For the general historian, who is concerned more with the practical than with the theoretical or theological aspects of the Reformation, the _Open Letter_ is undoubtedly Luther's greatest work. Its rank outspokenness about the true condition of Germany, the number and variety of the subjects that it treats, the multiplicity of the sources from which the subject-matter is drawn, and the point of view from which the whole is discussed make it a work of absorbing interest and priceless historical value. It shows, as does no other single work of the Reformation time, the things that were in men's minds and the variety of motives which led them to espouse the cause of the Protestant party. Doctrine, ethics, history, politics, economics, all have their place in the treatise. It is not only "a blast on the war-trumpet,"[16] but a connecting link between the thought of the Middle Ages and that of modern times, prophetic of the new age, but showing how closely the new is bound up with the old. The text of the _Open Letter_ is found in _Weimar Ed_., VI, 404-469; _Erl. Ed._, XXI, 277-360; _Walch Ed._, X, 296-399; _St. Louis Ed._, X, 266-351; _Berlin Ed._, I, 203-290; _Clemen_ I, 363-425. The text of the Berlin Ed._ is modernized and annotated by E. Schneider. The editions of _K. Benrath_ (Halle, 1883) and E. Lemme (_Die 3 grossen Reformationsschriften L's vom J. 1520_; Gotha, 1884) contain a modernized text and extensive notes. A previous English translation in _Wace_ and _Buchheim_, _Luther's Primary Works_ (London and Philadelphia, 1896). The present translation is based on the text of Clemen. For full discussion of the contents of the work, especially its sources, see _Weimar Ed._, VI, 381-391; _Schäfer, Luther als Kirchenhistoriker_, Gütersloh, 1897; Kohler, _L's Schrift an den Adel . . . im Spiegel der Kulturgeschichte_, Halle, 1895, and _Luther und die Kirchengeschichte_, Erlangen, 1900. Extensive comment in all the biographies, especially Köstlin-Kawerau I, 315 ff. CHARLES M. JACOBS. Lutheran Theological Seminary, Mount Airy, Philadelphia. FOOTNOTES [1] In this edition, I, 337 ff. [2] Enders, II, 414; Smith, _L.'s Correspondence_, I, No. 266. [3] Enders, II, 424. [4] See below, p. 62. [5] See letter of June 7th to John Hess, Enders, II, 411; Smith, I, No. 265. [6] Published at Rome 1519; printed with Luther's preface and notes, Weimar Ed., VI, 328ff.; Erl. Ed., op. var. arg., II, 79 ff. [7] _Weimar Ed._, VI, 329. [8] See Enders, II, 415, 443; Smith, Nos. 269, 279, and documents in _St. Louis Ed._, XV, 1630 ff. [9] See Köstlin-Kawerau, _Martin Luther_, I, 308 ff., and _Weimar Ed._, VI, 381 ff. [10] See Luther's letters to Lang and Staupitz, who wished to have the publication withheld (Enders, II, 461, 463). [11] _Clemen_, I. 362. [12] Below, pp. 65-99. [13] See _Weimar Ed._, VI, 397. [14] See title _B_, _ibid_., 398. [15] Printed as an appendix in _Clemen_, I, 421-425.