The Mary Hamilton Papers : Letter from Elizabeth Carter to Mary Hamilton

Carter, Elizabeth

The Mary Hamilton Papers

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Letter from Elizabeth Carter to Mary Hamilton, giving her assessment of the German novel <i>Geschichte des Agathon</i> (1766-67) by Christoph Martin Wieland (1733-1813), translated into English as <i>The History of Agathon</i> (London, 1773); it is unclear whether Carter has read it in German or English. Assuming mistakenly that Wieland had been the author, rather than editor and publisher, of another German novel translated as <i>The history of Lady Sophia Sternheim</i>, Carter is surprised by his apparent metamorphosis ‘into a pert flippant [F]rench wit, & a painter of libertine Scenes’. While praising the treatment of Danae and of Archytas and his family, she finds that Plato is treated ‘with a true [F]rench Insolence & Impertinence’. So ‘strange a Composition’ is morally unsuitable for young readers, and she is sure that Queen Charlotte could not approve of it.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Original entry in Houghton Library catalogue: Carter, Elizabeth, 1717-1806. Autograph manuscript letter (signed) to Mary Hamilton; Clarges Street, 1780 March 3.</p>