Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of March 31, 1872

Overview

She is back in bed for part of the day, with the professor helping her hide Easter eggs for the children before she ventures out for a walk. The foehn wind makes her feel unwell, though a rainbow later brightens the afternoon, and she plays music with Nietzsche. R. returns with encouraging news from Feustel and Richter, but he is enraged by publisher J. J. Weber’s rights over Der Ring des Nibelungen and bitterly recalls the bad contract that still haunts him.

Content

Sunday, March 31:

Lulu is out of bed again, and with the professor’s help I hide eggs for the children. Then I go for a walk; but the foehn wind affects me very badly. In the afternoon I make music with Prof. Nietzsche. Lovely rainbow.

R. brings back a friendly telegram from Feustel, announcing a letter. Richter has also written. But R. waxes very indignant about his publisher J. J. Weber, who, it seems, has the right to refuse Der Ring des Nibelungen for the collected writings. The terrible contract R. concluded with this publisher years ago makes him look back very ruefully on all his previous connections.