Rare and revealing Mozart letter fetches $217k at auction

16 October 2015, 12:21 | Updated: 16 October 2015, 12:23

A letter written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been sold at auction for a whopping $217,000.

Written in Mozart’s native German, it was originally intended for Nikolaus Joseph von Jaquin, a noted Austrian botanist and close friend of the composer.

It makes direct reference to the scores of three works that Mozart had loaned to von Jacquin, asking that he return them:

“I ask you to send me by the bearer of this, the Quartet in G minor, the Sonata in Eb and the New Trio in G.”

Click on the image below to have a super-hi-res look at the great composer’s handwriting.

The auction took place in Boston under the hammer of RR Auctions - view the lot details here.