Der Briefwechsel zwischen Sigmund von Birken und Margaretha Magdalena von Birken und Adam Volkmann - Teil I: Texte. Teil II: Apparate und Kommentare

These two correspondence collections, containing the letters of each of the partners and preserved almost in their entirety, are published here for the first time. They have high value as source material for the biography and history of the works of Sigmund von Birken and for the academic, economic and social history of the second half of the 17th century. Birken, who viewed female poets as equals and who accepted several women as members into the literary society 'Pegnitz Order of Flowers', insisted in his role as husband on the theologically justified claim to male dominance, and this led to problems. The correspondence illuminates the historical development of several of Birken's works.


Hartmut Laufhütte, Ralf Schuster, Universität Passau.