Luther in Printed Marginalia: Reference Notes, Reading and Representations in Swedish Lutheran Prints 1570–1630

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates reference notes to Luther’s works in Swedish books produced from 1570–1630 and uses this case study to explore the presence and function of reference notes to Luther’s works in Lutheran print during the age of confessionalisation. Building on scholarly work on representations of Luther within Lutheran Culture, early modern reading and printed marginalia, it explores reference notes as a medium for representing and commemorating Luther in print. It is argued that reference notes were a useful tool for translators and publishers to highlight Luther’s authority while simultaneously giving the texts credibility. Reference notes materialised in print the Lutheran wish to create a bond between Luther and the late sixteenth and early seventeenth-century reader, as they signalled and verified the spiritual presence of Luther in the printed text and hence enabled the reader to imagine an encounter with the authentic Luther through his texts.