Beethoven tells his publisher in Bonn that he will soon send the promised works, citing the opus number 101 (Simrock had presumably asked him what the last assigned number was, as the Cello Sonatas op. 102 were about to be published).
Beethoven complains that he never received Simrock's letter of 23 October, nor several other letters. He tells him about his inflammatory catarrh, and that he is still not completely cured of its after effects.
In addition Beethoven asks Simrock for a suggestion regarding the publication of his complete works. Beethoven was very interested in a publishing a complete edition of his works his whole life and he tried to interest several publishers. He justified the project to Simrock saying, "In many respects it would be quite an undertaking, as so many incorrect editions of my works abound in the world".
He sends greetings to Nikolaus Simrock and ends the letter with the stale pun which he frequently used, "u. beym verlegen werden sie nie verlegen" ("and never be embarrassed when publishing").
