Jacob Böhme in Three Worlds. The Reception in Central-Eastern Europe, the Netherlands, and Britain, edited by Lucinda Martin and Cecilia Muratori, together with Claudia Brink. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter 2023.

I contributed a chapter on Friedrich Breckling’s reception of Jacob Böhme: An “Impartial” Promoter of Truth: Friedrich Breckling and his Strategies in the Dissemination of the Writings of Jacob Böhme.

About the book:

Jacob Böhme (1575–1624) has been recognized as one of the internationally most influential German authors of the Early Modern period. Even today, his writings continue to impact fields as diverse as literature, philosophy, religion and art. Yet Böhme and his reception remain understudied. As a lay author, his works were often suppressed and circulated underground.

Borrowing Böhme’s idea of “three worlds” or planes of existence, this volume traces the transmission of his thought through three stations: from his first underground readers in Central and Eastern Europe, to the Netherlands, where most of his writings were first published, to Britain, where early translations made him a popular author for generations to come.

Drawing on the work of both established and younger researchers from around the world, this volume charts new territory. It fills many lacunae and reveals a number of exciting discoveries, especially regarding the production and diffusion of manuscripts and previously overlooked sites of engagement. This book will be of interest to a wide range of scholars interested in the development of philosophical, religious, literary and artistic thought from the 17th century to the present day.

• Presents newly discovered manuscripts
• Extends the boundaries of Böhme research to Eastern Europe
• Reveals surprising examples of Jacob Böhme’s impact in the modern era