Note 677 — Chapter XVII · (continued 2)

Vol. i., Preface, p. vii. In the Latin edition of the Table-Talk Bindseil, in spite of the scruples alluded to above (n. 1), speaks in praise of the Table-Talk, and makes his own the words of J. Müllensiefen (1857). The Table-Talk showed Luther as “the noblest offshoot of his nation”; it is true the coarseness and plainness of speech are inexcusable, but it all contributes towards the “perfect characterisation of the great man,” for “the wrinkles and furrows are part of his portrait” (“Coll.,” ed. Bindseil, 1, p. xiii.). Luther’s opponents were, however, of a different opinion even in the early days. G. Steinhausen, in his “Deutsche Kulturgesch.,” Leipzig, 1904, p. 513, quotes Johann Fickler of Salzburg, who describes the Table-Talk as “full of obscene and stinking jests,” and compares it to the erotic products of the Epicureans. Steinhausen himself is loath to go so far.