258s. Friedrich Schlegel to Schleiermacher in Berlin: Jena, 17 March 1800 [*]
Jena, 17 March 1800
Things are not going well here at all. Caroline is seriously ill, some sort of nervous fever, [1] and we have been waiting impatiently, longingly, and agonizingly for two postal days for the promised money to arrive, but it has not. [2] —
But things will be fine, Caroline will improve, and all of us will be happy again. [3] . . .
Notes
[*] Sources: Aus Schleiermacher’s Leben 3:160–61 (frag.); KGA V/3 426–27; KFSA 25:74. Back.
[1] Caroline had been ill since approximately 1 March 1800. See virtually all the letters written by members of the group during March and April 1800. It may be remembered that Wilhelm Schlegel, Caroline, Auguste, Friedrich, and Dorothea Veit were all living together in the apartment at Leutragasse 5. Back.
[2] Primarily Dorothea, but also Friedrich had been trying to arrange an advance of funds from Simon Veit; see her letters to Schleiermacher on 16 January 1800 (letter 258g), 14 February 1800 (letter 258m), and esp. 10 March 1800 (letter 258q). Back.
[3] They would not; for all practical purposes, Caroline’s illness and the ensuing crisis constitute the beginning of the end of the Jena Romantic circle. Back.
Translation © 2013 Doug Stott