Presentation of the Texts

The letters printed here are presented in chronological order, that is, in the sequence of their writing. If an exact date is not given or cannot be determined, then the letter as a rule is placed at the end of the time period within which it must have been written. If an assignment of undated letters within the period of a particular year is not possible, then they will appear in a volume at the end of the edition.

Spener’s letters are printed unabridged as they exist, including salutation, valediction, address, and the recipient’s annotation on the sheet of paper or envelope.

All letters are labelled in the header with a consecutive number and the name of the recipient or sender with his or her place of residence or location. The dating uses the Julian (Old Style) calendar up to February 18, 1700; from March 1, 1700, the dates are given according to the Gregorian (New Style) calendar. Assumed information is enclosed in square brackets and explained in the notes. A German regesta follows, in which matters dealt with in the letters are summarized. Information about the media of transmission concludes the letterhead.

media of transmission

The different media of transmission and the signs for each are as follows:

A:Abfertigung (sent letter, in Spener’s own hand. The term „Abfertigung“ is adopted from the Leibniz Edition and means „that manuscript of a letter […] that is sent to the address for which the letter was written“ (Akad.-Ausg., vol.1, p. XXV)).
E:Entwurf (draft, in Spener’s own hand).
K:Kopie (copy, either a contemporary or later copy).
D:Druck (print).
R:Regest (summary of contents).

Several transmission media with the same signs are distinguished by the addition of numbers in the same type size. For example: K1, K2 …, D1, D2 …

The editor’s master text is the medium of transmission mentioned first in the column Überlieferung. Exceptions in isolated cases are noted in the text-critical apparatus.

Reproduction of Texts