214.HUMBOLDT TO VARNHAGEN.
Berlin,July 6th, 1857.
Berlin,July 6th, 1857.
Berlin,July 6th, 1857.
Berlin,July 6th, 1857.
So ignorant of German poetry as to know nothing of the fame of Mr. —— of what he calls the dreary Mecklenburg, I must ask you, my dear friend, to specify the degree of politeness with which the man ought to be answered. Eight volumes, a compensation of forty louis d’or, four for myself, four, as usual, for the King, and a nonsensical letter, are before me. The man appears to have sung of the great Napoleon and Ney, but to have vainly knocked at the door of Napoleon III., Stephanie, Walewski, and Edgar Ney. It is made my duty forthwith to read a Trajan, a Bianca, and a Henry IV. Neither does he seem to have an extravagant idea of what is to be obtained from the King, a circumstance which discourages me from delivering the treasure. Elisa von Ahlefeldt has given great pleasure in Tegel, where I went with Kaulbach yesterday, as delicate and pure in taste. Not in Tegel but in Berlin, some court chaplains or officers, anxious to acquire the title of consistorial councillors, may have mooted the ecclesiastical question, whether a husbandand a friend are both allowable? The Berliners manage to talk about and to soil whatever comes into their fingers.
Most gratefully fully yours,A. v. Humboldt.
Most gratefully fully yours,A. v. Humboldt.
Most gratefully fully yours,A. v. Humboldt.
Most gratefully fully yours,
A. v. Humboldt.
Monday Night.
Monday Night.
Monday Night.
Monday Night.
I shall send for the two volumes again in a day or two.
My best and most grateful compliments to Miss Ludmilla, the poetic artist, who combines the poet and the painter.