics who still believe in that stuff, which makes Lucchesini think Fritz might be one of those secretly vampire-believing people, too. (Basis for a vampire AU?)
- no mention of Katte, or Küstrin, even when Fritz is going there; FW mentioned only once or twice, Lucchesini notes that Fritz talks of him with much respect and gives him all the credit for building the basis for his, Fritz' power.
- Fritz the amazingly wrong predicter of future European history: future menace Joseph II. will conquer Rome, make the pope his patriarch and Christianity will splinter even more and decline; England is over and done with, a power on the downward slide ever since the end of the Seven Years War, when Bute, totally bribed by the Austrians (with what money?), stopped subsidizing Fritz and Holderness let himself outnegotiated by the French (this is not how the French would see it)
- seriously, Fritz has not forgiven the English for stopping the subsidies; mind you, the insistence that England is an exhausted and one with power might at least partially hail from them losing to their American colonists, but they also gained Canada from the French, and the British Empire hasn't reached its zenith yet since complete control over India is yet to come; it shows Fritz has zero idea of non-European politics and economics, and how much Britain flourishes based on all the incoming money from the colonies
In conclusion: I can see why Lucchesini never achieved Catt's popularity, though; not nearly as much personal stories (true or made up), no extreme danger and extreme glory situation as in the 7 Years War, and Lucchesini notes down Fritz repeating anecdotes, as old people do, and holds forth on subjects he's just not informed on. Plus: nothing homoerotic I could spot, not even in code, aside arguably from the Algarotti and Voltaire stuff. Which is something of a let down given what brought us on the trail of Lucchesini in the first place was that Zimmermann, who otherwise sees it as his mission in life to defend his dead King against the charge of homosexuality, allows that what briefly made him think otherwise was that the "intimate confidante of his final years", a description for which Lucchesini is the sole candidate, once told him that Fritz said he'd had sex with a man (literally: had had a relationship as that between Socrates and Alcibiades) briefly before the Seven Years War. (BTW, if neither Zimmermann nor most likely Lucchesini have made this up, our money is on Glasow.) But like I said: not even a hint of this in the published diary. Either Lucchesini was way too discrete to note something like this down, or the Prussian censors struck. (Though if the later, I'm assuming modern day biographers would have rectified this, much like Ziebura published the Marwitz letters censored out by Preuss.)