• 59. Caroline to Lotte Michaelis in Göttingen: Clausthal, 11:30 p.m., 25 August 1785
[Clausthal] 11:30 p.m., the 25th [of August 1785]
|120| Arrived here 3/4 of an hour ago, my dear girl, wonderfully tired, hot, cold, glad, and happy. [1] No accidents, under the most splendid starlit night, the moon shining brightly, all the planets having conspired to make this day a heavenly one! Memories! Memories! You fill my heart with bliss! Oh, how true can a plattitude be at the right time [2] . . .
Notes
[1] Viz., back from Göttingen (Taschenbuch für das Jahr 1818: Der Liebe und Freundschaft gewidmet; Inhaltsverzeichnis deutscher Almanache, Theodor Springmann Stiftung):
See Caroline’s letter to Lotte Michaelis on 13 July 1785 (letter 58). This visit was Caroline’s first since her wedding a year before, and Auguste’s first trip at all. Caroline and Auguste may well have made the trip from Göttingen in a postal coach, a route that included Clausthal (Ignaz Heymann, PostKarte von Deutschland und den angrenzenden Laendern, 2nd ed. [Triest 1806]; Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Cartes et plans):
Quite apart from references in this correspondence to the daily departure of the postal coach or rider (prompting many a writer to conclude — hastily — his or her letter), equally numerous are references to personal travel by postal coach or other private conveyance, the normal mode of travel especially for women during this period. Illustrations (in order): Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, Der Wagner and Postwagen, in Kupfersammlung zu J[ohann] B[ernhard] Basedows Elementarwerke für die Jugend und ihre Freunde: Erste Lieferung in 53 Tafeln. Zweyte Lieferung in 47 Tafeln von L bis XCVI [Leipzig, Dessau, Berlin 1774], plates xx.b, xxxi, xiv; anonymous, Departing Postal Coach [ca. 1830]; Chodowiecki, Schnell und ungleich ist die Fahrt, die uns durch das Leben träget [1778], Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum; Museums./Signatur DChodowiecki AB 3.252; Desir de connoitre le monde [1773]; Herzog August Bibliothek; Museums./Signatur Uh 4° 47 196]):
[2] Plattitude in English/French in original. Back.
Translation © 2011 Doug Stott