is primer in 1888,
I ventured to predict that the interest of English students in the
subject would grow and develop as time went on, but I hardly expected
that it would grow so much that a second edition of the book would be
required within so short a period. It has been revised throughout, and
several changes have been made in the phonology, but I have not thought
it advisable to alter the general plan and scope of the former edition.
After many years of personal experience as a teacher and examiner in the
older periods of the German language, I have become firmly convinced
that the larger books on the subject contain too many details for
beginners. I feel sure that the easiest and best way to acquire a
thorough knowledge of Middle High German is to start with an elementary
book like the present, and then to learn the details of the grammar,
especially the phonology of the various dialects, from a more advanced
work.

OXFORD: _December, 1898._

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

In the preparation of the new edition, I have steadily kept in view the
class of students for whom the book was originally written. When the
first edition appeared twenty-eight years ago, there were very few
students in this country who took up the serious study of the older
periods of the various Germanic languages at the Universities. In late
years, however, the interest in the study of these languages has grown
so much that Honour Courses and Examinations in them have been
established at all our Universities. The result is that a book even
intended for beginners can now reasonably be expected to be of a higher
standard than the previous editions of this Primer. The grammatical
introduction has accordingly been entirely rewritten and expanded to
more than twice its original size. The texts have also been nearly
doubled by the addition of eighteen poems from Walther von der
Vogelweide, and selections from Reinmar, Ulrich von Lichtenstein, and
Wolfram von Eschenbach.

The greater part of Middle High German literature is so excellent and
interesting that most students, who have mastered the grammatical
introduction and read the texts in the Primer, will doubtless desire to
continue the subject. Such students should procure a copy of either the
_Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik_ by Hermann Paul, eighth edition, Halle,
1911, or the _Mittelhochdeutsches Elementarbuch_ by Victor Michels,
second edition, Heidelberg, 1912, where the Grammar, especi