of each letter, or even discovering the place where it exists, may well be
excused, taking into consideration the slender capabilities of an
individual, and the astonishing manner in which Beethoven's Letters are
dispersed all over the world. At the same time, I must state that not only
have the hitherto inaccessible treasures of Anton Schindler's "Beethoven's
Nachlass" been placed at my disposal, but also other letters from private
sources, owing to various happy chances, and the kindness and complaisance
of collectors of autographs. I know better, however, than most
people--being in a position to do so--that in the present work there can be
no pretension to any thing approaching to a complete collection of
Beethoven's Letters. The master, so fond of writing, though he often rather
amusingly accuses himself of being a lazy correspondent, may very probably
have sent forth at least double the amount of the letters here given, and
there is no doubt whatever that a much larger number are still extant in
the originals. The only thing that can be done at this moment, however, is
to make the attempt to bring to light, at all events, the letters that
could be discovered in Germany. The mass of those which I gradually
accumulated, and now offer to the public (with the exception of some
insignificant notes), appeared to me sufficiently numerous and important to
interest the world, and also to form a substantial nucleus for any letters
that may hereafter be discovered. On the other hand, as many of Beethoven's
Letters slumber in foreign lands, especially in the unapproachable cabinets
of curiosities belonging to various close-fisted English collectors, an
entire edition of the correspondence could only be effected by a most
disproportionate outlay of time and expense.

When revising the text of the Letters, it seemed to me needless perpetually
to impair the pleasure of the reader by retaining the mistakes in
orthography; but enough of the style of writing of that day is adhered to,
to prevent its peculiar charm being entirely destroyed. Distorted and