Paul Winckler left three remarkable pieces of writing to posterity: his autobiography (1860); two collections of aphorisms (1685); and a lengthy novel, Der Edelmann (The Nobleman, 1696). Only the aphorisms and a few short occasional pieces were published during his lifetime. Like many professional bourgeois men of the late seventeenth century, the ambitious Silesian Winckler was a self-made man who rose from a lowly station as the abused ward of his sister's father-in-law to a prominent position as a successful lawyer and Kurfürstliche Rat (electoral councillor) of Brandenburg. All of Winckler's works reflect his involvement in public affairs; they are firmly rooted in the here and now of seventeenth-century Silesia. Winckler's lively, eclectic writing reveals common sense; psychological acumen; encyclopedic erudition; close attention to the workings of social, economic, and legal systems; historical curiosity; and a sense of wonder about the natural world. While the vicissitudes of Winckler's life...