25.2.1804 - The Thorvaldsens Museum Archives


	No. 340 of 10318

No. 340 of 10318

Sender	Date	Recipient
Bertel Thorvaldsen [+] Sender’s Location Rom	25.2.1804 [+] Dating based on Dateringen skyldes datoangivelsen på det afsendte brev, som dette udkast er forlæg til.	Nicolai Abildgaard [+] Recipient’s Location København Information on recipient Ingen udskrift.
Abstract Second draft of a letter: Thorvaldsen apologizes for his long silence due to an illness which has left him incapable of working and writing.

Sender

Date

Recipient

Bertel Thorvaldsen [+]

Sender’s Location

Rom

25.2.1804 [+]

Dating based on

Dateringen skyldes datoangivelsen på det afsendte brev, som dette udkast er forlæg til.

Nicolai Abildgaard [+]

Recipient’s Location

København

Information on recipient

Ingen udskrift.

Abstract

Second draft of a letter: Thorvaldsen apologizes for his long silence due to an illness which has left him incapable of working and writing.

Gode Hr Justidsraad!
De maae tilgive at jeg isaa lang Tiid ikke har skrivet Dem til; jeg har været næsten i et hel Aar saa syg at jeg ikke har kundet arbejde og af den Aarsag saa melankolsk at jeg indnu minder har kundet sadt mig til at skrive, ieg er nu noget bedre og har igen begynd lidet at arbejde – Bÿsterne vare alle giorte paa Spekolation de til ~~Dem udtagen~~ hr Justidraaden undtagne og en anden af Me[n]istren[...]

Good Counsellor,
You must forgive me that I have not written to you for long; for almost a year I have been so ill that I have not been able to work and for that reason I have been so melancholic that I felt even less like sitting down to write, I am now somewhat better and have again begun to work a little – The busts were all made on speculation except for the ones for you ~~excepted to you~~, Sir and another one of the minister [….]

[Translated by Karen Husum]

General Comment
This is a draft of Thorvaldsen’s letter dated 25.2.1804 to Abildgaard. The draft is almost identical to the introduction of the final letter. The fragment ends abruptly – regarding the continuation and comments on the letter draft, see the final letter. Besides this fragment there are two other drafts of the same letter; one is identical to this fragment, while the other must represent an earlier stage in the writing process.
Archival Reference
m28, nr. 91,2
Document Type
Draft, autograph
Thiele
Jf. Thiele I, p. 210.
Subjects
Portrait Busts, Historical Persons · Portrait Busts, Contemporary Persons · Thorvaldsen's Illness 1803-04 · Thorvaldsen's Spoken and Written Language
Persons
Edmund Bourke
Works

General Comment

This is a draft of Thorvaldsen’s letter dated 25.2.1804 to Abildgaard. The draft is almost identical to the introduction of the final letter. The fragment ends abruptly – regarding the continuation and comments on the letter draft, see the final letter.
Besides this fragment there are two other drafts of the same letter; one is identical to this fragment, while the other must represent an earlier stage in the writing process.

Archival Reference

m28, nr. 91,2

Document Type

Draft, autograph

Thiele

Jf. Thiele I, p. 210.

Subjects

Portrait Busts, Historical Persons · Portrait Busts, Contemporary Persons · Thorvaldsen's Illness 1803-04 · Thorvaldsen's Spoken and Written Language

Persons

Edmund Bourke

Works