Because Wagner developed his "Ring" scheme in reverse chronological order, the "poem" (libretto) for "Das Rheingold" was the last of the four to be written. He finished his prose plan for the work in March 1852, and on 15 September began writing the full libretto, which he completed on 3 November. In February 1853, at the Hotel Baur au Lac in Zürich, Wagner read the whole "Ring" text to an invited audience, after which all four parts were published in a private edition limited to 50 copies. The text was not published commercially until 1863.