Dear Friend!
. . . I cannot leave the house for three days for the following reason. The King of Bavaria expects a dedicatory gift from me on every birthday; a year ago I was able to send him the third act of Götterdämmerung in manuscript; this time I should have had nothing had I not been able to use for this purpose the edition of my complete writings which is just ready.
Therefore I instructed my publisher to deliver into my hands by the 20th of August a copy de luxe of the ninth volume in order that it might be bound and sent off to Munich in good time. This has been promised me, only under the explicit condition, however, that I return the proofs immediately. In addition to this, I have just received a letter from the Court Councillor, Düfflipp, in which the King reminds me that he expects something from me. . . .
Source: The Story of Bayreuth as Told in the Bayreuth Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Caroline V. Kerr (Small, Maynard and Company, 1912), No. 44