ABSTRACT
The beginning of 1785 for Bernardin was not unlike that of so many previous years: observing the normal courtesies towards friends and family and, as ever, examining his own financial situation and deciding on the appropriate course of action. Bernardin' financial health was still not good: he was ever more in debt and had to await sales of the Etudes in order to be able to repay Hennin and Mesnard, his two principal creditors. The beginning of 1785 for Bernardin was not unlike that of so many previous years: observing the normal courtesies towards friends and family and, as ever, examining his own financial situation and deciding on the appropriate course of action. What mattered primarily in 1785, therefore, was the success or failure of the Etudes. No doubt because his future financial well-being partly depended on it, Bernardin was keen to seek every means of publicizing his text.
