_Italian_ nor a _Jew_, nor am I either, we shall no doubt quickly agree.
Farewell, and rest assured,

My dear brother in art, of the esteem of your

BEETHOVEN.

[Footnote 1: The letters to Hofmeister, formerly of Vienna, who conducted
the correspondence with Beethoven in the name of the firm of "Hofmeister &
Kühnel, Bureau de Musique," are given here as they first appeared in 1837
in the _Neue Zeitschrift für Musik_. On applying to the present
representative of that firm, I was told that those who now possess these
letters decline giving them out of their own hands, and that no copyist can
be found able to decipher or transcribe them correctly.]

[Footnote 2: This last phrase is not in the copy before me, but in Marx's
_Biography_, who appears to have seen the original.]


20.

TO KAPELLMEISTER HOFMEISTER.

Vienna, Jan. 15 (or thereabouts), 1801.

I read your letter, dear brother and friend, with much pleasure, and I
thank you for your good opinion of me and of my works, and hope I may
continue to deserve it. I also beg you to present all due thanks to Herr K.
[Kühnel] for his politeness and friendship towards me. I, on my part,
rejoice in your undertakings, and am glad that when works of art do turn