An Account of Denmark. Robert Molesworth
État du Royaume de Danemark, tel qu’il étoit en 1692, etc. Traduit de l’Anglois suivant la troisième édition de Londres. (Amsterdam: Adrian Braakman, Marchand Libraire dans le Beursstraat, prés le Dam à L’enseigne de la Ville d’Amsterdam, 1695). 303 p.; 12°.
6. Dännemarks gegenwärtiger Staat, unter der numehro [sic] souverainen Regierung Christiani V . . . / erstlich in Englisch und Frantzösisch, nachgehends in Holländisch, nunmehro aber wegen dessen unvergleichlicher Curiosität auch in unsre teutsche Mutter-Sprache, den Geschicht- und Staats-Liebhabenden zum besten übersetzet. (Cölln: Bey Pieter Marteau, 1695). 158 p. 16 × 20 cm. Reprinted 1720.
7. Extrait d’un livre intitulé: État du royaume de Dannemarck, tel qu’il étoit en 1692 . . . Traduit de l’Anglois suivant la troisième édition de Londres. (Amsterdam: Adrian Braakman, 1695). 62 p.; 8°. The British Library copy of this work [F.579 (5)] is bound with a number of other French pamphlets from the 1780s and 1790s. It extracts chapters 7 and 8 of the original (chapter 7, pp. 1–42; chapter 8, pp. 43–62). The point of reproducing the text was to underscore the role of the Church as an agent of despotism. Despite a good constitution, the Church had turned the Danes into slaves: “cette Révolution fut opérée par le dévoument hypocrite des pretres; par la colère aveugle des communes, par l’imprudent obstination des nobles.”
7a. Extrait d’un livre intitulé État du royaume de Dannemarck, tel qu’il étoit en 1692 . . . Traduit de l’anglois, suivant la troisième edition de Londres. (A Amsterdam, chez Adrian Braakman, 1695). 62 p.; translation of chapters 7 and 8 of the Account of Denmark, as it was in the year 1692. Republished in 1789, see Horace E. Hayden, French Revolutionary Pamphlets (New York: New York Public Library, 1945).
8. Etat du royaume de Danemark, tel qu’il étoit l’an 1692 Suivant la troisième édition de Londres. (Amsterdam, 1695). [6], 412, [24] p. (pp. [1]–[2].) [1] leaf of plates; 8°.
9. Memoires de Mr. Molesworth: dans lesquels on voit l’état du royaume de Danemark, tel qu’il étoit l’an 1692. Derniere édition, augmentée d’un indice tres necessaire. (A Paris, Chez la veuve Mabre Cramoisy, 1697). [5], 412, [24] p.; [1] p. [436]; 8°. Includes index.
10. Dännemarks gegenwärtiger Staat, unter der numehro [sic] souverainen Regierung Christiani V . . . / erstlich in Englisch und Frantzösisch, nachgehends in Holländisch, nunmehro aber wegen dessen unvergleichlicher Curiosität auch in unsre teutsche Mutter-Sprache, den Geschicht- und Staats-Liebhabenden zum besten übersetzet. (Cölln: Bey Pieter Marteau, 1697).
11. Mémoires de Mr. Molesworth: dans lesquels on voit l’état du Royaume de Danemark. Nouvelle édition, etc. (Paris, 1705). 412 p.; 8°.
12. Memoires de Mr. Molesworth: dans lequel on voit l’état du royaume de Danemark. Nouvelle édition, augmentée d’un indice très necessaire. (A Paris, Chez la veuve de Mabre Cramoisy, 1705). [4], 412, [24] p.; 8°.
13. Etat present du royaume de Danemarc: par lequel on voit le fort, & le foible de cette couronne, avec des remarques trèsutiles, sur son gouvernement despotique, & la conduite qu’elle tient aujourd’hui. (A Paris, Chez la veuve Mabre Cramoisy, 1714). 2 p. l., 412 p., 12 l.; front. 8°.
14. Etat present du royaume de Danemarc: par lequel on voit le fort, & le foible de cette couronne, avec des remarques trèsutiles, sur son gouvernement despotique, & la conduite qu’elle tient aujourd’hui. (Paris: Chez la veuve Mabre Cramoisy, 1715). 3 p. l., 412, [23] p.; 8°.
15. État present de Danemarc . . .: Trad. de l’Anglois (Amsterdam: Jean Baptiste Desroches de Parthenay, 1732).
16. Berättelse, huruledes konunga riket Dannemark ifrån et fritt wal-rike blifwit inom fyra dagar förwandlat til et ärfteligit enwäldigt rike, på riks dagen i Köpenhamn år 1660. (Stockholm: Nordström Wennberg, 1771).
The intention has been to produce an edition of Molesworth’s major political writings that is accurate yet easily accessible to modern readers. The text has been modernized only in minor respects. Capitalization has generally been retained according to the original printed editions. Significant adjustment has been made to typographical layout: section titles, running heads, catchwords, and original pagination have been retained only where judged significant for authorial meaning or contemporary readings.
For the Account, which went into six editions—three published during Molesworth’s life—I have taken the third corrected edition as the copy text. The 1738 edition (owned by Thomas Hollis) was also collated, and some corrections of punctuation and spelling have been silently adopted from this edition (most commonly the replacement of a semicolon with a full stop).
Italics
In the original printed editions of the Account and Francogallia, italics were used for proper names, foreign language phrases, and terms under discussion, such as “Cologne” or “publick.” Quotations and paraphrases from other works were sometimes given in italics: the present edition abandons this practice in favor of using quotation marks where possible for citations. Italics for proper names and place names have been preserved where significant.
Spelling and Footnotes
This edition has preserved the irregular orthography of Molesworth’s day, including that of proper names and place names, except where there are clear mistakes (and these have been silently corrected). Spellings in old style have been retained: for example, chuse, compleat, shew, publick (and other –ck endings); similarly, words with contracted –ed endings have been retained, but those like rendred have silently become “rendered.”
Other silent adjustments to spelling and grammar have been made for clarity’s sake: for example, square brackets denote the inclusion of footnotes and words not in the original. Latin phrases have been reproduced as in the original (also italicized).
In this edition of Francogallia all instances of “Capevingian” have been replaced with the more modern “Capetian,” and “Carlovingian” with “Carolingian.”
Unless stated otherwise, all translations are by the editor.
Where possible, all sources used by Molesworth in the Account of Denmark have been identified in appropriate footnotes. In Molesworth’s edition of Hotman’s Francogallia, he meticulously reproduced, generally in the main body of the text, references from the original editions that he had consulted (the 1576 Latin and French versions rather than the 1574 edition). The present edition has preserved this aspect of the translation. As Giesey and Salmon establish in their parallel Latin and English edition, Hotman identified his citations by italics (although not all such passages were direct quotations, sometimes being condensed or partially adjusted). The modern Cambridge University Press edition supplies precise pagination in accessible editions for these original sources. Readers who wish to explore the erudition at play in the work should consult the 1972 apparatus.
This Liberty Fund edition includes footnotes to identify sources where either Hotman or Molesworth failed to give a bibliographical reference. In general, references to classical sources will give author, title, book, and chapter or paragraph in standard style. A full and precise reference can be gathered from consulting Giesey and