Lord Stanhope – The Adversary of Kaspar Hauser, my translation of  Philip Henry, Lord Stanhope, Der Gegenspieler Kaspar Hausers (Urachhaus, 1988) by Johannes Mayer, was published by Temple Lodge Publishing (Forest Row, UK) on 8 December 2025.  For further information about the book, see:                       https://templelodge.com/viewbook.php?isbn_in=9781915776419  

612pp; 23.5 x 15.5 cm; paperback; ISBN 9781915776419; price  £35.00

Mayer’s book is the only biography of Philip Henry, 4th Earl Stanhope (1781-1855), the aristocratic secret agent who played such a significant role in the fate of Kaspar Hauser and thus also in the destiny of Germany, Europe and the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. This published translation, many years in the making, is thus the only detailed English-language account of the 4th Earl Stanhope’s life, especially in relation to his involvement with the life and fate of Kaspar Hauser.

The 4th Earl Stanhope’s home, at Chevening, Kent (southeast England) has since the early 1970s been the official country residence of British Foreign Secretaries and the location of the Chevening Scholarships (founded in 1983 and modelled on the Rhodes Scholarships).

My heartfelt thanks for the realisation of this published translation go to the late author Johannes Mayer, to the late Coen van Houten, who first sparked my interest in the life of Kaspar Hauser  and of Stanhope’s role in it; to Wilhelm Floride and Eckart Böhmer for their inspiration and insight; to Mark Gartner for his friendship and encouragement; to Richard Steele for his generous assistance, to my wife Tomie Ando, for her steadfast forbearance and support throughout my work on the translation  and its editing, and last but not least, to the publisher Sevak Gulbekian, who boldly and professionally undertook to see the book published.

Terry M. Boardman,

January 2026