Details
GLEIM, Johann Wilhelm Ludwig (1719-1803). Autograph letter signed ('Gleim') to an unidentified female recipient (perhaps Anna Louisa Karsch), Halberstadt, 29 November 1789, 3 pages, 8vo, bifolium.
A hasty note, asking the recipient not to show a poem to 'the best of princes', as it contains 'ein häßliches Wort, das hab' ich aus ihm weggeschaft, und ein gleichbedeutendes nicht häßliches an die Stelle gesetzt'; the letter continues with whimsical variations on the receipient's name, 'Ich denke mir Elise bey Luisen ... Könnt' ich in Luisium ihn denken, ich dächte, glaub' ich, den ganzen Gedanken, und sänge: Luisium', and refers to a Swiss whom he has converted to monarchical sentiments. A long postscript follows, with foreign news ('there seems to have been a blood bath in Brussels ... the French pest has taken hold') which fills him with regrets.
A hasty note, asking the recipient not to show a poem to 'the best of princes', as it contains 'ein häßliches Wort, das hab' ich aus ihm weggeschaft, und ein gleichbedeutendes nicht häßliches an die Stelle gesetzt'; the letter continues with whimsical variations on the receipient's name, 'Ich denke mir Elise bey Luisen ... Könnt' ich in Luisium ihn denken, ich dächte, glaub' ich, den ganzen Gedanken, und sänge: Luisium', and refers to a Swiss whom he has converted to monarchical sentiments. A long postscript follows, with foreign news ('there seems to have been a blood bath in Brussels ... the French pest has taken hold') which fills him with regrets.
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