Johann Jakob Bodmer's (16981783) poetic palimpsests are clearly marked by ironic Socratic dialogues. Written at an early point in the history of literary study and criticism, they use entertaining literary parodies and polemical personalized satire to assert Zurich's position against Leipzig's and Berlin's in the network of a European debating culture that covered a broad range of genres.

The book series 'Frühe Neuzeit' - founded in 1987 by Jörg Jochen Berns, Gotthard Frühsorge, Klaus Garber, Wilhelm Kühlmann and Jan-Dirk Müller - publishes editions, monographs and collected volumes advancing fundamental research in the field. It does not seek to produce wide-ranging overviews, premature syntheses or pretentious constructions but takes the long route of detailed work and the exploration of submerged traditions