A historian of Eastern Europe. William Coxe and his book “History of the House of Austria” from 1807.
William Coxe is a leading English traveller and memorialist who in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, published a series of books about Central and Eastern Europe. Born in London in 1747 and educated at Eton College, William Coxe was able to visit on several occasions this geographical area, as guardian of some young men, members of English aristocratic families. All his travels and experiences were published by the author in various papers, most of them having a strong historical and memorialist character. His work “History of the House of Austria, from The Foundation Of The Monarchy by Rhodolph of Hapsburgh, The Death of Leopold The Second: 1218 … to .. 1792” was published in two volumes in London in 1807. The above mentioned book is William Coxe’s most important historical work and, by its magnitude, paves the way for the Anglo-Saxon historiography which systematically dealt with the Habsburg Empire history . His book also contains original documents, though his own writing is of the dullest manner and shows no higher qualities than those of the conscientious analyst. This paper aims to follow the manner in which the author and the Anglo-Saxon world perceived the political relations between the House of Habsburg and the Principality of Transylvania in the early nineteenth century. In this first article, it shows some information about the author and this book.
Keywords: William Coxe, House of Habsburg, Transylvania, english historiography, the Habsburg reformism
1. Am preluat informaţiile biografice din anuarul istoricilor englezi publicat la 1829 şi am preferat acest fapt pentru că descrierea biografică s-a făcut după un an de la moartea sa.Vezi: ***, The Annual Biography and Obituary for the Year 1829, vol.XIII, London, Printed by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1829, p. 227.
2. Peter Coxe, The Social Day: A Poem, in Four Cantos, London, Printed by J. Moyes, for James Carpenter & Son, and R. Ackermann, 1823.
3. Planul de publicare al poemului era cunoscut din anul 1815 iar la publicarea lui au contribuit şi membrii familiei regale engleze. Vezi: E.W.Allen, The New Monthly Magazine, vol.III, London, Published by H.Colburn, p. 142.
4. În momentul morţii tatălui său. Vezi: „The Annual Biography…”, op.cit., p. 227.
5. Leslie Stephen, Sidney Lee (eds.), Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 12 (Conder- Craigie), Ney York, Ed. Macmilliam and Co., 1887, p. 421.
6. ***„The Annual Biography…”, op.cit., p. 228.
7. Leslie Stephen, Sidney Lee (eds.), Dictionary of National Biography…, op.cit., p. 421.
8. Idem.
9. Călătoriile pe care Willia Coxe le-a întreprins în Europa au fost următoarele: 1775-Franţa şi Elveţia; 1779-Polonia, Rusia şi Danemerca; 1786-Germania, Elveţia, Italia, Ţările de Jos; 1786/1787-din nou Elveţia şi Franţa; 1794- Olanda, statele germane şi Ungaria. Vezi: ***„The Annual Biography…”, op.cit., p. 229-230.
10. Peter Kamber, Enlightenment Revolution, and the Libraries in Lucerne, 1787-1812, în Libraries & Culture, vol. 26, nr. 1, 1991, p. 199.
11. Simon Werret, Russian responses to the voyages of Captain Cook, în Captain Cook Explorations and Reassessments, edited by Glyndwr Williams, Wiltshire, Ed. Boydell Press, 2004, p. 184-185.
12. Leslie Stephen, Sidney Lee (eds.), Dictionary of National Biography…, op.cit., p. 421
13. „The Annual Biography…”, op.cit., p. 231
14. Idem.
15. Despre consulul Walter Shairp vezi: Herbert Kaplan, Russian Overseas Commerce with Great Britain During the Reign of Catherine II, Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society (volum 218), 1995, p. 147-149.
16. Cărţile de călătorie ale autorului erau foarte căutate în epoca respectivă. Vezi: Deborah Kennedy, Helen Maria Williams and The Age of Revolution, Lewisburg, Bucknell University Press, 2002, p. 129-130.
17. În istoriografia românească, William Coxe a pătruns prin intermediul lucrării lui Larry Wolff. Vezi: Larry Wolff, Inventarea Europei de Est. Harta civilizaţiei în Epoca Luminilor, traducere Bianca Rizzoli, Bucureşti, Ed. Humanitas, 2000, p. 45-61.
18. ***„The Annual Biography…”, op.cit., p. 231-235.
