Author talk:Friedrich August Schulze

"The Incognito; or, Count Fitz-Hum"

• Thomas De Quincey's introduction to "The Incognito; or, Count Fitz-Hum" (1824) says that it was a translation from German, and that Laun was the original author
• William Ashenhurst Dunn, in Thomas De Quincey's Relation to German Literature and Philosophy (1900) lists "The Incognito" as the fifth of five of De Quincey's Apel/Laun translations. In a footnote to the fourth story ("Mr. Schnackenberger"), he writes "The originals of these I have not been able to trace. It is possible that Mr. Schnackenberger at least is not a translation." At the end of the note about "The Incognito", he writes "(No complete edition of Fr. Laun’s works is accessible. De Quincey knew also of Laun’s Lustige Erzählungen.)" This seems to be Lustige Erzählungen (1803), though this volume at least doesn't seem to contain the Incognito story, and it's unclear why he mentioned it (perhaps the book is mentioned in a letter or manuscript by De Quincey)
• According to Frederick Burwick, in The Works of Thomas De Quincey vol 3 (2000): "Friedrich Laun’s ‘Das Inkognito’ is a tale of a hoax" but unlike the introductions to the other De Quincey/Laun translations, Burwick doesn't say where 'Das Inkognito' was published
• Patrick Bridgwater, in De Quincey's Gothic Masquerade (2004) writes: "The Incognito, which De Quincey identified as another piece by Laun, is a translation of ‘Das Inkognito’, which was itself a retake on Friedrich Kind’s Prinz Incognito of 1802." This seems to imply that Bridgwater had found a copy of "Das Inkognito" ("which De Quincey identified as another piece by Laun" might also imply that "Das Inkognito" was not attributed to Laun in the original German), but again, unlike for the other stories, no reference is given to find where "Das Inkognito" was published. Kind's play "Prinz Incognito, oder die Chinesischen Laternen" can be found here

I haven't been able to find any mention of a "Das Inkognito" or "Das Incognito" (both spellings seem to be used in German) by Laun, nor any parody by him of Kind's "Prinz Incognito". They may not have been digitized yet, but I would expect to find at least a reference to it in secondary literature. There are a number of other works called "Das Inkognito"; I haven't read them fully yet, but they don't seem to be the original of the story De Quincey translated:

• Das Incognito. Singspiel in einem Aufzuge, nach Saintfoix by Carl-Alexander Herklots (1792)
• Das Inkognito: ein Original-Lustspiel in vier Aufzügen by Friedrich Wilhelm Ziegler (1792)
• "Incognito. Eine Posse in zwei Aufzügen" by August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue in Theater (volume 8, 1811)
• "Das Inkognito: Erzählungen" by J. Graf von Soden in Ernst und Laune in Erzählungen für Erholungsstunden (volume 8, 1816)

--Yodin^T 20:46, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

Circular to Mr. William Sohn in Cologne (1 January 1841)

This 1841 book contains translations into several languages of a circular, dated 1 January 1841, and signed "Friedrich Laun" (tranlated into English as "Frederick Laun"). From the date it is possible that this is by F. A. Schulze, using his pen-name, but more research is needed to confirm if it really is by him. It was reprinted at least once (1856) --Yodin^T 13:03, 22 January 2024 (UTC)