Deutsche Neudrucke / Reihe Barock

Seckendorff's »Teutsche Reden« of 1691 and the outline of his ideas on natural law published with them are a uniquely eloquent testimony of German Baroque culture. Seckendorff was the only 17th century aristocratic practitioner of courtly and political life to publish a number of his speeches in book form during his own lifetime and to supplement them with a theoretical superstructure substantiating his practical convictions. The text is centrally concerned with the connection between civilization and language culture and the dependence of public speaking on the nature of the state. Seckendorff's unfinished outline of natural law betokens the critical engagement with the rise of secular natural law by a genuinely significant theoretician on the essential issues posed by government and administration.

David Schirmer (1623-1687), one of the well-known figures of German Baroque literature, spent the major part of his life as Court Poet and Librarian in Dresden. His substantial lyrical output is presented here in two volumes as facsimile. The »Singende Rosen« (1654) contain songs, with the music composed by Philipp Stolle. The »Poetische Rosen=Gepüsche« (1657) can be regarded as the definitive edition of his poems up to that point. The volumes contain an extended essay by the editor on Schirmer's biography and works, together with a detailed critical apparatus.

This poetological work by the college teacher and pastor A.C. Rotth of Halle is the most extensive German-language poetics of the 17th century and the only detailed genre poetics. With its discussion of J.-D. Huet's tractate on the romance, it is the first instance of poetological reception for this particular genre in Germany. Further, Rotth engages copiously with the interpretative tradition of Aristotelian poetics. Occasional poetry in all its facets is also given detailed discussion with a profuse range of examples. The editor's afterword situates the work in the history of (German) poetics. Various indexes provide ideally convenient access to the work.

Christian Brehme (1613-1667) gilt als ein markanter Vertreter der sog. Leipziger Studenten-Poeten, eines Freundeskreises, der sich in den Jahren nach 1630, also mitten im Dreißigjährigen Krieg, um Paul Fleming sammelte und der frühbarocken Dichtung in Deutschland mit ihrer schäferlich-burschikosen Gesellschaftslyrik wichtige Impulse gab. Mit Brehmes Gedichten eröffnen die »Deutschen Neudrucke« eine Reihe von reprographischen Neu-Editionen aus diesem Kreis. Der Band enthält mit der Gedichtsammlung von 1637 und den »Weltlichen Gedichten« von 1640 die wesentliche lyrische Hinterlassenschaft des Autors, sowie eine monographische Abhandlung des Herausgebers zu dessen Biographie und Gesamtwerk.

These two volumes comprising 1526 pages contain a reproduction of the original text of Schottelius' most important work, a 'Baroque summa philologica' of the German language. It is supplemented by a commentary by the editor, which describes the "Detailed Account ...", outlines the history of its reception and influence, provides a brief biography of its author, a bibliography of his writings in the field of language theory, and a general bibliography of relevant literature.