The Project Gutenberg EBook of Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician, by
Frederick Niecks

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Title: Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician
Volume 1-2, Complete

Author: Frederick Niecks

Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4973]
Posting Date: December 12, 2009

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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FREDERICK CHOPIN AS A MAN AND MUSICIAN

By Frederick Niecks

Third Edition (1902)

VOLUME I.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION (1888)
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION (1890)
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION (1902)
PROEM: POLAND AND THE POLES
CHAPTERS I-XIX

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

While the novelist has absolute freedom to follow his artistic instinct
and intelligence, the biographer is fettered by the subject-matter with
which he proposes to deal. The former may hopefully pursue an ideal, the
latter must rest satisfied with a compromise between the desirable and
the necessary. No doubt, it is possible to thoroughly digest all the
requisite material, and then present it in a perfect, beautiful form.
But this can only be done at a terrible loss, at a sacrifice of truth
and trustworthiness. My guiding principle has been to place before the
reader the facts collected by me as well as the conclusions at which I
arrived. This will enable him to see the subject in all its bearings,
with all its pros and cons, and to draw his own conclusions, should
mine not obtain his approval. Unless an author proceeds in this way,
the reader never knows how far he may trust him, how far the evidence
justifies his judgment. For--not to speak of cheats and fools--the
best informed are apt to make assertions unsupported or insufficiently
supported by facts, and the wisest cannot help seeing things through the
coloured spectacles of their individuality. The foregoing remarks are
intended to explain my method, not to excuse carelessness of literary
workmanship. Whatever the defects of the present volumes may be--and, no
doubt, they are both gr