The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Introduction
• A Note On the Text
• Acknowledgments
• The Present State of Germany
• Pufendorf’s Preface to the First Edition of 1667 1
• Preface to the Second Edition (1706) 1
• A Letter of Monsieur Mézeray Concerning the Manuscript On the State of the German Empire, Written to a Bookseller of Paris. 1
• To the Reader
• Chapter I: Of the Origine of the German Empire.
• Chapter II: Of the Members of Which the Present German Empire Is Composed .
• Chapter III: Of the Origine of the States of the Empire, and By What Degrees [ Stages ] They Arrived to That Power They Now Have.
• Chapter IV: Of the Head of the German Empire, the Emperor; and of the Election and the Electors .
• Chapter V: Of the Power of the Emperor, As It Now Stands Limited By Treaties; and the Laws and Customs of the Empire; and the Rights of the States of Germany.
• Chapter VI: Of the Form of the German Empire. 1
• Chapter VII: Of the Strength and Diseases of the German Empire.
• Chapter VIII: [of the German State-interest.] a

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My initial debts are to the special collections units of the research libraries that have generously supplied microfilms or expertise. These include the University of Chicago Library, the New York Public Library, Vanderbilt University Library, Kungliga Biblioteket (Stockholm), the British Library, and the Herzog August Bibliothek (Wolfenbüttel). I first encountered Adlemansthal in the old reading room of the British Library and then revisited it and other texts years later in the library’s new facility. Two recent summers in Wolfenbüttel gave me direct access to many of the early histories of natural law and to works by Pufendorf’s critics. Both experiences were wonderfully stimulating and productive, and I am grateful to the staff of each institution for their professional help and gracious accommodation.

Knud Haakonssen has been an invaluable editor, advisor, and friend. My deepest thanks to him for inviting me to participate in this series and for his flexible and responsive assistance throughout, especially at the final stages. Indeed, I have learned much just by watching him help me. Åsa Söderman graciously volunteered her research assistance in Stockholm and obtained a number of microfilms there on my behalf. For this too I am very grateful.

More locally, it is a pleasure to acknowledge the substantial contribution of my own institution, Western Kentucky University, which has long supported me with release time and research funds. Despite its primary commitment to classroom teaching, the university has consistently facilitated and recognized my scholarly work, and I am deeply in its debt for its essential assistance.

I want also to express my sincere appreciation to Fiammetta Palladini. Though she had no specific connection with this project, her important work on Pufendorf as both editor and scholar has been of immeasurable help to me over the years. Moreover, her personal advice, encouragement, and conversation have greatly enhanced the sociability of the enterprise.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not thank my family for putting up with my many absences, in both body and mind, while working on this and other projects. Scholarship inevitably exists in a context of physical and social needs, which are as essential as they are ordinary. In this sense, those who surround us in our work are as much its authors as we ourselves. Thankfully, all achievements are ultimately shared.