Autograph letter signed Wagner to Anne [Mrazek, his former house-keeper], asking her to send 100 of his favourite cigars.

20 lines. On fine paper. Paper lightly browned from being displayed in a frame for many years, more so in a rectangular section around the edge that was under the mount board, minimal fading to ink. * Having accumulated huge debts in Munich, so that even his benefactor ‘mad’ King Ludwig was no longer able to protect him, Wagner had been living in ‘exile’ in Tribschen since March 1866. Cosima von Buelow (Franz Liszt’s daughter) had been living with him there since 16 November 1867. * Anna and Franz Mrazek had been Wagner’s servants in Vienna and at Lake Starnberg. * The ‘Herr Richter’ mentioned in the added note is undoubtedly the conductor Hans Richter, since 1865 a close friend and collaborator of Wagner’s, and later witness to his marriage to Cosima von Buelow. Another undated Wagner letter to ,Franz und Anna’ [Mrazek], asking to send pieces of furniture and cups, is held by the Central Library of Zurich. * Provenance: Acquired in Europe in ca. 1952 by the Italian-American opera singer Ezio Pinza, thence by descent. Liebe Anna! Sagen Sie doch dem Franz, ich möchte von Gutleben (Tauerstütz?) etwa 100 Stück Cigarren haben, welche ich von dort immer bezogen. Das Tausend zu 60 fl. Nur müssen es wieder die von der leichten (hellen) Sorte sein. Ich höre, Sie wären betrübt, weil ich nicht selbst geschrieben hätte : machen Sie sich darüber keine Gedanken, ich bin nur faul, weil ich sonst so fleissig bin. Alles Gute wünscht Ihnen, Franz und Ihren Kindern, fortgesetzt der kleine gute Herr Wagner, der ich selbst bin. Tribschen, 28. Jan. 69. [Hs. Zusatz quer im linken Rand] Herrn Richter könnte man sagen, dass er doch nicht faul mit dem Schreiben geworden wäre! – Achers (?unleserlich?) Translation: Dear Anna! Would you please tell Franz that I would like about 100 cigars from Gutleben (Tauerstütz?), the ones I always obtained from them. 1,000 for 60 fl. [Gulden]. But it must be the mild (light-coloured) ones. I heard you were sad because I didn’t write: please don’t fret about it, I am just lazy, because I am so busy otherwise. All the best to you, Franz and the children, as always the good little Herr Wagner, myself. Tribschen, 28. Jan. 69. [Added in the margin]: One could say to Herr Richter that he should not have become such a lazy writer! Achers (?illegible?)