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The Epistolary Art of Catherine the Great is the first study to
analyse comprehensively the letters of Empress Catherine the Great
of Russia (reigned 1762-1796) and to argue that they constitute a
masterpiece of eighteenth-century epistolary writing. In this book,
Kelsey Rubin-Detlev traces Catherine's development as a
letter-writer, her networking strategies, and her image-making,
demonstrating the centrality of ideas, literary experimentation,
and manipulation of material form evident in Catherine's epistolary
practice. Through this, Rubin-Detlev illustrates how Catherine's
letters reveal her full engagement with the Enlightenment and
further show how creatively she absorbed and responded to the ideas
of her century. The letter was not merely a means by which the
empress promoted Russia and its leader as European powers; it was a
literary genre through which Catherine expressed her identity as a
member of the social, political, and intellectual elite of her
century.
'Your Majesty may find it extraordinary that I should answer with a
shipment of fruit your letter of 6 August, in which you inform me
that you are sending the plan for a treaty, and that of the 8
September, in which you are so good as to share with me equally
important intelligence. Things big and small often come from the
same source: my watermelons derive from the same principles as our
planned alliance...' (To Frederick the Great) Catherine the Great's
letters present a vivid picture of Russia in a momentous age. They
also offer a unique account of her personal development and
intimate life, her strategic acumen as a diplomat and military
commander, and her political skills at the Russian court and in
handling foreign monarchs. Born a German princess, Catherine
married into the Russian royal family and came to the throne after
a coup. As absolute ruler for 34 years she presided over the
expansion of the Russian empire, legislated actively to reform the
country in keeping with the principles of the Enlightenment,
actively promoted the arts and sciences, and in her correspondence
engaged with the most renowned minds in Europe, among them Diderot
and Voltaire. Her letters are her literary masterpiece, written to
a wide circle of associates and friends, not least her most
celebrated lover and ally, Potemkin. Combining her wit, charm, and
quick eye for detail, they entertain and tell the griping story of
a self-made woman and legendary ruler. This edition of the letters
offers a taste of Catherine's entire writing career, with
biographies of Catherine's addressees, a thorough overview of her
reign and an analysis of Catherine's literary skill as a
letter-writer. Organized chronologically and thematically into six
periods, each section also features an introduction to the
domestic, personal and foreign policy contexts out of which her
letters emerge.
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