History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, called Frederick The Great

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Thomas Carlyle,

History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, called Frederick The Great

Printed in London for Chapman and Hall 1859 – 1865

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Thomas Carlyle’s last major work. Volume I & II Third Editions & Volumes III-VI First Editions.

The volume(s) measure about 22 cm. by 15 cm. by 4 - 5 cm.

Each leaf measures about 210 mm. by 135 mm.

The full title of the first volume reads as follows:

History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, called Frederick The Great by Thomas Carlyle. In Four Volumes. Vol I. Third Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. MDCCCLIX (1859) [The right of translation is reserved.]

1859-1865, Volume I & II Third Edition (1859), Volume III (1862), Volume IV (1864), Volume V & VI (1865) First editions.

The Volumes are Complete in All Respects with a Frontispiece to each volume, and with seventeen maps, as well as a facsimile of handwriting.

The volumes are paginated as follows:

Vol. I; [iii]-vii, [3]-634.:

Vol. II; [iii]-vii-[viii], [3]-712.:

Vol. III; [v]-x, [3]-770:

Vol. IV; [iii]-vii, [1], [3]-631, [1]:

Vol. V; [v]-viii, [3]-639, [1]: Vol. VI; [v]-viii, [3]-781, [3]

The volumes collate as follows:

Vol. I; [A]4, B-2R8, 2S4, 2T2.

Vol. II; [A]4, B-2Y8, 2Z4.

Vol. III; [X]1, [A]4, B-3C8, 3D4, 3E2.

Vol. IV; [A]4, B-2Q8, 2R4, 2S8.

Vol. V; [A]4, B-2S8. Vol. VI; [A]4, B-3D8.

The Volumes are in Very Good Condition bound in half green morocco over pebbled cloth, with the spines divided into six gilt-stamped compartments by five gilt & raised bands, with a red morocco letter-piece in the second compartment from the top on each volume, and with leaf edges marbled. Externally the boards and spines are lightly scuffed in general, with some chipping at the spine, and with the board corners bumped a bit. Internally the leaves are generally clean and amply margined, with some mild toning and foxing, concentrated at the plates, with some minor marginal creasing otherwise.

Please take the time necessary to review the photos On Our Website in order to gain a better understanding of the content and condition of the volume.

Thomas Carlyle’s last major work was the epic life of Frederick the Great. In this Carlyle tried to show how a heroic leader can forge a state, and help create a new moral culture for a nation. For Carlyle, Frederick epitomised the transition from the liberal Enlightenment ideals of the eighteenth century to a new modern culture of spiritual dynamism embodied by Germany, its thought and its polity.

The book is most famous for its vivid, arguably very biased, portrayal of Frederick’s battles, in which Carlyle communicated his vision of almost overwhelming chaos mastered by leadership of genius. Carlyle struggled to write the book, calling it his “Thirteen Years War” with Frederick. Some of the nicknames he came up with for the work included, “the Nightmare,” “the Minotaur,” and “the Unutterable book”.

In 1852, he made his first trip to Germany to gather material, visiting the scenes of Frederick’s battles and noting their topography. He made another trip to Germany to study battlefields in 1858. The work comprised six volumes; the first two volumes appeared in 1858, the third in 1862, the fourth in 1864 and the last two in 1865.

Emerson considered it “Infinitely the wittiest book that was ever written”. James Russell Lowell pointed out some faults, but wrote: “The figures of most historians seem like dolls stuffed with bran, whose whole substance runs out through any hole that criticism may tear in them; but Carlyle’s are so real in comparison, that, if you prick them, they bleed.”

The work was studied as a textbook in the military academies of Germany. The effort involved in the writing of the book took its toll on Carlyle, who became increasingly depressed, and subject to various probably psychosomatic ailments. In 1853 he wrote a letter to his sister describing the construction of a small penthouse room over his home in Chelsea, intended as a soundproof writer’s room. Unfortunately, the skylight made it “the noisiest room in the house”. The mixed reception to the book also contributed to Carlyle’s decreased literary output.

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