enlarged by the addition of a number of hymns of his own authorship. The other early German hymn-books of the Moravians were the editions of 1566, 1606, 1639 and 1661, together with their reprints. With all these Caspar Weiss was thoroughly familiar; for he spared no zeal in scrutinizing the text of each hymn before admitting it to his collection, that the finished work might contain nothing that was not in accord with Holy Writ. The variant readings of the successive editions were carefully collated and compared, preference being consistently given to the text in its original form, except where the doctrine failed to be plainly non-sectarian. The Moravian hymn-book referred to in the citation given below, was the edition of 1639.[1]
Still another source of the collection of Caspar Weiss was the hymn-book referred to below as das grosse Nünibcrgische Gesang-Bitch.[2] This source contributed the Lutheran hymns of the collection, together with some hymns of Reformed authorship. And finally, there were incorporated into the collection the metrical versions of the "gospel-lessons" for the church year, written expressly for this compilation by George Weiss, the son, at that time but 22 years of age. The section of the original preface (1709) treating of the sources, follows:
"Belangende di Authores, auss welchen dise Gesänge zusammen getragen sind, so ist AURELIUS PRUDENTIUS, oder der Übersetzer desselben Lider, der Urheber unsers Gesang-Buches und folget zum ersten
Di Vorrede über des prudentii Gesangbüchlein.
"Erstlich sind di Gesange Hyronimi, und Lider des theuren Christen-Mannes {{smaller|AURELII PRUDENTII, di er Diurnarum rerum opus, das ist : Tägliches Gesangbüchlein, genant, und in Lateinischen Versen geschriben hat, mit allem Fleisse, durch einen Libhaber der Wahrheit, verdeutschet; nachmahls audi ander Lider, Nimanden
