This evening at the store while raking in my mega-bucks per hour, I was
reading one of a series of short bios on the great composers that we carry.
This book happened to be on Mendelssohn and is for the most part pretty
good as survey bios go, but it contains a statement that bothers me.

To wit: The author contends that Beethoven, impoverished and on his
flea-ridden deathbed gladly accepted a gift of 100 pounds from the Royal
Philharmonic Society in London.

This can't be correct can it? Surely the lion of Vienna did not live in
such straits.  I was always under the impression that he died in relative
financial good standing.  Did I completely miss something here or is this
author destined for the National Enquirer?

Kevin