Charles-Joseph de Ligne, écrivain dilettante et prince européen

Roland Mortier : Ch. J. de Ligne, a dilettante writer and European prince. Interest in the prince de Ligne has for too long been concentrated on his life and attractive character, but his voluminous and erratic work repays interest. It is first of all that of an amateur who was passionately interested in theatre, gardens and military theory, who noted for his own pleasure aphorisms and reflections, and wrote many very witty letters. He was Belgian born, Austrian by dynastic allegiance and of French language and culture, and he was part of central and Eastern European high society ; he thought about ethnic minorities and wrote his memoirs of the war against the Turks. Beneath the blasé aristocratic exterior we find a writer concerned with style and a well-turned phrase. The selected anthology of his writings published by Mme de Staël brought him late literary fame on the eve of the Congress of Vienna.Mortier Roland. Charles-Joseph de Ligne, écrivain dilettante et prince européen. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°25, 1993. L'Europe des Lumières. pp. 225-238