OCCASIONAL PUBLICATIONS OT THE PITTS THEOLOGY LIBRARY
EDITORS PREFACE
This facsimile of the first edition of Johann Bugenhagen's funeral sermon for Martin
Luther reproduces the copy acquired for the Richard C. Kessler Reformation Collection
in 1995 (VD 16 B 9274). The introduction to the sermon and its translation into English are the work of Prof. Kurt K. Hendel, and the whole is issued as part of the activities
accompanying the ninth annual Kessler Reformation Concert to commemorate the 450th
anniversary of the death of Martin Luther. The concerts have been sponsored by the Candler School of Theology and the Richard C. Kessler Reformation Collection of the
Pitts Theology Library.
It is with great pride that we introduce Prof. Hendel to the supporters of the Kessler
Collection and Emory University this year. He is the Christ Seminary-Seminex Professor
of Reformation History at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and has made the study of Bugenhagen and his contributions to the German Reformation a particular
concern of his for many years. It has indeed been a pleasure over the past year to
collaborate with him on the current project, and we welcome his assistance in our
efforts to make the holdings of the Kessler Collection available to researchers and students
of the Reformation internationally.
It is also important now to recognize the contributions of others at Emory and elsewhere to the
present publication. First, thanks are due to G. Gordon Boice and the staff of University
Publications (Emory) for their work on the design of this pamphlet and the program
for the 1996 concert. Their creativity, close attention to detail, and energy are
a constant inspiration. Second, thanks are due to Charles D. Spornick (Coordinator,
The Lewis H. Beck Center for Electronic Collections, General Libraries, Emory) for
his excellent work on the electronic version of the publication (accessible at http://chaucer.library.emory.edu). Finally, I am grateful for the helpful editorial suggestions of Prof. Manfred Hoffmann (Emory) and Prof. Timothy Wengert (Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia), who reviewed an earlier version of this publication. Responsibility for mistakes that remain are accepted by the editor.
It is indeed an honor and pleasure to collaborate with such talented colleagues.
M. Patrick Graham
Margaret A. Pitts Associate Professor of Theological Bibliography
Candler School of Theology, Emory University