Heinrich Friedrich von Diez (1751-1817) is today most famous for being consulted by Goethe for his research on the West-Eastern Divan. However, being a philosopher, diplomat and Orientalist, Diez also exchanged letters with other important personalities of his time. So far, only a very small part of his extensive correspondence has been published. His correspondents include Johann Wolfgang Goethe and the Anacreontic poet Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, the publisher and bookseller Friedrich Nicolai, the Orientalist and librarian Oluf Gerhard Tychsen, the diplomat Christian Konrad Wilhelm Dohm and the libertarian philosopher and economist Jakob Mauvillon.

In my research project I collected, transcribed and analysed the correspondence of Heinrich Friedrich von Diez. In 2018, I already published an edition of Diez’ unknown philosophical treatise, reviews and some of his letters to Friedrich Nicolai and H.A.O. Reichard.

The aim is to prepare a commented critical edition of Diez’ entire correspondence for the series “Werkprofile” published by de Gruyter. During my research I visited Berlin State Library to collect and transcribe the correspondence with Friedrich Nicolai and with the Prussian Minister Ewald Friedrich Graf von Hertzberg. I also studied documents about Diez’ diplomatic activity in Constantinople between 1786 and 1790 archived in Berlin. The results of the research have been published in scholarly journals, and will feed into the edition of Diez’ correspondence.