Gesammelte Schriften

Julius Wilhelm Zincgref (1591‑1635), the Heidelberg jurist, is considered in his century to have been a master of the short literary form intended for edification purposes. The two-volume collection of his sayings, Der Teutschen scharpfsinnige kluge Sprüch [Wise and Witty German Sayings], published in 1626 and 1631, was particularly outstanding and influential. This is the first critical edition of this history and memorial book which was written in the spirit of a humanistic ‘light’ version of Calvinism. The accompanying commentary volume elucidates the factual content, origin and reception of the brief narratives and paratexts.

Julius Wilhelm Zincgref (1591–1635) is one of the most remarkable authors in the field of seventeenth-century literary reform efforts. This volume provides a historical-critical edition of his short writings in Germany and a comprehensive commentary. They reveal the Heidelberg jurist to be a satirist, polemicist, and moral guide, who intervened in the disputes of the Thirty Years’ War with various genres and publication forms.