Carl Fredrik Scheffer : Lettres particulières à Carl Gustaf Tessin 1744-1752

Sammanfattning: C. Fr. Scheffer (1715-1786) is best known in his capacity as Councillor of the Realm and as head-tutor to the future Gustavus III. He was devoted to French culture and a convinced physiocrat. He corresponded extensively both with his fellow-countrymen and with many European men of letters. Very few of his letters have been published and the years he spent as “ministre plénipotentiaire” in Paris from 1744 to 1752 have been neglected. The letters he wrote during this time to the Swedish statesman and art-collector C. G. Tessin are here published for the first time. The original spelling has been kept as far as possible and there are explanatory notes to each letter. We meet a large gallery of people: authors such as Voltaire, Fontenelle and Piron, artists such as Boucher, Chardin and Oudry and politicians such as d’Argenson and Maurepas. Firstnights and literary disputes alternate with art exhibitions, scientific discoveries, court gossip and the incidents of everyday life. Scheffer wrote at length about the various purchases he made in Paris on behalf of Tessin and the Swedish court: paintings, objets d’art, furniture, books. A detailed list of the literary works he procured or mentioned has been compiled. This book contains an introductory biography of Scheffer, a chapter on his literary interests and another on his command of the language; like many 18th century Swedish noblemen, he wrote fluent and almost faultless French. A glossary of obsolete and obsolescent words and phrases is appended.