MLR, 105.2, 2010 587 alongside contemporary theories of painting (essays on staffagebyGoethe and Carl Ludwig Fernow). Martin certainly succeeds inbringing out interesting aspects of theworks under discussion. The case studies aremeticulously researched, and she places each text in contextwith reference to an impressive array of sources, from contemporary letters and reviews (English aswell as German) tomodern scholarly studies on art,politi cal history, and even geology. Her close analyses of the texts themselves are lively and sophisticated. She presents us with fresh interpretations of the better-known works: while recent research on Moritz, for example, has focused on landscape description in his travelwriting, Martin draws attention to his portrayal of figures in order to show how the author's interest in staging and performance relates to discourses which are essentially theatrical. And she is perhaps at her boldest and most illuminating when discussing the relatively obscure Gad, Horstig, and Niemeyer, whose travel accounts are not available inmodern reprints. Horstig, for one, has surely not been subjected to this level of analysis before (if he is remembered at all today, it is for his Erleichterte deutsche Stenographie of 1797, a milestone in the development of shorthand in German', p. 91). In the end, the book puts forward convincing arguments for the complexity and seriousness of thiswriting, and serves to remind us that the boundaries between genres are much more fluid than often supposed. As such, it should be of interestnot only to scholars of travelwriting but of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature and culture more generally Swansea University Hilary Brown Lessing im Spiegel zeitgendssischer Briefe: Ein kommentiertes Lese- und Studien werky pt 1: 1750 bis 1781; pt 2: Anhang, Kommentar und Register. Ed. by Wolfgang Albrecht. Kamenz: Lessing-Museum. 2003. 600 pp. 57. ISBN 978-3-910046-40-5. Lessing: Gesprache, Begegnungeny Lebenszeugnisse. Ein kommentiertes Lese- und Studienwerk, pt 1: 1729 bis 1781; pt 2:Anhang, Kommentar und Register. Ed. byWolfgang Albrecht. Kamenz: Lessing-Museum. 2005. 813 pp. 57. ISBN 978-3-910046-41-2. Lessing: Chronik zu Leben undWerk. ByWolfgang Albrecht. Kamenz: Lessing Museum. 2008. 215 pp. 27.50. ISBN 978-3-910046-34-4. Wolfgang Albrecht has long been familiar to Lessing scholars as the author of numerous works on Lessing and as a former president of the International Les sing Society. In the threeworks reviewed here he now provides an indispensable resource for future research. The following outline should convey some idea of its scope. The firstanthology, in two consecutively paginated volumes, contains 1238 ex tracts from letters by some 340 of Lessing's contemporaries with their comments on and impressions of theman and his works. All of them,with the exception of 588 Reviews a few later items on Lessings death, burial, and memorials, date from the years 1750 to 1781. The second of the two volumes adds detailed notes on individual letters, an alphabetical list of correspondents, twenty-five illustrations of notable personalities, a voluminous index of names with biographical information on each, an index of references to Lessings works and uncompleted projects, and lists of sources forall thematerials cited. An unusual but welcome addition is an index of references in the letters to Lessings character and interests, under headings such as Ausdrucke, grobe und verachtliche', 'Biicherkenner, grofier, 'Hang, in alien Dingen etwas Sonderbares und Auffallendes darzustellen\ 'Kritikus, schlimmer unchristlicher, and 'Menschenfreund, der grdfite. The second anthology, again in two consecutively paginated volumes, follows a similar pattern to the first. It incorporates 1395 records (many ofwhich consist of several related testimonies) of conversations with or about Lessing, his encounters with numerous individuals, and various episodes in his life. The second volume contains editorial notes, an alphabetical list of conversation partners and persons encountered, sixteen illustrations (mainly facsimiles of important documents), a comprehensive index of names with biographical details, an index of references to Lessing sworks and projects, and lists of sources cited. The thirdwork reviewed, a circumstantial chronicle of Lessings life and works in one volume, comes with sixteen illustrations of places associated with Lessing and facsimiles of title-pages and illustrations of his works, an annotated index of names, and an index of references to Lessing's works and projects. To appreciate the importance...