My dear and valued friend!
I beg of you to let me know the real reasons which influenced you in placing a work I regard so highly, and from which I expect so much, in the hands of a music publisher like Fritzsch. My sincere friendship for you prompts me to make this inquiry. The fact that you have broken with Engelmann gives rise to all sorts of surmises, and it is out of genuine interest in your welfare that I ask for confidential information on the subject. For fear that you may interpret this as due to a certain hesitancy on my part in regard to Fritzsch, I herewith assure you that this is not the case, and that my solicitation in the matter is to be attributed solely to my concern about your making a highly creditable and significant literary debut.
I beg you to place the most friendly interpretation upon my motives and accept my heartfelt greetings.
Source: The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence, ed. Elizabeth Foerster-Nietzsche, trans. Caroline V. Kerr (Boni and Liveright, 1921), No. 17