John Dalmas wrote:

>>>I checked out the "Immortal Beloved" correspondence, which I found in
>>>English only, and while Kinderman's suggestion has its attraction, they
>>>speak too much of matters relating to persons, such as baths, postal
>>>schedules, transportation problems, etc., to sound convincingly as
>>>addresses to Art itself.
>>
>>Exactly. See, for instance, Beethoven's preoccupation with the post
>>services. A post service to a non-existing woman??? And he writes that
>>he hopes to meet her soon. A meeting with a non-existing woman???
>
>Well what about Dante and his Beatrice? They never met, yet Dante has
>immortalized her.

May I give you and advice? Read Beethoven's love letter, ponder a bit about
it and then judge again.  As Walter Meyer already pointed out: there are
too many lines that only fit to an existing woman.  For instance, Beethoven
implicitly also wrote about the obviolusly bad financial situation of the
mysterious woman.  Imagine, the bad financial situation of a non-existing
woman...  Giggle.  And this fact is another counter proof to the Antonie
hypothesis, for Antonie was a very rich woman.

For those who are interested: in the latest issue of The Beethoven
Journal (published in October 2000) you can read a letter to the editor,
sent in by me.  This letter is totally devoted to another attempt to place
a bomb under Solomon's hypothesis on the Immortal Beloved.  IHMO all the
complex details of this very specialized debate don't belong on this list.
There are too many not yet discussed and yet important "trifles", only
interesting for true hunters for the beloved.  And allow me, Dave Lampson,
to ask a member of the list, a woman who wrote me off-list, asking for all
the ins and outs of the riddle, to send me her email address once more, for
due to a computer problem I've lost her mail.  Thanks!

Joyce Maier
www.ademu.com/Beethoven