Versuch einer Biographie der Frau Gräfin von Lichtenau - Baranius, August Wilhelm (Zurich Lindau [Leipzig] s.n., 1800)
Wilhelmine, Gräfin von Lichtenau, born as Wilhelmine En(c)ke, also spelled Encke (1753-1820), was the official mistress of King Frederick William II of Prussia from 1769 until 1797 and was elevated by him into the nobility. She is regarded as politically active and influential in the policy of Prussia during his reign.
According to Waltraud Maierhofer, Wilhelmine was often the subject of satire during her lifetime. This publication, actually published in Leipzig in 1798, seems to be "more a satire against enlightenment ideas than a biography". The author's name, August Wilhelm Baranius, might even be a pseudonym; Waltraud Maierhofer suggests the opera singer Henrietta Baranius (1768-1853). (Source: “Wilhelmine Encke-Ritz-Lichtenau: Writing and Reading the life of a Prussian Royal Mistress." Biography 27, no. 3 (2004): 575–96.)
(illegible) names written in ink on title page
einer berühmten Dame des vorigen Jahrhunderts
Keywords: Lichtenau, Wilhelmine von -- 1753-1820; 18th Century (1701-1800); Biography; Nobility; Female; Politics; Satire; Lichtenau (Germany); inventaris; vrijmetselaars; Wollner, J. C. von; rozenkruizers; salaris; muziek; Bischoffwerder, H. R; Encke; Oesterlein