Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840)
Autograph letter signed (‘Nicolò Paganini’) to Lazzaro Rebizzo, Paris, 17 November 1837
In Italian. Three pages, 219 x 132mm, bifolium with integral address leaf, headed notepaper of the Casino Paganini. Provenance: Sotheby’s, 22 November 1989, lot 150.

An outraged Paganini defends himself about the Casinò Paganini fiasco, after the gambling house he sponsored had to close two months after opening in June 1837. Paganini sets the tone for his message by immediately confronting his correspondent about not writing to him directly: ‘I don't know why you don't write to me directly to tell me everything that, rightly or wrongly, you believe you have to say to me.’ He defends himself, writing that three months ago when he came to visit, he saw ‘a magnificent establishment’ with ‘a rotunda already built and lavishly painted’ and ‘gardens and well-painted apartments, and a large hall that was nearly ready to hold the large meetings of the Casinò's membership.’ He goes as far as to quote back to his correspondent the words of his correspondent’s wife: ‘I, too, will repeat your lady's words that "one should not rely on anything in the world anymore."' It should be himself lamenting the situation rather than his correspondent, he writes, accusing him of ‘silence and ... tardiness’. He refers to an individual named ‘Bettoni’ whom his correspondent’s wife had mentioned in her last letter. This Bettoni, Paganini writes, is nothing more than a scoundrel – ‘so what are you trying to tell me about this Bettoni?’ He concludes bitterly: 'What I can certainly tell you is that you do wrong not to write to me, worse not to come and visit, and worse still to mistreat me.’

Paganini had been working in France since 1831, where within a few years he became rich and famous. He sponsored the ‘Casinò-Paganini’, a combined venue for gambling and musical performance. Its failure was a disaster for Paganini, who was forced to auction off many of his possessions, including his musical instruments, to stabilise his finances.