Goethe thanks Voigt for reassuring war news and encloses a letter to his mother

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, poet and statesman (1749-1832). Autograph letter signed ("G.").

€ 28,000.00

To the Saxe-Weimar Privy Councillor Christian Gottlob von Voigt (1743-1819), acknowledging his latest report from the theatre of war against France, expressing relief at the “reassuring news”, and remarking that whenever time is gained, all is won. Goethe notes the bustle surrounding Voigt in Jena and contrasts it with his own quieter situation at Weimar, adding that they now await the fruits of Voigt’s efforts. He asks whether a letter to his mother can safely be forwarded and therefore encloses it with this dispatch: "Tausend Dank für Ihr Andenken und für die beruhigenden Nachrichten. Dießmal, wie so oft, wenn wir Zeit gewinnen ist alles gewonnen. Es mag jetzt ein schönes Treiben um Sie herum seyn. Ich habe dagegen nichts zu erzählen, wir erwarten die Früchte Ihrer Bemühungen. Sie können am besten beurtheilen ob der Brief an meine Mutter gelangen kann. Darum schließe ich ihn bey [...]".

A succinct, well-focused letter from the summer of 1796, written during the War of the First Coalition, revealing Goethe’s close administrative collaboration with Voigt and his concern for communications in unsettled times, while also touching on his family obligations through the enclosed message to his mother.