"Cordially thanking you for the friendly reception and your hospitality, I am asking you, in case you should visit the art exhibit or should happen to come to Dresden on another occasion, to have lunch or coffee with us. "In one respect, I have to go back on the agreement we reached yesterday. I cannot accept your offer to work for us free of charge. We will pay ten pfennig per line, which would be the same price you are likely to have received from other newspapers. "What you have told me yesterday, I have considered one more today. It would seem to me that in spite of the colossal sales of your works, the profit could still be increased extensively. My experiences as a bookseller and publisher have taught me that the value of properly managed propaganda and direct advertisement cannot be overestimated at all. "My wife and I send our regards to your wife and you with _admiration_ and _gratitude,_ yours truly "Rudolf Lebius." Let me point out that he addressed me as "doctor", though, during his visit, I had, and not just once, made clear to him that he should refrain from doing so. But he did not do so, for, after all, this title was serve him as a weapon against me! At about this time, Max Dittrich wrote a booklet about me and my work. He was so imprudent to show the manuscript to Lebius. The latter came rushing to Radebeul right away, to ask me to use my influence on Dittrich that he should let him, Mr. Lebius, publish this work. It goes entirely without saying that he and his request were rejected, and I wrote to Mr. Max Dittrich that I would never want to see him again, if he would consider letting this man have the booklet. This second visit of Mr. Lebius took at most ten minutes. After he was gone, I was missing a photograph, he had stolen from me. He was never allowed to return again. Nevertheless, he had repeatedly pretended to have been a guest at my house at numerous occasions and to have studied me very carefully. The next day he wrote to me: "Dresden-A., 7/12/04 34 Fürstenstraße. "Dear doctor! _"I_would_very_much_like_to_publish_Dittrich's_booklet_and_would_ _also_make_the_greatest_efforts_to_put_it_in_wide_circulation._ But on account of my resignation from the `Sachsenstimme' <Voice of Saxony> - officially I will not be leaving my job until the first of October of this year - I have become a bit short on capital. _"Would_you_perhaps_grant_me_a_loan_for_three_years_at_5_percent?_ Perhaps, I will pay the debt back to you as early as one year from now. | "To show my gratitude for this, I would promote the booklet | | in such a way that the whole world would talk about it. | | After all, I am particularly experienced in this area. |