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the family of a preacher at the Nicolai Church in Leipzig, but also a trained historian by profession. It was at his rooms that I first saw a collection of Scriptores, and I began to read some of them under his direction. This I continued in Frankfort, where I attempted an essay on the old Em- perors in connection with my teaching. The first volumes of Pertz appeared later, but they reached only to the Caro- lingian period and not actually into the history of the Ger- mans. We therefore had to resort again to the old editions. " I am still surprised at the ability and application of those young students who gathered about me. There were : Giese- brecht, who called on me to-day; Kopke, Wilmanns, and Waitz, to whom I then said — such was the impression he made on me — that he was destined to be the Muratori of German history. Giesebrecht had a poetic temperament, he already was a skilful writer; Kopke, ingenious, with the gifts of a scholar; Donniges, enterprising, full of practical ideas. In this circle the work went on. We came to the Chronicon Oorhejense^ whose spuriousness I recognized at first without being able to prove it. The members of the club made the investigation which was to prove it not genu- ine. Waitz at that time was not with us. He had gone to Copenhagen, and when he returned he was reluctant to adopt our thesis, but soon he convinced himself. With Hirsch, one of our most industrious members, he prepared the essay which convinced us all. Hirsch was the youngest of the group, very well trained and zealous. Then we united to prepare the Annals of the Saxon House, What prompted me to this was the example of Raumer's Hohenstauffen and Sten- zel's Salian Emperors. ^ The blessing of heaven guided these beginnings. The men have made their way in the world, but the old ties of friendship still hold the survivors together, and to me it is a kind of family alliance in literature." ^

1 Ranke also notes th^t residence in childhood and youthful travels in Saxony had early kindled an interest in the country.

2 Zur Eigenen Lebensgeschichte, 649-650. Memorandum entitled Die Alien Schuler, April 6, 1884. Other particulars about the preparation of the Jahrb'ucher may be found in Ranke's letters to Waitz during this period.