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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 93: 87. MADAME DE RÉCAMIER TO HUMBOLDT.
By Alexander von Humboldt
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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.

87.
MADAME DE RÉCAMIER TO HUMBOLDT.

Paris, July 28th, 1843.

I find no words, dear Sir, to tell you how deeply your letter has affected me. You have spared me the horror of suddenly learning through the papers the painful and unexpected news. Although very much afflicted and suffering I will not lose a moment in expressing my thanks. You are aware, dear Sir, that I had not seen for many years the Prince Augustus. I received, however, continually, evidences of his remembrance. It was at the most unhappy time of his life that I made his acquaintance at Madame de Staël’s, where he encountered so much generous sympathy. Alas! of that brilliant and spirited circle at the Chateau Coppet, he was the only survivor. There now remains to me no other souvenir of my youth and my past than the beautiful “tableau de Corinne,” the noble and affecting sentiments of which have cheered and adorned my retirement. I have not the courage, Sir, to prolong this letter, and to answer the interesting details with which yours concludes. Allow me to speak to-day only of my sorrow, of my gratitude, and my admiration.

J. Récamier.