108a. Friedrich Schlegel to Wilhelm Schlegel in Amsterdam: Leipzig, 8 November 1791 [*]
[Leipzig] 8 November [17]91
. . . You successfully guessed my wish concerning [Madam] B[öhmer]. I find much of what you say to be true and intend to leave everything to you. Now that you know that any, even the most distant relationship with her would be of enormous value to me, I think it permissible for me to be convinced such will come about as soon as feasible. —
I truly would never have thought I would be wanting to get back to Göttingen this quickly; [1] and yet there are so many reasons for me not to wish to be back there. If by chance B. happens to hear anything about me in Göttingen, [2] she cannot but get the wrong idea about me; I genuinely did play a rather strange role in Göttingen. . . .
Notes
[*] Source: Walzel, 22; KFSA 23:29. Back.
[1] Friedrich had spent the previous year in Göttingen with Wilhelm, studying both law and philology and attending lectures by, among others, Christian Gottlob Heyne (Rudolf Koch and Fritz Kredel, Deutschland und angrenzende Gebiete [Leipzig 1937]):
[2] Caroline had returned to Göttingen from Marburg just prior to the death of her father on 22 August 1791. Back.
Translation © 2011 Doug Stott