Although this edition of Wilhelm von Humboldt's "Linguistic Variability and Intellectual Development" is based entirely on the original German edition, the translators (George C. Buck and Frithjof A. Raven) and the publisher have attempted to clarify certain aspects of this work for the modern-day reader. These features include the addition of numerous translator's notes, initials for every individual mentioned in the text or notes, and a compilation of all works cited in the notes by von Humboldt and the translators. The theme of this work is the "observation of the connection between linguistic variation and the distribution of tribes on the one hand, and the production of human intellectual power on the other, as a relationship developing progressively in varying degree and in new configurations... insofar as these two phenomena are capable of clarifying each other." (AMM)