Memoirs of the Courts of Berlin, Dresden, Warsaw, and Vienna, in the Years 1777, 1778, and 1779

In this two-volume 1799 work, MP and travel writer Nathaniel Wraxall describes visits to German principalities, Poland and Austria-Hungary.

Nathaniel William Wraxall (Author)

9781108045490, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 June 2012

432 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.4 cm, 0.55 kg

Nathaniel Wraxall (1751–1831) worked for the East India Company before becoming an MP in 1780. He travelled extensively in Europe and moved in royal and diplomatic circles, collecting anecdotes which later made their way into several popular travel narratives and memoirs that were to bring him great fame. In this work, published in two volumes in 1799 and using an epistolary form, Wraxall gives his impressions of a number of European courts that he visited in the late 1770s. In Volume 1 the author gives a personal account of the tragic destiny of Queen Caroline Matilda of Denmark (the sister of George III of Great Britain), who was exiled to Celle in Germany after an extra-marital affair with her husband's doctor and counsellor. He also describes Frederick the Great of Prussia and his court, and laments the decline of the once-great city of Cracow.

Preface
1. Anecdotes of Frederic the Second, Landgrave of Hesse
2. Description of the Castle of Ahlden
3. Brunswic
4. Examination of the character and actions of Frederic the Second, King of Prussia
5. Review of the principal campaigns of Frederic the Second
6. Review of the Prussian history, previous to the accession of Frederic the Second
7. Potzdam
8. Position of Dresden, local and political
9. Journey from Dresden, through Prague, to Vienna
10. Death of the Elector of Bavaria
11. Pacific aspect of affairs
12. Hostile remonstrances of Prussia, respecting the Bavarian succession
13. Preparations for war
14. Anecdotes of Metastasio
15. Buda
16. Journey from Buda
17. Journey to Cracow.

Subject Areas: European history [HBJD]