BRAHMS, JOHANNES. FINE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ("J.BRAHMS"), TO THE BACH SCHOLAR PHILIPP SPITTA

acknowledging receipt of his publication, thanking him for it, describing its qualities and pointing out that he is an avid reader of Jean Paul and E.T.A. Hoffmann; he expresses particular thanks for the comments on his own music and looks forward to meeting him at his ball ...Nur mit kurzem Wort lassen Sie mich Ihnen herzlich danken für die ganz besondere Freude die mir Ihre neue Aufsatz macht. Es ist so reich u[nd] schön--wie seine Thema... Schliesslich aber bin ich auch noch ein eifriger Jean Paul und Hofmann-Leser...Dass Sie meinen Stücken so freundliche Worten gönnen, danke ich Ihnen sehr... 3 pages, large 8vo, with printed monogram “JB”, with autograph envelope, stamped and postmarked, dated in another hand “10.12.92”, no place [Vienna], or date

Brahms-Briefwechsel, xvi.41.

Philipp Spitta’s Zur Musik, a series of sixteen essays on musical and literary topics, was published in 1892. The thirteenth chapter is devoted to Brahms, praised highly by the author: “Ich nenne Brahms einen grossen Künstler”, and places him in the pantheon with Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, comparing him favourably with Wagner.