144b. Friedrich Schlegel to Georg Joachim Göschen in Leipzig: Dresden, 2 June 1794 [*]
Dresden, 2 June 1794
. . . I am taking the liberty to request that you send me the portrait of my brother [1] that is still in your possession, a request with which Madam Böhmer has authorized and charged me. Let me also humbly request that you also relate to me the attendant expenses and shipping costs should the post not accept it unfranked. —
Should this request present a burden given your busy schedule, the person delivering this missive, the footman Espenhohe, can fetch the portrait at the post; [2] presumably it is still packed. —
On 9 May I sent you 4 louis d’or on behalf of Madam Böhmer, [3] which you have presumably already received. . . .
Notes
[*] Sources (excerpt): KFSA 23:199; Jahrbuch des Freien Deutschen Hochstifts (1967), 390–91. Back.
[1] By Johann Friedrich August Tischbein, which had hung in Caroline’s room in Lucka. Back.
[2] That is, not Friedrich’s regular manservant (e.g., in Leipzig; see Friedrich’s letter to Wilhelm on 21 January 1794 [137d]), but rather a lackey engaged for but a single paid task, similar to the footman being dispatched in the illustration below (excerpt from Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, Bediente in Gegenwart ihrer Herren [1780]; Herzog August Bibliothek; Museums./Signatur DChodowiecki AB 3.360):
[3] For support for Caroline’s child, Wilhelm Julius Kranz (Böhmer), whom Caroline had left behind in foster care in Lucka (see Friedrich’s letter to Wilhelm on 9 May 1794 [143d]). Back.
Translation © 2011 Doug Stott