Die Diarien und Tagzettel des Kardinals Ernst Adalbert von Harrach (1598 - 1667) Band 4: Diarium 1655 - 1667/Tagzettel 1637 - 1641

The diaries and Tagzettel (daily notes) of Cardinal Ernst Adalbert of Harrach (1598-1667) are all in all a personal testimonial and - owing to their size, the diverse range of their content and the specific circumstances of their origin - must be considered singular in the German speaking area during the 17th century. The size and the range of contents can only be compared with well-known records such as the diary of Samuel Pepys, the memoirs of Cardinal de Retz and the letters of Elisabeth Charlotte d`Orléans. Now for the first time the entire corpus ist presented in an edition and made accessible to the scientific community. While the diaries written in Italian correspond in their mode of appearence and writing to various other examples of diaries, the corpus of German Tagzettel represents - as far as we currently know - a unique source: The Tagzettel of Cardinal Harrach must be qualified as a written newspaper used by the author to distribute information among his wide circle of family members and friends. In this newspaper Harrach writes about his private life and personal experiences in Prague, Vienna and Rome, about his acquaintances and family members, as well as about political and military events throughout Europe. As regard to their content the diaries and Tagzettel complement one another, and they permit to elucidate diverse aspects of Harrach`s view of the world between 1630 and 1667. The present edition includes 27 volumes of diaries and 27 volumes of Tagzettel partly overlapping each other. The corpus represents interesting and important sources for diverse historical sciences like political and cultural history in European perspectives, ecclesiastical history, history of theater and arts, history of medicine and environment, history of princely court and ceremonial, genealogy and so on. For all these fields of research Harrach`s notices will deliver substantial new material. Volume 4 includes the Italian diaries from 1655 to 1667 and the German Tagzettel from 1637 to 1641.