BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Friday, September 1, 1820

Conversation Book 16, leaves 43v and 44r

Beethoven reads yesterday’s Intelligenzblatt in a coffee house in Mödling. He notes a pocket edition of F.C. Weidmann’s Wegweiser auf Ausflügen und Streifzügen durch Oesterreich und Steyermark (Signpost on Excursions and Forays through Austria and Styria) at Armbruster’s book shop, which he had previously made a note of back on July 9. He also makes a note to bring several chairs on his next trip from the city.

Meanwhile, circumstantial evidence indicates that Archduke Rudolph writes to Beethoven today, complaining that he has not seen the composer for so long. The letter does not survive, but we can surmise its content from Beethoven’s reply tomorrow.