To my readers!

Venerated readers and subscribers of this blog,

I apologize for not posting for a while. My husband had a motorcycle accident and is in hospital for I don't know how long. Therefore I have many other things on my mind and hope you come back for new posts, when I'm again able to write...

Thank you very very much,
C.

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William Russell's The History of Modern Europe

While doing some research I stumbled upon William Russell (1741-1793) and a series of books on the history of Europe from the 5th to the 18th century.

I found them both in English and in a German Translation from 1822 by Johann Friedrich Zöllner (1753-1804).
The original English title reads as follows:

"The History of Modern Europe. With an Account of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and a View of the Progress of Society From the Rise of the Modern Kingdoms to the Peace of Paris in 1763: in a Series of Letters From a Nobleman to His Son Volume: 6 General Books"

[publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1822 Original Publisher: F.C. and J. Rivington] It was though first published in German in 1788 in Berlin by Maurer Publishing. If you try to google the author, you will first find Lord William Russell (1639-89), who was executed and was definitely not the author of those 6 books. The German version was published in 12 volumes.

More about the author:

His "Sentimental Tales" appeared in 1770; his "Fables, Sentimental and Moral," and translation of Thomas’s "Essay on the Character of Women," in 1772; and his "Julia," a poetical Romance, in 1774. Other pieces were scattered throughout the periodical works. His success was nevertheless such as to enable him to give up his office at the press, and depend upon his pen for subsistence. After an unsuccessful History of America, he produced, in 1779, the first two volumes of the work by which alone his name has been rescued from oblivion—"The History of Modern Europe:" the three remaining volumes appeared in 1784.

I downloaded the first two volumes, as I'm very intrigued about a historical historian's writing about history ;-P and maybe his view on the subject until 1763 is helping me with my research for Leyland and how history was seen then.

Sources where I found the books:

• University of Jena
• Europeana.eu (Bavarian State Library, where it is possible to read in the German volumes)
• Amazon.de (German versions)
• I found the English volumes at Buecher.de

And of course all volumes in English as ebooks for free via GoogleBooks.

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English-Austrian Treasures for Sale

Again I found a little treasure, which is for sale actually. So if you have leftover money, this is something you

would want to invest in...
The publishing house of Franz Anton Schraembl in Vienna published Pocket Calendars and maps. One of the year 1788 is now for sale at abebooks for the pin money of 314€. It also contains some 200 pages of the German translation of William Russell's "History of Modern Europe".
Furthermore there are antique maps of England and Wales of the year 1787 for sale at mapmogul.com.

This is a large wall map assembled from 4 sheets (each sheet: 63.5cm x 54 cm), with the title in the form of a large monument in the upper right corner, topped by the arms of George II, King of England from 1727 to 1760, and surrounded by images of British trade, commerce, military might, etc. It includes an inset map of the Scilly Islands, a compass rose and scales of English and German miles.

This rare and finely engraved wall map is a revised German edition of Kitchin's largest and most detailed map of the region, originally published in 1777 as South Britain or England & Wales. Besides the roads, political boundaries and topography, it shows sand banks and has a grid of parallels and meridians with a border scale of latitude and longitude, and a key to the symbols for roads and three sizes of cities, towns, etc. (with stars to indicate the number of representatives in Parliament and numbers to indicate the travelling distance from London).

They offer many other maps I'm particularly interested in, Road Maps for instance...
But anyway, an Austrian Dissertation also deals with the publishing house which sold those calendars and maps, and Ursula Kohlmaier, the author of it, uploaded her 216 page work that you can read for free - in German though.

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I love Wikisource...

... and Google Books, because I'm surprised anytime I find something new, or old, in that case.

Still researching diary- and calendar-writing, Wikisource offered a long list of calendars, Almanacs, for instance the Musenalmanach, which was published by many a publisher and under many a name.

Quite a number of them are available at GoogleBooks and what would I love more than getting instant access to a historical source, that was digitalized... Very convenient. Many 18th and 19th century calendars are available, for instance the Musical Almanach for Germany for many 18th century years. Or Friedrich Schiller's Musenalmanache for the 1790's.

And looking for more information on the topic itself, this might help:
gift books, literary annuals, keepsakes
Almanach des Muses
Kalendarium (German)

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The Diaries of a Bavarian Minister in 18th Century Munich

In preparation for new Leyland posts, I was researching the way how people kept diaries and calendars in the

18th century. That is how I stumbled upon the 38 diaries of a Bavarian politician of the 18th century: Johann Maximilian Emanuel von Preysing (1687-1764; Google did not translate the article well, sorry). He was member of a very old and powerful Bavarian family and had a successful career.

But the really interesting thing is what remained of him: his diaries covering the years 1717 to 1763 - 38 books alltogether. Here's an English summary by the Bavarian State Library:

As an official of the Bavarian State and Minister, Johann Maximilian Emanuel von Preysing (1687 to 1764) belongs to the most influential persons of Bavarian politics in the 18th century.
Among Preysing's personal papers 38 pocket calendars have survived, which are today held by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (shelf mark Cod.germ. 5456). The calendars are specimens of the "Schreib-Calender auf ein besondere Form und Weiß allen Obrigkeiten, Kauff- und Handels-Leuthen, auch männiglich zum täglichen Nutz also eingericht" (calendar in a special form for all authorities, merchants and tradesmen, with facilities for daily use for everyone), which was customary in Bavaria in the 18th century and was published in Munich by the "Kurfürstlicher Hofbuchdrucker und -händler" (book printer and -trader of the electoral court) Heinrich Theodor von Cölln (later on by Franz Joseph Thuille). In addition to the calendar sheets, it contained much information that was specific to the region).
The volumes, whose dimensions are approximately 20 x 15 cm, were filled by Preysing with personal notes and appointment dates from 1717 to 1763. The calendars document, albeit with some gaps, more than 40 years of Preysing's life and work.

All diaries were digitalized and can be viewed online. Not only the notes by Preysing are interesting (if you speak German and are able to read Suetterlin script), but also how the layouts of the calendars look during those 40-odd years. They also contain information on sun and moon, daily Bible quotes and as bavaria was Catholic, also Saints...
Check the diaries at the Bavarian State Library. Its free. Just click on the year in the left sidebar and browse through the pages.
[the pic above shows the calendars; (c) Bavarian State Library]

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