Autograph note,[Vienna circa 1817]; 9 lines on 1 oblong page in-4 (22.5 x 24.5 cm) with Iglau Altenberg fi ligrane; below, pen tests with another hand; in German; underneath red-brown suede leather shirt.
Six-point list of shopping to do in Vienna.
It is either a reminder for itself or a list given to a servant.
"+ Bejm Met Uhrmacher ihr Metronom[m].
+ MäuseFall + ZündMaschine
+ BalbierMeßer 3 + WaschSeife an der Bognergaße - + Bücher Maschin in der Wohng. des Hr. Bruders".
Let's say: "*At the watchmaker's, his metronome *Souricière *Allume-gaz *3 barber's knives *Soap from the Bognergasse *Machine to be connected in brother Hr.'s apartment".
The last item on the list may give an indication of the date of the autograph. After the death of his brother Kaspar in Vienna in 1815, Beethoven took his nephew Karl, then nine years old, under his tutelage. In 1816, he entrusted Karl to the private school of Cajetan Giannattasio del
Rio in Vienna. Regarding what is referred to as "the book machine in the gentleman's brother's apartment", it could be a "reading machine", a wooden setting box with letter boards and a reading board, used for teaching reading. This would be consistent with Beethoven's efforts to properly educate his young nephew, around the year 1817. The commissioning of a metronome would correspond well to this dating: Beethoven took part very early in MÄLZEL's work on his metronome project, which had just been completed, and he was the first composer to present a work with metronomic precision.
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