Talk:Declaration of Pillnitz

Original text
Although this declaration was intended as a message to all courts of Europe, which generally spoke French until the late 19th century (French probably was the native language of both Frederick William II and Leopold II, and it probably also was that of their intended addressees), it's quite plausible that the original Pillnitzer Punctation was written in German as recorded on epoche-napoleon.net. The German spelling is consistent with its time: 'Freyheit', 'sey', 'nöthigen', 'ertheilen', 'seyn'. The alleged source, "Wittenberg, A.: Historisch-politisches Magazin nebst litterarischen Nachrichten, Hamburg 1787-1795", is a credible one. This periodical was in circulation at the time the Declaration was published, but ceased publication 4 years later. By contrast, the text on fr:Déclaration de Pillnitz cannot be the original, because it follows the modern French orthography from after 1835, e.g. 'Français' instead of 'François'. Still, it's possible that Wittenberg's German text is a translation from a French original made within 4 years of its publication (perhaps an official German translation for distribution within German-speaking states). If Wittenberg's German text is the original, however, then no doubt French translations - perhaps even an official one - would have been made for the purpose of distribution around all of Europe. We should be able to find a copy of one from late 1791 somewhere on the Internet. I'll give it a try. Nederlandse Leeuw (talk) 09:11, 20 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Alright, I've found two French books on Google Books:
 * Histoire de l'Assemblée constituante de France from 'Messidor An VI' (June/July 1797) published in Paris by Pierre Granié
 * Le Spectateur du Nord Volume 4 from 'October, November, December 1797' published in Hamburg inside the memoirs of Marquis de Bouillé.


 * Their dates appear to be authentic, especially given the French Republican Calendar notation of the first. I can't yet confirm whether the spelling is historically accurate; unlike contemporary images of e.g. the 26 August 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen which reads 'peuple Francois', neither Granié nor Bouillé ever seems to spell 'François' when referring to the French people in their entire books, only when referring to a personal name (e.g. king Francis I). Interestingly though, both translate 'dem Wohl der französischen Nation' as 'au bien-être de la nation française' (Bouillé capitalises 'Nation Française' in a German-like but un-French-like manner, hinting at a translation from German to French). Meanwhile, French Wikipedia renders it as 'au bien-être des Français', omitting the noun 'nation' and turning a singular feminine adjective into a plural masculine noun; yet more evidence that frwiki's text is completely unreliable. Because the French noun 'nation' is feminine, it's also historically plausible that the text uses the adjective 'française' and not the 'François'.
 * In short, I think we can proceed on the presumption that Wittenberg's German text is the original, and Granié's text is the most accurate French translation available to us for now, with Bouillé serving as closely accurate witness. Cheers, Nederlandse Leeuw (talk) 09:57, 20 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Warning: The text provided by Albert Sorel in "La Fuite de Louis XVI et les essais d’intervention en 1791 - Varennes et Pillnitz" (1886) is incomplete and inaccurate. E.g. it says 'pour obtenir le bien propre et commun' rather than 'pour obtenir le but proposé en commun' (Granié/Bouillé), compare 'um den vorgesetzten und gemeinschaftlichen Endzweck zu erreichen' (Wittenberg). Although 'et' is a better translation of 'und' than 'en', everything else favours Granié/Bouillé over Sorel. Cheers, Nederlandse Leeuw (talk) 10:33, 20 February 2022 (UTC)