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Katte Textual Criticism: P/W/T Shared Innovations (DO NOT REPLY)
Below, I present the evidence pertaining to the claim that P, W, and T are more closely related to each other than any of them is to any other account.
Presenting the evidence is complicated slightly by the fact that P, W, and T are overwhelmingly more similar to each other than to any other accounts, to the point where it doesn't make sense to do a line-by-line comparison. The line-by-line comparison in the P/W/T comment, plus the texts reproduced in toto in individual comments, should suffice to show that not only do they share structural similarities at the narrative level, to the exclusion of all other texts, they also share line-by-line linguistic similarities in great number, to the exclusion of all other texts.
So, without repeating the similarities pertaining to narrative and word choice, what I will present here are the shared innovations pertaining to fact, i.e. evidence that P, W, and T are sharing innovations in matters of fact, compared to Fontane's eyewitness sources (von Schack and Besser), Catt, and Voltaire. A dash indicates that there is no relevant comparandum.
In charge of Katte's execution:
F: Major von Schack
P/W/T: Major von Schenk
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: -
Katte's arrival time in Küstrin and what he does upon arriving:
F: Katte arrives at 2 pm on the 5th and spends the night in prayer and writing to his family.
P: Katte arrives the day before and spends the night in prayer.
W/T: Katte arrives in the morning and goes straight to the scaffold.
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: -
Katte's execution time:
F: 7:45 am.
P: -
W/T: Shortly after 9 am.
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: 7 am.
Exchange between von Schack and Katte on arriving in Küstrin:
F: Ich sagte ihm, ›daß sein Ende näher sei, als er vielleicht vermuthe‹. Er fragte auch unerschrocken, ›wann und um welche Zeit?‹ Da ich ihm solches hinterbracht, antwortete er mir: ›es ist mir lieb; je eher je lieber‹
P: -
W/T: "Conservez vontre fermeté, mon cher Katt, vous allez soutenir une terrible épreuve; vous êtes à Custrin, et vous allez voir le prince royal. – Dites plutôt, lui répartit-il, que je vais avoir la plus grande consolation qu'on ait pu m'accorder." [Only insignificant differences between W and T.]
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: -
Final exchange between Friedrich and Katte:
F: »Mon cher Katte«, rief ihm der Kronprinz zu, nachdem er ihm mit der Hand einen Kuß zugeworfen, »je vous demande mille pardons«. Worauf Katte mit Reverenz antwortete: »Point de pardon, mon prince; je meurs avec mille plaisirs pour vous.«
P/W/T: "Que je suis malheureux, mon cher Katt! lui dit-il, je suis cause de votre mort; plût à Dieu que je fusse à votre place." "Ah! monseigneur, répliqua celui-ci, si j'avois mille vies, je les sacrifierois pour vous." [Insignificant differences between P, W, and T.]
C: "Ah, Katte."
V: -
M: "Pardonnez-moi, mon cher Katte!" The latter answered: "La mort est douce pur un si aimable Prince."
FW: -
Final words of Katte:
F (Schack): ›Herr Jesu! Dir leb' ich‹ usw.
F (Besser): ›Herr Jesu, nimm meinen Geist auf!‹ Und als er solcher Gestalt seine Seele in die Hände seines Vaters befohlen
P/W/T: "Mon Dieu, je (re)mets mon âme entre vos mains."
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: -
Execution site of Katte:
F: Pile of sand.
P: Scaffold covered in a black cloth.
W: Scaffold covered in a black cloth.
T: Scaffold.
C: -
V: Scaffold.
M: Pile of sand.
FW: -
Execution site of Katte visible from Friedrich's window:
F: No.
P/W/T: Yes.
C/V: Yes.
M: No.
FW: Yes.
Corpse left visible:
F: Covered with a black cloth and removed at 2 pm.
P: Visible all day.
W: Visible until sunset.
T: Visible at least several hours.
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: Visible until 2 pm.
From the above comparison, you can see that there are cases where T omits something that W and P both have, but with one exception, no cases in which T and P have something that W lacks. The exception is that they both discuss who Katte's relatives are and how they interceded for him. W probably left this out because she already went over his family, back when she introduced Katte. Furthermore, we know from surviving correspondence that the unsuccessful intercessions actually happened. Nor are their any striking similarities in the language of P and T. Therefore, I don't take these passages as evidence of a common textual origin, but a case of both independently reporting well-known facts.
