241 - NIETZSCHE, Friedrich. Richard Wagner in Bayreuth.

NIETZSCHE, Friedrich. Richard Wagner in Bayreuth. A rare original French edition of Nietzsche’s fourth and final “Untimely Meditation,” offering a philosophical analysis of the Bayreuth project initiated by his friend Richard Wagner. Schloss-Chemnitz, Ernest Schmeitzner, 1877. In-8, red morocco-embossed half-basane, spine with raised bands accented by gold dotted lines and cold-stamped borders, gold fleurons between the bands, author and title in gold lettering, date at the bottom, red head edge (modern binding). 197 pp. and 1 f. (errata). Minor scuffing, some foxing (more noticeable on the title page), water stains in the corners of pp. 90–95, a few underlinings and handwritten annotations in pencil. A rare French first edition, translated by Marie Baumgartner, of Nietzsche’s fourth and final *Untimely Meditation*. This is the author’s first work to be translated into French. The Bayreuth Project was an initiative led by composer Richard Wagner to build a unique theater entirely dedicated to his own works and his vision of the “total work of art.” Drawing on his own experience of the first Bayreuth Festival in the summer of 1876, Nietzsche attempts to explain Wagner’s project to the German intellectual elite, as well as the festival’s historical and metaphysical significance. This text marks the pinnacle—and the swan song—of the friendship and admiration between Nietzsche and Wagner. The rift would soon become complete, leading Nietzsche to radically reject Wagnerian art, notably in his 1888 pamphlet *The Case of Wagner*. A fine copy.