Even Wagner Made The Odd Typo.

Editing a few posts recently, to remove the odd typo - one or two a little embarrassing - we were reminded of the letter below from Wagner to his publisher. It seems that we are in good company.

In this letter, written to someone at his publishing house, Wagner complains about a small typographical error. Modern readers may find the mistake amusing, but Wagner apparently did not:

My dear doctor:

I have just observed to my astonishment that Brockhaus’s typesetter did not think it worth the trouble to rectify a mistake by me in the text of Parsifal which arose in some incomprehensible manner.

Page 29: bottom line should read “damned” [“verdammt”] instead of “cursed” [“verflucht”]. May I ask in any future printing that this change be included. 

With my highest regards and wishes,

Yours,
Richard Wagner

Taken from Yale University Library. For more letters held by the Library, click here.