He declined Johann Matheson's invitation to write an autobiographical sketch for inclusion in the

Ehrenpforte. There is little biographical material in compositions published during his lifetime, the
dedication of Frederick the Great's Musical Quotations being a minor exception. There are, however,
several composer letters in which he provides autobiographical information, including a letter he wrote
to Georg Erdmann in 1730 and a letter he attached to the score of the Dresden court exhibition in 1733.
[2] Other contemporary sources are archival reports, for example resolutions city council of Leipzig.[3]

Contemporary publications such as Johann Matteson's Beschützte Orchester, Johann Adolf Scheibe's
Critischer Musicus, and Lorenz Christoph Mitzler's Musikalische Bibliothek write about Bach's music
rather than his life.[4][5][6] Bach's entry in Johann Gottfried Walter's 1732 Lexicon is a rare exception in
providing biographical information about the composer.