From the Hans Christian Andersen biography "The Life of Hans Christian Andersen. Day By Day", written by DPhil Johan de Mylius:

1848

The Two Baronesses published in English

18 August

HCA writes in a letter for hereditary duke Carl Alexander of Sachsen-Weimar about his fairytales: ”Diese haben in letzter Zeit eine neue Art von Bearbeitung gefunden. Der Komponist von dem Volksgesang: ”Der tapfere Landsoldat” hat einige von meinen Mährchen in Tönen skizzirt, und sie werden jetzt von einen großen Orchester, in der Strauß-Lannerschen Art, in Tivoli aufgeführt; die Kompositionen sind: die Nachtigall, die rothen Schue, der standhafte Zinnsoldat, Holger Danske [...] Eins davon, die Nachtigall, habe ich gehört, die ist recht hübsch! Erst kommt die chinesische Musik, dann hört man die Nachtigall im Walde und beim Hofe singen, dann versucht der Kunst-Vogel derselben Thema im Drehorgelmanier, das Kunststück bricht in zwei; der Kaiser wird krank, sein guten und böse Thaten umschweben ihn; da kommt die lebendige Nachtigall zurück, singt, und der Kaiser geneset”.

The composer mentioned is Emil Hornemann (the elder). A piano edition of the first piece ”Nattergalen” is the only music that has been preserved. Possibly the only Hornemann allowed to be printed. It's named: Fairytales by H.C. Andersen musically outlined for pianoforte It is his opus 12, published in 1848 at Hornemann and Erslews publishing house.

24th August - 30th September

At Glorup Estate once again. The Swedish soldiers lodged there are mentioned by HCA in a letter to Henriette Wulff dated 13th September:

"The enlisted men all greet me so mildly, with such familiarity, the priest, the colonel, all the officers join me for company; every evening the regimental band plays in Glorup Garden on a little island and the long avenues are filled with people from the surrounding area. On Sunday, a service was held out at Borggaarden, the regiment provided the music, playing a march composed by King Oscar; they stood in a square formation in the courtyard, in front of the steep stairs, with the stone banister draped in cloth, and there stood the priest wearing his hat. The soldiers sang psalms to the music, it was so moving that it brought tears to my eyes. The priest spoke of the spirit of peace which was descending and at that moment the sun shone on the shiny helmets quite by chance [...] Every evening the soldiers gather on the highway for prayers and our farmers, especially the elderly, join in, standing bare-headed with clasped hands. I feel strangely touched by this scene".

Also mentioned in this letter is an outing to Egeskov Castle:

"On the way there we met cheerful Swedish Soldiers everywhere, and within the fields they were helping our farmers with the raking and cutting. Back at Glorup, musicians would play for all the milkmaids and chambermaids. They would danse in the long corridor and chat in Swedish and Danish. How wonderful that the nations understand each other, I am not referring to language but rather to sentiment; all conflict is, after all, a distancing from God! Whenever will we all understand each other?"

1 September

Cease-fire in the war.

1848: The Two Baronesses published in English


24 September

The Swedish troops set off home, and HCA accompanies them to Nyborg. Here, the bookseller informs him that he does not have a single copy of HCA's books left, as a result of the Swedes having purchased of them. Concerning the Swedes, HCA tells Henriette Wulff in a letter dated 25th September that:

"Everyone in area misses them. Even the servants, who of course had twice the usual work-load due to this massive billeting, are sorry to see them go; a significant seed of Nordic unity has been sewn within the people. - That wretched Germany! Its' "great unity", which has no substance, destroys thousands of innocent people! - indeed, that country seems to have gone quite mad!"

28 September 1848

Release of The Two Baronesses by Bentley of London, translated by Charles Beckwith Lohmeyer, although this name is not mentioned. In the dedication to the publisher Richard Bentley, HCA says of the novel, "this my new Romance, the first that I have myself sent into the world in the English language", which caused the critics to compliment HCA on his flawless English!
Around this time, foreign publishers who wish to protect their releases against pirate copies insist that novels be published in countries such as England and Germany, before they appear in their country of origin. This is why The Two Baronesses first appears in an English version. Had the book been released in Danish before this, anyone could have translated and published it.

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