Editorial Principles

The texts of the letters are here presented in their entirety, including salutations and closing formulas, as are addresses, when available. Alterations in the documents have been kept to a minimum. Orthographic idiosyncrasies and inconsistencies have been retained. An m or an n with a macron is rendered as mm or nn. Punctuation follows the original, except that I have added a period missing after what is obviously the end of a sentence. Capitalization is often difficult to determine. To reduce the seeming arbitrariness a little, I have capitalized the first word of a sentence and all proper names.

Crossings out, additions, and other revisions in the manuscripts are indicated in the textual (asterisked) notes, as follows: Words crossed out or erased in the manuscript, but still legible, are set in angle brackets (< >); illeg[ible] indicates a more thorough crossing out. The abbreviation interl[ined] indicates word(s) inserted above or between the lines; added, word(s) inserted between words (on the same line) or at the beginning or end of a line. Something marked changed from was either erased and written over or otherwise altered from an earlier word or phrase; if the original cannot be reconstructed, the notation is changed from ?

Editorial interventions in the text appear between square brackets ([ ]). They occur where it seemed helpful to spell out an unclear abbreviation or, once in a great while, to supply a crucial word, letter, or punctuation mark that the writer omitted.

The commentary does not pretend to be exhaustive. Notes or hyperlinks briefly identify persons, provide bibliographical details for publications alluded to in the texts, and seek to clarify vague references.