Richard to Minna Wagner: Letters to His First Wife

A smart first edition set of this collection of letters from German composer Richard Wagner to his first wife. Complete in two volumes. First edition. With a portrait frontispiece to each volume. A collection of the letters of Wilhelm Richard Wagner, a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas, to his first wife Christine Wilhelmine "Minna" Planer, a German actress. After a stormy courtship, which involved infidelities on both sides, they married in 1836 and were together for thirty years, although for the last ten years they often lived apart. In the early years Minna was the main wage earner in the household, having a successful career as a dramatic heroine. They shared in many escapades including a perilous sea voyage to London, poverty in Paris, and travels across Europe after Wagner's involvement in the Dresden uprising of 1849, which led to his banishment from Germany. Translated with a preface and notes by William Ashton Ellis, an English doctor and theosophist remembered for translating the complete prose works of Richard Wagner. In the original full cloth binding. Externally, smart with minor rubbing and bumping to the extremities. Fading to the spine. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright with the odd small spot or handling mark. Age toning to the endpapers. Very Good.…