Seize the Book, Jail the Author: Johann Lorenz Schmidt and Censorship in Eighteenth-Century Germany

by Paul S. Spalding

Overview

Under the patronage of two south German nobles, Johann Lorenz Schmidt published an annotated translation of the Bible's opening books in 1735. The story of the controversy the work aroused and of its eventual suppression sheds light on many aspects of the eighteenth century, as well as the nature of censorship in our time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781557531162
Publisher:	Purdue University Press
Publication date:	04/01/1998
Series:	Central European Studies
Pages:	347
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Paul S. Spaulding holds a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and an M.Div. from Yale University. He served as a pastor before embarking on his teaching career.

Editorial Reviews

"This readable book is based on thorough research in German archives. The amount of information provided is impressive, and of considerable interest throughout." —Peter Boerner

From the Publisher

This readable book is based on thorough research in
German archives. The amount of information provided is impressive, and of
considerable interest throughout.”

Peter Boerner

The cover illustration of a Lutheran hymnal of 1736 Wertheim epitomizes how local rulers carried out their rivalries through the printing press: on the pictured town map, the exaggerated size of Lutheran princes' palaces eclipses those of Catholics. In relating the controversy over Schmidt's 1735 publication of the innovative "Wertheim Bible"and the tutor's incarceration, Spalding (religion, Illinois College, Jacksonville) illuminates 18th century German life and conveys a moral for today in this banned book's failed suppression. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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