Ludwig van Beethoven, Brief an Georg Friedrich Treitschke, Wien, Anfang Juni 1811, Autograph

Beethoven sends the director, theatre manager and librettist Treitschke a book and thanks him for his readiness to be at Beethoven's disposal.

He apologizes that he does not have any time the following day and promises to visit Treitschke that afternoon.

The book referred to is R.C. Guilbert de Pixérécourt's drama "Les Ruines de Babylone", which Treitschke was to turn into a German libretto. However the project never got off the ground. Beethoven was always on the lookout for good operatic subjects and tried out numerous novels and libretti throughout his life, but in the end he generally discarded them. In 1814 Treitschke revised the text for Beethoven's opera Fidelio.