German spelling in the eighteenth century was quite flexible and sometimes differed from modern spelling. Some of the more common differences were the addition of an âhâ after a âtâ (Theil rather than the modern Teil), an omitted or an added âeâ in many words (gegebne rather than the modern gegebene; gelehret rather than gelehrt), the addition of a âcâ before âkâ in some instances (such as in Gedancken, now spelled Gedanken), and the interchangeable use of âcâ and âkâ before a vowel (Carl or Karl; inoculation or inokulation). Words such as the modern medizinischen were spelled with âcâ (medicinischen), and âeiâ in modern usage was âeyâ in certain contexts (vorbey rather than the modern vorbei).
All of the translations are my own, unless otherwise stated.
I wish to thank, firstly, my husband Reinhold for his encouragement, companionship, and for sharing his enduring interest in his German homeland. I also thank Jacqueline Gratton for our engaging discussions, Michael Bennett for his historical insights and for checking the manuscript, and Elizabeth Freeman for helpful advice. I am grateful to the University of Tasmania for the provision of research materials, particularly the librarians, and to the reading room staff at the Historisches Gebäude at the Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen, the Universitätsbibliothek Kiel, the Bibliothek J.C. Senckenburg at the University of Frankfurt am Main, and the Universität Rostock Bereichsbibliothek 2, for assistance in providing source material. I thank, too, the archivists at the Stadtarchiv Göttingen and the Hessische Hauptstaatsarchiv for their searches.