# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_October 1862_S302
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

302 A Contribution to the Improvement of the Editions of Luther's Works.

A large part of the sermon for Oculi Sunday in the Church Postil,
Vol. 11, pp. 125–130, is Vol. 58, pp. 226–230.

Let this suffice as an example. To go on reporting what repetitions
I have found in the Table Talk, beyond what the discussion of the letters will
afterward bring with it, I consider unnecessary, because, on the basis of
what is said in the preface to the 57th volume, I must assume that Förstemann
and Bindseil have, in their edition, accomplished everything that can
be done in this respect.

The older editions do not contain the Table Talk, and have therefore
printed separately the deliberations, letters, and other short writings which Aurifaber
gathered together into the Table Talk. The Walch edition is
the first collected edition in which the Table Talk, in Aurifaber's
redaction, is included. The Erlangen edition has followed it.
Walch has now also printed separately the pieces already contained in the Table Talk,
following the older editions. So too has the Erlangen edition.
Hence arise the many repetitions from the Table Talk.
From this it is clear that, if the Table Talk is to be incorporated at all into a
collected edition of Luther's works, this would have to be done as an appendix,
naturally not in Aurifaber's redaction, but reworked and
condensed, so that the pieces printed elsewhere would only be referred to.
Förstemann and Bindseil have furnished the necessary groundwork for this.

On closer examination of Luther's German letters, one finds a
great number that are printed more than once, partly in other volumes,
partly within the letter-collection itself. That the repeated printing did not
happen with the intention of furnishing those who wished to purchase Luther's letters
alone with a complete collection is evident, on the one hand,
from the fact that with many letters reference is made only to the earlier printing
(in the 53rd volume, at no. 141); and, on the other hand, from the fact that some are
reprinted in later volumes, or included in the appendix, without
any mention being made of the other printing. Only the numbers
marked with letters and asterisks (in the 56th volume),
and four letters of the second supplement, are deliberately repeated, because the
editor had in the meantime discovered a better text. In the case of some of these
letters the variations are very slight.

I will now first point out the errors and misprints
that I have noticed:

Volume 53. p. 31, in the heading of No. 14, for 1519 read 1520.
   p. 39, line 8 from the bottom, for "20, p. 274ff." read "21, p. 274ff."
   p. 52,   " 4  " from the top,  " "Schasen" read "Sachsen."
   p. 283,  " 4  " from the bottom, " "verlenkte" read "verleukte."
   p. 316,  " 5  " from the bottom, " "Feiheit" read "Freiheit."

Volume 54. p.  9, at No. 362, for "Bürgermeister" read "Bürger."
   p. 46, line 6 from the bottom, for "Walch XIX" read "Walch XX."
   p. 117,  " 9  " from the top,  " "IVI" read "IV."