Beethoven, Ludwig van

asking him to let him know if he has any difficulty cashing the banker's draft he has sent him, and assuring him that if so then he will try to do it himself at a bank ("Lass mich es wißen, wenn Du vieleicht den Wechsel nur mit viel schwierigkeiten anbringen kanst--ich werde sodann selbst sehen, wie ich mich bey einem Wechsel-geschäft benehmen kann...in Eil, dein Freund, Beethowen...")

1 page, c.19.5 x 6cm, cut from a larger leaf, no place or date [Vienna, 1807-1810], overall browning where formerly framed and glazed, remains of mount on verso, small tears to edges 

Sotheby's, 12 December 1979, lot 213, "the Property of the late Nina Ochs", formerly in the collection of the Berlin conductor Siegfried Ochs. When the letter was first published in 1865, it was still in the possession of Gleichenstein's widow Anna, in Freiburg im Breisgau.

S. Brandenburg, Beethoven-Briefwechsel, I, 312 (based on an imperfect facsimile); Anderson no.158 ("autograph not traced")

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein (1778-1828), the dedicatee of the Cello Sonata op.69, got to know Beethoven in 1797 and became one of his closest friends, and a business advisor, particularly during the years 1807 to 1810.  It seems that this letter refers to a draft that Beethoven had asked for Gleichenstein's assistance with, so that he could repay a debt to his brother Nikolaus Johann.  This draft was possibly a payment from his regular Viennese publishers at this time, the Bureau des Arts et d'Industrie, which published first editions of all Beethoven's works from op.52 to Op.62, among which the "Razumovsky" Quartets op.59, and the Fourth Symphony op.60 are also mentioned in other letters to Gleichenstein from this period.   For more about Gleichenstein, see "The New Kinsky" (2014), I, 382-383.  We have transcribed the first word in the last line as "bey" instead of "in", proposed by Brandenburg for a lacuna in the facsimile used for his edition.