[...] Anticipating the forwarding of proofs of the pianoforte arrangement of The Valkyrie for correction, I would like to give you certain information in advance as to how things are now with my work.
I have been induced to change my plan of work entirely. Sickness and lack of a settled abode, troubles which have only just recently been removed, have hitherto prevented me from working uninterruptedly. The King of Bavaria has now quite definitely commissioned me to finish the composition of my Nibelung series, so that in three years from now, that is in 1867, the first performances can be given under my own direction here in Munich. This commission is supported by every conceivable favourable circumstance, so much so, indeed, that I am now able to point out how you can get full satisfaction in respect of your claims on me:
(1) You already have The Valkyrie.
(2) You will receive Siegfried, of which two acts are complete, early enough next year for you to be able to publish the pianoforte arrangement the same year.
(3) You will get The Twilight of the Gods in the winter of 1866-1867, so that the pianoforte arrangement can be published by Easter 1867.
You will then have published the whole work of The Ring of the Nibelungs with The Rhinegold. I do not ask for any further payments from you till the whole is finished, and will then simply rely on your forming a reasonable estimate of your money advances to me.
I hope my proposal may not be unwelcome to you.
All that I ask of you at present is that you will accelerate the publication of the pianoforte arrangement of The Valkyrie.
Would you kindly return as speedily as possible the score of The Valkyrie (which you cannot need at present), as I am in urgent need of it, both for work upon the orchestration of Siegfried and for a grand concert which I have promised to give before the King early in December. Your rights in this score for any purpose of publication which may seem good to you are [...], as ever, undisputed. [...]
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner, Vol. 2, selected and ed. Wilhelm Altmann, trans. M. M. Bozman (J. M. Dent & Sons, 1927), No. 596