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32 mighty undertaking had been attempted. For the antiquated Walch-edition did not only need to be reprinted, but its German volumes had to be compared with the original, its Latin volumes had to be newly translated for the greater part, and all of the introductory paragraphs had to be remolded to meet the requirements of the knowledge of the day. Since 1885 Prof. R. F. Hoppe devoted his entire time and energy to this undertaking. Easter 1910 he wrote the preface to the last, the twenty-third, volume, which contains the valuable "Hauptsachregister," also the index for sayings, together with corrections and appendices.

This edition should be prized more highly in our land than is generally the case. True, it does not meet the requirements of a learned Luther-scholar, but at the same time what an accomplishment the translations reveal! For example, Kawerau has the following to say concerning Hoppe's translations of the Latin letters: I have examined a part of the newly translated letters of Luther, and have found them almost always reproduced in faithful and trustworthy manner, even there where difficulties were to be overcome." (Studien und Kritiken, 1908, p. 336). Hoppe's work concerning the table-talk (vol. 22) especially has been recognized. As late as 1906 Tschackert said: "The best edition, until now, the one of Foerstemann and Bindseil, is far excelled in point of critical selection and careful use of the known sources (i. e., published sources, for the manuscripts were inaccessible to Hoppe) by the work of Prof. Hoppe in the renewed edition of Walch" (Kurtz, Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte, Leipzig, 1906). Even if the following statement of Kroker (Weimar edition, Table-Talk, vol. 2, p. 32) must be restricted by the fact that Hoppe (fol-