BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827). Autograph letter signed (‘Beethoven’) to [the pianist and composer Charles] Neate, n.p., n.d. [Vienna, shortly before 6 February 1816], in idiosyncratic French, 'j'ai le plaisir de vous dire, que tous les oeuvres, que vous aves demandès de moi, seront copie pendant 5 (cinq) jours, j'espère que vous êtes bien content de la bonne volontè / de votre vrai ami / Beethoven', 2 pages, small 4to (192 x 115mm), pencil annotation, integral address leaf, ‘Pour Monsieur Neate, Virtuose, Compositeur très celebre' (remnant of seal in black wax, seal tears), tipped onto an album leaf. Provenance: from the autograph collection of Sir Francis Clare Ford (1828-1899).

APPARENTLY UNPUBLISHED: not in the Briefe (Munich: Henle Verlag, 1996), which does however include three other letters to Neate in the days before his departure from Vienna. The pianist and cellist Charles Neate (1784-1877), a founder member of the Philharmonic Society, was in Vienna from May 1815 until c. 6 February the following year: he had been entrusted by the Philharmonic Society with the purchase of three overtures and some other works from Beethoven, and developed a close friendship with the composer, in spite of the latter's refusal to teach him composition. The manuscript copies with which he returned to England, and which are referred to in the present letter, were a remarkable haul, included op. 61, op. 72, op. 92, op. 95, op. 102, op. 112, op. 113 (overture), op. 115, op. 117 (overture) and op. 136.