Aegidius Albertinus was one of the most prolific, important, and successful writers of the German Counter Reformation. With his translations of works of Antonio de Guevara and with his pioneering 1615 translation of Mateo Alemán's La Vida del Pícaro Guzmán de Alfarache (1599)--the first picaresque novel rendered into German--Albertinus is recognized as the foremost translator of devotional and inspirational works from the siglo de oro, the Spanish literature of the sixteenth century. Although Albertinus began to write relatively late, at age thirty-four, his output was copious, averaging two titles per year from his first work in 1594 until his death in 1620. Of his approximately fifty-two works--there is still some doubt as to the precise number--Albertinus adapted twenty-two works from Spanish, six from French, and eleven from Latin and Italian sources. His influence on the religious thought of Hans Jacob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen was considerable...