154a. Karl Schlegel to Wilhelm Schlegel in Braunschweig: Hannover, 23 August 1795 [*]
Hannover, 23 August 1795
— — I never imagined this notion about going to America was as serious as seems to be the case in your last letter. [1] Although I am convinced it is an excellently appointed country where one can no doubt live quite pleasantly in every respect, I am not at all keen on you leaving us and moving so far away; nor would you be able to pursue your literary plans there in the same way; at the very least you would fall utterly out of touch with German literature. — Surely, for the time being this is not really necessary yet, is it? — —
Notes
[*] Waitz (1882), 30. Passages Waitz did not include are indicated by “—.” Back.
[1] The subject of Wilhelm and Caroline emigrating to America had been and would continue to be an issue in Friedrich Schlegel’s letters as well; see Friedrich to Wilhelm on 20 May and 16 June 1795 (letters 150a, 150c), and Friedrich to Caroline on 2 October 1795 (letter 157).
Here period maps of (1) the United States in 1783 and (2) North America in 1795 (both maps still without the Louisiana Purchase); unfortunately, nowhere does Caroline or Wilhelm indicate where they were considering settling or even how they came upon the idea in the first place ([1] Historisch-genealogischer König. Calendar oder Jahrbuch der merkwürdigsten neuen Welt-Begebenheiten für 1784; Inhaltsverzeichnis deutscher Almanache, Theodor Springmann Stiftung; [2] John Reid, General Map of North America Drawn from the Best Surveys 1795 [1796]):
Translation © 2011 Doug Stott