Note 6 — Chapter II · THE FIRST OPERAS
Reading edition
Wagner wrote a long account of the conception, composition, and production of this juvenile work. It may be found in his collected prose writings, translated by W. Ashton Ellis. The translation from which these words are taken is in "Art, Life, and Theories of Richard Wagner," by E.L. Burlingame. In speaking of the "Sicilian Vespers," Wagner refers to history, not to Verdi's opera, which was not produced till 1855.