# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1852 05 11_S148
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

148

deliberation and great compassion read. The 2nd — 7th volume appeared in the years 1546 — 1558. Individual parts of this edition were likewise reprinted, but never the whole.

As to the inner character of this complete edition, it contains 1. not merely Luther's writings, but also some by Melanchthon, Regius, Bugenhagen, Menius and others. — 2. Besides the originally German writings it gives also several Latin ones in translations here and there incorrect. — 3. On the other hand there are lacking in it, besides some polemical writings intentionally omitted, still over 500 Lutheran writings, which were first received in later complete editions. — 4. The succession of the writings is not chronological, but (as Luther himself is said to have wished) arranged according to subject matter. — 5. The text is corrupted here and there by arbitrary omissions and alterations; in particular, in the second volume of 1548 (which Nic. Amsdorf already censured in 1549), in the writing, "That these words: This is my body, still stand fast," more than a leaf and four whole paragraphs were omitted. Likewise in the "Sermon on the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ against the Fanatics," of 1526, many passages are altered. Cf. Volume 29, pages 318—359 of the Erlangen edition.

2. The Jena Edition. 1555—1558.

After the Elector and Duke John Frederick of Saxony, at his capture, had lost the electorate and with it the University of Wittenberg, he founded another university at Jena and had there, even before the Wittenberg edition was finished, a new, more careful and more faithful collection of Luther's writings prepared. To this end the original printings of these writings were carefully gathered, George Rörer was recalled from Denmark, appointed librarian at Jena, and the supervision of the printing together with the proofreading was committed to him. The editing was taken care of by the Weimar court preacher John Aurifaber, with the co-operation of Matthew Ratzenberger, much beloved by Luther, of the expelled Bishop Nic. v. Amsdorf of Naumburg, of the Weimar court preacher Stoltz and others. The Elector indeed died in 1554, but his sons, John Frederick the Middle, John William and John Frederick the Younger furthered the undertaking in his spirit.

The eight German volumes all issued from the printing house of Christian Rödinger and his heirs, in the former Carmelite monastery, namely the first in 1555, with a preface by Nic. von Amsdorf as well as Luther's preface to the 1st part of his German writings of 1539. In consequence of an alteration of the text which Rörer permitted himself in this part, strict fidelity to the original text was insisted upon by a ducal rescript. The whole parts were printed from 1560 — 1564 and again from 1575 — 1580, but individual parts so often reprinted that it cannot be ascertained which of them belong to one and the same edition. The index was prepared by the court preacher of Assenburg at Amford, Timotheus Kirchner, and published in 1564 in folio, whereupon it was reprinted in 1592.

Of the four Latin volumes the first edition appeared in 1556 — 58; the second in 1564 ff. (see Biblioth. Cyprianica p. 32.); the third in 1579 — 84; the fourth in 1600 — 1612. Individual parts were likewise reissued separately.

According to ducal ordinance, in this edition 1. no alterations were to be made in the text, either in sense or in words; 2. each writing was to be printed in its original language and absolutely no translations admitted; 3. the chronological order was to be observed as far as possible; 4. foreign writings, not proceeding from Luther, with very few exceptions, were to be left out; 5. the original editions were to be carefully compared and the impression made exactly according to them, and in these respects the Jena edition is indeed far to be preferred to the Wittenberg. But there are lacking in it not only the excellent Enarrationes in Genesin, which had already appeared in 1554 in 4 volumes at Nuremberg and had still been included in the Wittenberg collection, but also the Enarrationes in XXV psalmos priores, which came to light in 1559 and are likewise missing in the Wittenberg collection, together with more than 500 other Lutheran writings, including the letters, which first came to light later.

The Eisleben
two Supplementary Volumes 1564. 65.

The Weimar court preacher John Aurifaber, who with great diligence collected Luther's still unprinted writings, had already, before the beginning of the Jena complete edition, proposed to the Elector that one might begin with some hitherto unprinted writings. He trusted himself to bring together 2000 letters of Luther's; Spalatin's wife possessed about 200 of them; Dr. Jonas 250. He knew of about 40 places where manuscripts of Luther's were to be found, and Luther's children owned a great chest full of such, which Elector Maurice and Melanchthon had long striven after. Besides, M. Rörer had an unspeakable treasure of Luther's sermons, which he had written down for him from 1523 to 1546, likewise expositions of many books of the Holy Scripture, colloquies and table talk, counsels and disputations, all of which were still unprinted and would fill many volumes. But the Elector answered: It was a question whether it was good to print everything that Luther had written, together with his letters, and whether his other writings might not thereby fall into oblivion; also he could not defray the costs for it, since he was in any case burdened with expenses. This occasioned vexation and it came so far that Aurifaber drew upon himself the disfavor of Duke John Frederick the Middle, and lost his position as court preacher. He therefore resolved to publish his collected Lutheran manuscripts at Jena by himself. But since the editors of the collection there made difficulties for him, he carried out his purpose at Eisleben, where Count Mansfeld paid him a salary; The first part appeared in 1564, the second in 1565. a promised third part, however, did not come to light. The manuscript of it was, after Aurifaber's death, bought from the widow by Duke Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel and brought to Wolfenbüttel. Later it came into the university library at Helmstädt, after the dissolution of this university to Göttingen and from there again to Wolfenbüttel, where it still is. In the year 1796 Paul Jac. Bruns indeed published a part of it under the title: Ungedruckte Predigten Dr. Martin Luther's (on several chapters of the Gospel of Matthew) in 4to, and Dr. G. K. Bollmann brought it to light again in 1817 at Helmstädt, increased by 13 sheets; but they found at that time so little response that the printing could not be continued. In the year 1847, however, the present secretary of the ducal library at Wolfenbüttel, Mr. Dr. W. Höck, undertook to have a further part of this manuscript printed for the first time under the title: "Dr. M. Luther's ungedruckte Predigten, 1st vol. Sermons on John 3 — 4, 10 and Matth. 23, 13 — 24, 34." Berlin 1847. 8vo, to which very meritorious undertaking the best progress is to be wished.

The two volumes published by Aurifaber were reprinted in 1603 at Leipzig. The writings of Luther published therein stand, with very few exceptions, neither in the Wittenberg nor in the Jena collection, and go, arranged chronologically, to the year 1538.

3. The Altenburg Edition.

1661 — 1664.

The observation that, notwithstanding the express prescription of the electoral Saxon church order, Luther's works were no longer to be found in many territorial churches, moved Duke Frederick William of Saxony to have a new complete edition of them prepared by his Chief Court Preacher, Dr. John Siegfried Sagittarius. Although, as Sagittarius states, about 450 pieces have been incorporated into it which are not in the Jena edition, it is nevertheless among all the complete editions the most defective and imperfect. For 1. all the Latin writings in the original language are lacking in it; 2. of these Latin writings merely