WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
Letters of Alexander von Humboldt to Varnhagen von Ense. / From 1827 to 1858. With extracts from Varnhagen's diaries, and letters of Varnhagen and others to Humboldt cover

Letters of Alexander von Humboldt to Varnhagen von Ense. / From 1827 to 1858. With extracts from Varnhagen's diaries, and letters of Varnhagen and others to Humboldt

Chapter 211: 203. VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.
By Alexander von Humboldt
Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

Essays, Letters & SpeechesGerman LiteratureHistory - Modern (1750+)

About This Book

A curated correspondence collects letters from Alexander von Humboldt to his friend and confidant Varnhagen von Ense, supplemented by diary excerpts and letters from other contemporaries. The missives blend personal friendship with professional exchange, discussing scientific observations, lectures, manuscripts, travels, and reactions to peers and events. Editorial apparatus preserves original phrasing and provides contextual notes and extracts that illuminate relationships and chronology. The selection highlights the writer’s methods of observation, precise descriptive habits, and modes of intellectual collaboration. Together the documents form a compact portrait of an engaged scholar whose private reflections and public endeavors intersect across a wide range of topics.

203.
VARNHAGEN TO HUMBOLDT.

Berlin, April 10th, 1857.

I have the pleasure to announce to your Excellency that Herr —— will start from —— to Weimar on the 14th. Much as he would have wished to make the détour by way of Berlin, if only to lay at the feet of your Excellency the most cordial expression of his boundless gratitude for so much friendly intercession, he is compelled by the brief period fixed by the Grand Duke to renounce the realization of that wish for the present. I therefore venture to solicit the favor of the introduction to the Grand Duke you were good enough to promise; a single line would suffice. I would immediately despatch it to Weimar, so that Mr. —— will find it there on his arrival. The young man is well aware that the journey concludes nothing, and that he must be prepared for a denial; but he is much pleased to see that the long delay in the progress of affairs is ended, and he is at last in motion. By your kind inquiry your Excellency has produced this result, and dispelled the clouds of misconception; the most grateful heart will acknowledge this with heartfelt devotion! His sentiments are warmly shared by myself, in this case, as in so many earlier cases!

With the best wishes for your welfare; with profound veneration and attachment I remain unalterably,

Your Excellency’s most obedient
Varnhagen von Ense.