The year 1864 brought some major changes in Richard Wagner’s life, which could not have been any more dramatic than at that time: fleeing from his creditors in Vienna, the composer twice misses the emissary of the young Bavarian King Ludwig II before this envoy is finally able to personally announce the composer’s appointment to the court of Munich on 3 May 1864. Through his acquaintanceship with Ludwig II, Wagner is liberated from all material cares from this point on and can concentrate on the completion and performance of his works. Later, in Wagner’s country house on Lake Starnberg, Wagner and Cosima von Bülow seal their union. Of the 332 letters in this volume, 92 were hitherto unpublished or could only be found in excerpts in autograph catalogues. The commentaries are based on many previously unpublished documents, for example from the estate of Peter Cornelius.