ate farther into the subject would do well to read the great
work by Thayer, the foundation of all Beethoven biography (in the new
revision now making by Deiters), or the critical biography by Marx, as
revised by Behncke. In sifting the material it was found that it fell
naturally into thirteen subdivisions. In arranging the succession
of utterances care was had to group related subjects. By this means
unnecessary interruptions in the train of thought were avoided and
interesting comparisons made possible. To this end it was important that
time, place and circumstances of every word should be conscientiously
set down.

Concerning the selection of material let it be said that in all cases
of doubt the authenticity of every utterance was proved; Beethoven is
easily recognizable in the form and contents of his sayings. Attention
must be directed to two matters in particular: after considerable
reflection the compiler decided to include in the collection a few
quotations which Beethoven copied from books which he read. From the
fact that he took the trouble to write them down, we may assume that
they had a fascination for him, and were greeted with lively emotion as
being admirable expressions of thoughts which had moved him. They are
very few, and the fact that they are quotations is plainly indicated. By
copying them into his note-books Beethoven as much as stored them away
in the thesaurus of his thoughts, and so they may well have a place
here. A word touching the use of the three famous letters to Bettina
von Arnim, the peculiarities of which differentiate them from the entire
mass of Beethoven's correspondence and compel an inquiry into their
genuineness: As a correspondent Bettina von Arnim has a poor reputation
since the discovery of her pretty forgery, "Goethes Briefwechsel mit
einem Kinde" (Goethe's Correspondence with a Child). In this alleged
"Correspondence" she made use of fragmentary material which was genuine,
pieced it out with her own inventions, and even went so far as to
turn into letters poems written by Goethe to her and other women. The
genuineness of a poem by Beethoven to Bettina is indubitable; it will
be found in the chapter entitled "Concerning Texts." Doubt was thrown on
the letters immediately on their appearance in 1839.

Bettina could have dissipated all suspicion had she produced the
originals and remained silent. One letter, however, that dated February
10, 1811, afterward came to light. B