Call Number:

C1620

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

2 boxes

Language:

French

Date:

1820 january 6-1826 december 12 (inclusive)

Creator:

Lieven, Dorothea, Princess, 1785-1857

Form:

Correspondence.

Abstract:

Consists of annotated copies of Dorothea Lieven's (1785-1857) letters, dating from 1820 to 1826, to Klemens Metternich (1773-1859), which she documented in a series of 36 notebooks.

Dorothea von Lieven (1785-1857) was a Baltic German noblewoman and wife of Prince Christoph Heinrich von Lieven (1774-1839), the Russian ambassador to London from 1812 to 1834. Lieven was an influential political figure among many of the diplomatic, political, and social circles of 19th-century Europe, particularly in the diplomatic councils of Great Britain, France, and Russia, exercising an authority uncommon for women at that time. One of her many associates included Austrian Chancellor Prince Klemens von Metternich (1773-1859) with whom she had a close personal relationship.

This collection consists of annotated copies of Dorothea Lieven's (1785-1857) letters from London, dating from 1820 to 1826, to Klemens Metternich (1773-1859), which she documented in a series of 36 notebooks. Among other topics, Lieven's letters reflect her ambitions and political involvement; she freely expresses her opinions about various events and persons with whom she interacted during her time in London.

These letters were partially reproduced and translated into English by Peter Quennel, in The Private letters of Princess Lieven to Metternich, 1820-1826 (London, 1937).