19. William Coxe, Mr. Coxe submits to his friends a plan of the historical and political state of Europe, a work in which he is now engaged; and solicits any information which may render it more acceptable to the public, London, 1792.
20. William Coxe, History of the House of Austria from foundation of the monarchy by Rhodolph of Hapsburgh to the death of Leopold the Second: 1218 to 1792, vol. I şi II., London, Printed byLuke Hansard and Sons, T.Candell and W.Davies, 1807.
21. Primul volum se împarte în două părţi. Astfel, prima parte are 32 de capitole şi 543 de pagini. Partea a doua cuprinde 47 de capitole şi continuarea de la pagina 544 la 1256.
22. William Coxe, History of the House of Austria from foundation of the monarchy by Rhodolph of Hapsburgh to the death of Leopold the Second: 1218 to 1792, Vol. 1-5, Second edition, London, Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.
23. William Coxe, History of the House of Austria from foundation of the monarchy by Rhodolph of Hapsburgh to the death of Leopold the Second: 1218 to 1792, Vol. 1-3, third edition, London, Printed for Henry G.Bohn, 1847.
24. William Coxe, History of the House of Austria from foundation of the monarchy by Rhodolph of Hapsburgh to the death of Leopold the Second: 1218 to 1792, London, Printed for G.Bell and sons, 1882.
25. Kelly Walter Keating, History of the House of Austria: From the aaccession of Francis I to the Revolution of 1848. In continuation of the history written eascăby Archdeacon Coxe; to which is added Genesis, or, details of the late Austrian revolution by an officer of state (Count Hartig), London, Publisher Henry G.Bohn, 1853.
26. Continuarea este o compilaţie între opiniile lui Kelly Walter Keating şi traducerea lucrării lui Franz de Paula Hartig (Graf von), Genesis der Revolution in Oesterreich im Jahre 1848, Leipzig, F.Fleischer, 1850.
27. Kelly Walter Keating, History of the House of Austria: From the aaccession of Francis I to the Revolution of 1848. In continuation of the history written by Archdeacon Coxe; to which is added Genesis, or, details of the late Austrian revolution by an officer of state (Count Hartig), London, Publisher George Bell and Sons, 1905.
28. William Coxe, Histoire de la maison d’Autriche, depuis Rodolphe de Hapsbourg jusqu’à la mort de Léopold II, tomul. I-V, traducere de Pierre F. Henry, Paris, Editura H.Nicolle, 1809.
29. Guglielmo Coxe, Storia della Casa D’Austria da Rodolfo di Apsburgo alla Morte di Leopoldo II, Traduzione di Paolo Emilio Campi, vol I-VI, Milano, Per Nicolo Bettoni, 1823.
30. În ediţia germană, apare cu numele de Wilhelm Core’s, Geschichte des Hauses Österreich von Rudolph von Habsburg bis auf Leopold des zweiten Tod (1218-1792), traducere în germană de Hans Karl Dippold şi Adolph Wagner, Band I-IV, Hamburg, Hamburg und Lubect, 1818.
31. Despre John Douglas, episcopul de Salisbury, vezi: Leslie Stephen, Sidney Lee (eds.), Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 15 (Diamond to Drake), Ney York, Ed. Macmilliam and Co., 1888, p. 337-338; Elizabeth Carter, Elizabeth Carter, 1717-1806. An Edition of Some Unpublished Letters, edited by Gwen Hampshire, Ed. University of Delaware Press, 2005, p.161.
32. Leslie Stephen, Sidney Lee (eds.), Dictionary of National Biography…, op.cit., p. 421.
33. William Dodsworth, An Historical Account of the Episcopal See, and Cathedral Church, of Sarum, or Salisbury, Comprising Biographical Notices of the Bishops; the History of the Establishment, From the Earliest Period; and a Description of the Monuments. Illustrated with Engravings, Salisbury, Printed by Brodie and Dowding, 1814, Preface, p. VII.
34. William Coxe, History of the House of Austria from foundation of the monarchy by Rhodolph of Hapsburgh to the death of Leopold the Second: 1218 to 1792, vol. I şi II., London, Printed byLuke Hansard and Sons, T.Candell and W.Davies, 1807, Preface, p. I.
35. Ibidem, p. I-II.
36. Este vorba despre războaiele napoloniene în care Anglia a fost inplicată.
37. William Coxe, History of the House of Austria, op.cit., p. II-III.
38. Ibidem, p. III-IV.
39. Ibidem, p. V.
