Dearest Franz,
Forgive me for writing but a few lines. I have been severely ill these four weeks, and my recovery is scarcely noticeable. I am still extremely weak. I have an urgent request to make. Fancy! I do not possess a SINGLE copy of my poem of The Ring of the Nibelung. I want to publish it, and do not know where to get a copy for the printer. I remember that at the time I sent a great number of copies to Weimar, and there was such abundance there that (as I think Draseke told me) the book was to be had secondhand. Be kind enough to get me one copy in consideration of my urgent need, and send it me as quickly as possible.
If there should not be a single possessor who could make up his mind to part with his copy in spite of the author's great difficulty, I promise to restore to him the identical copy after the completion of the reprint. I may therefore fairly ask even the most ardent admirer of my poem to make this sacrifice on my behalf. Alas! I begin to perspire, and can write no more. Come to Paris as you promised, and make me happy!
Richard Wagner
Source: Project Gutenberg eBook #4234, Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt — Volume 2, No. 310