Iron Maiden - Quest For Fire

Rice does not name the exact dates of the incident with the destruction of the title page, but at least one historical date cannot be doubted: on May 18, 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed himself "emperor of the French Republic" (exactly so!). In Vienna, this could become known in a few days, in late May or early June. About as many as ten days or a couple of weeks, there was mail from abroad. But in this case, the news was supposed to rush to Vienna on purpose and spread quickly at court and in diplomatic circles. No matter how much Beethoven was absorbed in his work, it was unlikely that his ignorance could drag on for several months. If Beethoven, according to Rice, still did not know anything about the proclamation of Napoleon as emperor, then the episode described in his memoirs was supposed to happen around the beginning of June 1804.