A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Fischhoff

FISCHHOFF. The Fischhoff MS. is the name of a collection of many and valuable particulars of Beethoven's life existing in the Royal Library at Berlin. A short biography of the composer was published soon after his death by Schlosser, which was even more imperfect and incorrect than such hasty compilations are wont to be. It was quickly followed (Oct. 6, 1827) by a public notice from Hotschevar, the legal representative of the Beethoven family, to the effect that an adequate biography was in preparation which would correct the many and important errors to be found in Schlosser. This appears to have been the origin of the collection. On Carl van Beethoven's majority it came into his hands, and at length, after some vicissitudes, into those of Fischhoff, from whom it was acquired by the Berlin Library, where it remains still unpublished as a whole. It contains copies of a vast number of letters and documents, many of which no longer exist; of memoranda and remarks scribbled by Beethoven in pocket-books and journals; of the personal recollections of his intimate friend Zmeskall; and of a few printed materials dating from 1830 to 37. Mr. Thayer appears to have been the first of Beethoven's biographers to make systematic use of this important source, and it is from the 1st volume of his Biography (p. ix) that the above information is obtained.

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