Life of Baron Frederick Trenck; Baron Frederick Trenck; presumed 2nd print (see Bulletin of the New York Public Library, Vol.26, 1922, pg 678.) this little 2-vol.set is very difficult to find; 2 vol. set printed for J. Murray, No.32 Fleet St.(1788); Duodecimo; VG; Not Print on Demand; Not ex-lib; Both Vols: Hb-Full leather, very fragile, splitting along both sides of spines particularly at tops + bottoms (the binding itself is very strong- typical of 18thc. hand stitched bindings), front boards of both vols are slightly detaching, corners rubbed (boards showing at tips), front/ back covers + spine decorated w/gilt roll (very rubbed), vol.1 has approx 1.75” long divot on foredge; Endpages- Marbled paper, both front gutters suffer tearing; Total 442pps- no frontice(as published), very minimal aging or smudging, paper flexible
(typical of handmade rag paper.)
Born into a military family, Trenck initially pursued a career in law but the lure of an adventurous life proved too strong , by 1744 he was stationed in Silesia as an officer of Frederick the Great. His swift rise, numerous decorations + occasional indiscretions did not endear our hero to everyone. In an unfortunate twist of fate, Trencks cousin was fighting on the opposing Austrian side at Silesia. When the two men corresponded with one another, rumors began to spread that Trenck was an Austrian spy. Despite his bravery in battle + loyalty to his Prussian rulers + comrades, he was imprisoned at Glatz. His initial period of captivity was one of relative ease but his repeated efforts to escape resulted in a new sentence, this one of hard labor
After several increasingly audacious failed escape attempts, Trenck finally made a desperate, bid for freedom, surviving a forty foot drop from the walls of the fortress before evading capture throughout a long winter night. Fleeing Prussia he initially resumed his military career in Hungary before moving on to Russia where, he told his friends, he was highly favored by Tsarina Elizabeth. He remained in Russia for a number of years where he enjoyed a long affair with an unnamed, married noblewoman who some have boutiques suggested was the Tsarina herself.
UponTrencks arrival in Danzig he was rearrested + taken to the Magdeburg Citadel, where he was held in manacles in a tiny, isolated cell. This time there would be no escape. He was to remain in captivity for a decade until his freedom was secured by special petition of Empress Maria Theresa. Upon his release, Trenck made up for lost time as he established himself as a mercenary, merchant and writer, producing a highly successful, very colorful autobiography that became required reading for the thrill-seeking public! Eventually, Trenck became the Austrian spy he had been suspected of being all those years before and it was this new adventure that was to prove his undoing. Undercover in revolutionary France, he was discovered and went to the guillotine on 25th July 1794. He was posthumously given the title of Count by the King of Prussia, a rank that passed to the eldest of his fourteen children. -Mme. Gilflurt
John Murray was an English publisher, known publishing such authors as Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Byron, Charles Lyell, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Herman Melville, and Charles Darwin. Since 2004 it has been owned by conglomerate Lagardère under the Hachette UK brand.
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