This volume includes 561 of Goethe's letters from his early Weimar years. Correspondence that was just starting (including that with Duke Carl August and Charlotte von Stein) are introduced in detail. The commentary also includes many documents published for the first time, such as Duke Carl August's letters to J. F. von Fritsch from the time of the Swiss journeys (17791780). The letters are presented in an extensively revised chronology.

Georg Kurscheidt, Everswinkel-Alverskirchen; Elke Richter, Klassik Stiftung Weimar.