Presenting the evidence is complicated slightly by the fact that P, W, and T are overwhelmingly more similar to each other than to any other accounts, to the point where it doesn't make sense to do a line-by-line comparison. The line-by-line comparison in the P/W/T comment, plus the texts reproduced in toto in individual comments, should suffice to show that not only do they share structural similarities at the narrative level, to the exclusion of all other texts, they also share line-by-line linguistic similarities in great number, to the exclusion of all other texts.
So, without repeating the similarities pertaining to narrative and word choice, what I will present here are the shared innovations pertaining to fact, i.e. evidence that P, W, and T are sharing innovations in matters of fact, compared to Fontane's eyewitness sources (von Schack and Besser), Catt, and Voltaire. A dash indicates that there is no relevant comparandum.
In charge of Katte's execution:
F: Major von Schack
P/W/T: Major von Schenk
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: -
Katte's arrival time in Küstrin and what he does upon arriving:
F: Katte arrives at 2 pm on the 5th and spends the night in prayer and writing to his family.
P: Katte arrives the day before and spends the night in prayer.
W/T: Katte arrives in the morning and goes straight to the scaffold.
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: -
Katte's execution time:
F: 7:45 am.
P: -
W/T: Shortly after 9 am.
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: 7 am.
Exchange between von Schack and Katte on arriving in Küstrin:
F: Ich sagte ihm, ›daß sein Ende näher sei, als er vielleicht vermuthe‹. Er fragte auch unerschrocken, ›wann und um welche Zeit?‹ Da ich ihm solches hinterbracht, antwortete er mir: ›es ist mir lieb; je eher je lieber‹
P: -
W/T: "Conservez vontre fermeté, mon cher Katt, vous allez soutenir une terrible épreuve; vous êtes à Custrin, et vous allez voir le prince royal. – Dites plutôt, lui répartit-il, que je vais avoir la plus grande consolation qu'on ait pu m'accorder." [Only insignificant differences between W and T.]
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: -
Final exchange between Friedrich and Katte:
F: »Mon cher Katte«, rief ihm der Kronprinz zu, nachdem er ihm mit der Hand einen Kuß zugeworfen, »je vous demande mille pardons«. Worauf Katte mit Reverenz antwortete: »Point de pardon, mon prince; je meurs avec mille plaisirs pour vous.«
P/W/T: "Que je suis malheureux, mon cher Katt! lui dit-il, je suis cause de votre mort; plût à Dieu que je fusse à votre place." "Ah! monseigneur, répliqua celui-ci, si j'avois mille vies, je les sacrifierois pour vous." [Insignificant differences between P, W, and T.]
C: "Ah, Katte."
V: -
M: "Pardonnez-moi, mon cher Katte!" The latter answered: "La mort est douce pur un si aimable Prince."
FW: -
Final words of Katte:
F (Schack): ›Herr Jesu! Dir leb' ich‹ usw.
F (Besser): ›Herr Jesu, nimm meinen Geist auf!‹ Und als er solcher Gestalt seine Seele in die Hände seines Vaters befohlen
P/W/T: "Mon Dieu, je (re)mets mon âme entre vos mains."
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: -
Execution site of Katte:
F: Pile of sand.
P: Scaffold covered in a black cloth.
W: Scaffold covered in a black cloth.
T: Scaffold.
C: -
V: Scaffold.
M: Pile of sand.
FW: -
Execution site of Katte visible from Friedrich's window:
F: No.
P/W/T: Yes.
C/V: Yes.
M: No.
FW: Yes.
Corpse left visible:
F: Covered with a black cloth and removed at 2 pm.
P: Visible all day.
W: Visible until sunset.
T: Visible at least several hours.
C: -
V: -
M: -
FW: Visible until 2 pm.
From the above comparison, you can see that there are cases where T omits something that W and P both have, but with one exception, no cases in which T and P have something that W lacks. The exception is that they both discuss who Katte's relatives are and how they interceded for him. W probably left this out because she already went over his family, back when she introduced Katte. Furthermore, we know from surviving correspondence that the unsuccessful intercessions actually happened. Nor are their any striking similarities in the language of P and T. Therefore, I don't take these passages as evidence of a common textual origin, but a case of both independently reporting well-known facts.